K-12 Online Teaching Endorsement

Today’s educators must provide a learning environment that takes students beyond the walls of their classrooms and into a world of endless opportunities, real-world learning. Technology standards promote this classroom transformation by ensuring that digital-age students are empowered to learn, live, and work successfully today and tomorrow.

As technology dramatically changes our society, educators need to demonstrate the skills and behaviors of digital-age professionals. Competence with technology is the foundation. Societies are changing, expectations are changing, teaching is changing, and educators must lead using new paradigms of teaching and learning integrating technology. You will learn best practices for integrating technology into your K-12 classrooms, using totally online web-based methods or a combination of technology with traditional methods, or hybrid environment.

The K-12 Online Teaching Endorsement program and courses will examine the current best practices for personalization for each individual student in our K-12 classrooms. Personalization is closely related to two additionally important terms; individualization and differentiation. All three terms require a shift in focus from a teacher centered approach to an authentic, student-centered approach. A true student-centered focus requires that we tailor our lessons to the abilities, interests, preferences, future life dreams, self-esteem, socio-emotional attributes, and other needs of the individual student.                                 

The K-12 Online Teaching Endorsement program will allow teachers to earn an additional certification or endorsement. Students can take the K-12 Online Teaching Endorsement program as a stand-alone option, add it to any School of Education program (certification or non-certification), add it to other APUS degree programs, or take courses from the endorsement program for professional development or recertification.

Endorsement Objectives:

Upon completion of this endorsement, the student will be able to:

• Use the knowledge of major concepts, theories, and research related to online learning and course development to design and construct online coursework.
• Demonstrate and use knowledge of online learning instructional formats to assess both the formats and their impact on student achievement.
• Evaluate and synthesize K-12 personalization best practices and their potential effect on learning. Examples include differentiated instruction, Response to Intervention (RTI), etc.  Incorporate assessment instruments to help customize and personalize instruction; examples include Rosenberg’s Self-Esteem Scale, Success Predictor, Personal Growth Initiative Scale, Emotional Intelligence Quotient, etc.
• Develop the ability to evaluate instructional technology and its value with regard to the improvement of student achievement including the application of SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, Timely) goals.
• Exhibit problem solving skills and the ability to analyze and respond to emerging trends and issues in education especially as they relate to technology instruction.
• Develop the depth of understanding required to discern student learning styles, whole child needs and their effect on online instruction required to effectively individualize or personalize online instruction for each student.
• Develop, identify, and evaluate the legal and ethical tests for fair use of copyrighted materials on the internet as well as development of ethical frameworks for use of computers and learning objects in educational settings.
• Successful integration of technology best practices into daily instruction in traditional classroom settings.