Online Colleges for Teaching Certification
- Online programs allow students to fit classwork into their own schedules, so those considering getting a teaching license can keep their full-time jobs while getting the necessary coursework. In addition, instructors today often have the opportunity to teach online courses, so taking them as a student may help them be more prepared for such situations. Online certification programs also eliminate the need to find a local program and the time required to travel to classes.
- Classes within certification programs focus on pedagogy. Required courses include titles, such as American education, psychology of education, teaching special needs populations, technology in instruction and assessment, child development and foundations of teaching. Some instructional courses vary depending upon the level the student wishes to work with. For example, the elementary education license program at University of Phoenix includes courses about children's literature and diagnosis and remediation of reading difficulties while secondary teachers at online colleges, such as Saint Joseph's University take courses that focus on teaching in their area of study, such as language arts or sciences.
- The student teaching component of teacher licensing programs takes up one semester. Students work in an actual classroom with a cooperating teacher and under the supervision of a college or university professor. Student teachers take on the role of classroom teacher at the appropriate level, giving assignments, grading papers and assigning grades. Student teachers may need to create a portfolio to document the work completed during the experience or write a formal paper evaluating what they learned.
- Some certification programs require other field experience. Before student teaching, future instructors may be required to visit classrooms and present information about those experiences. This documentation may include portfolio creation or separate evaluation or analysis or the experience. Students seeking certification through St. Joseph's University are specifically required to create and present a lesson 30-40 minutes in length during one of these experiences. Online programs do sometimes require more field experience credits than traditional programs. The University of Phoenix requires a minimum of 100 hours of field experience.
- Western Governor's University offers post-baccalaureate certification based upon demonstration of student understanding and application of material rather than coursework. Students sign up for the required classes but then may take assessments at any time to demonstrate their knowledge. Assessments for teacher certification may include multiple-choice exams, essays, research, designing lesson plans and reflections on case studies. This competency-based format along with WGU's acceptance of transfer credits may allow future teachers to achieve certification faster than other programs.
- Other online schools offer accelerated teacher certification programs. Saint Joseph's University (sju-online.edu), for instance, delivers a program that includes 18 classroom credits, six credits of field experience and one full semester of student teaching. Similarly, the University of Southern California promises California certification in as little as 13 months (30 credits).
Because of the required student teaching component, many "accelerated" certification programs move faster than traditional programs only if students include the master's degree. SJU's certification program still takes at least one year for completion, but adding a master's degree only adds an additional 12 credits of classroom work. USC does not offer a separate certification program; students must enroll in the master's program to obtain the credential.
