November 12, 2007
The University of Illinois Global Campus is now accepting applications for its e-learning graduate degree and certificate programs set to launch in January. In addition, the Global Campus will commence its "Making Opportunity Affordable" initiative funded by a grant from Lumina Foundation for Education.
Applications are being accepted online at global.uillinois.edu/apply/ for the Master of Education with a concentration in E-Learning, as well as two graduate certificate programs in Foundations of E-Learning and Management of E-Learning. This innovative program was created in collaboration with the Department of Human Resource Education in the College of Education at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
A growing proportion of higher education programming is being delivered via the Internet because of widespread access and the potential for high quality, interactive pedagogy. Universities, colleges, and community colleges are beginning to encourage their faculties and instructors to gain formal training in online pedagogies and technologies. Corporations are also increasingly relying on e-learning to educate, train, and motivate their employees, suppliers, and customers.
With a focus on design and delivery of e-learning, the graduate-level program will help prepare corporate trainers to manage online learning effectively. The program curriculum and the instructor requirements have been developed by Urbana College of Education faculty who are experts in online pedagogy.
For the Master of Education, Illinois residents will pay $13,770 for the entire program ($382.50 per credit hour for 36 credit hours). Students residing outside Illinois will pay $15,300 for the entire program ($425 per credit hour for 36 credit hours). For the graduate certificates, each 12 credit hours in total, Illinois students will pay $4,590 for the entire program, and students residing outside Illinois will pay $5,100.
In other news, The Global Campus has received a grant from Lumina Foundation for Education, an Indianapolis-based private, independent foundation dedicated to expanding access and success beyond high school. The grant of $100,000 will be dispersed over eight months, with the goal of establishing an assessment infrastructure and a longitudinal database for quantifying the effects of key elements of the innovative Global Campus academic and business model. These elements include student persistence, graduate rate, employment, and career success.
"We want to determine what factors contribute to the accessibility and affordability of online education programs, the academic success of our online learners, the career success of our graduates, and the satisfaction of their employers," said Chester Gardner, who is leading the Global Campus as special assistant to the president of the University. By assessing the effects of the various components of the Global Campus model and using the assessment to improve the model, the opportunity becomes a predictable reality for current and future participants.
The Global Campus offers online bachelor's completion degrees, master's degrees, and graduate certificate programs in collaboration with partnering academic units on the brick-and-mortar campuses of Urbana-Champaign, Chicago, and Springfield. Each program's curriculum is developed by world-class University of Illinois faculty who are leaders in their fields of study. In addition, Global Campus programs will be overseen by an academic council and taught by high quality instructors who meet rigorous requirements in both their academic fields and in online pedagogy.
More information on the E-Learning degrees and certificates.
University of Illinois campuses attract the nation's most talented students with hundreds of undergraduate, graduate, and professional programs, many of them ranked among the best in the United States. The University is Illinois' largest college educator. Right now nearly 70,000 students are enrolled at U. of I. our campuses, and thousands more take classes off campus and online. With a faculty base of 5,600 and an alumni body of more than 570,000, the University is a major world-class institution.
