UH-Clear Lake joins Texas Virtual School Network

University of Houston-Clear Lake’s instructional technology program has been named a provider of online graduate-level distance education courses for preparing teachers across the state to teach within the Texas Education Agency’s Texas Virtual School Network.

“We are one of only six agencies in Texas that provide training for teachers who have no experience in online instruction and one of only two that have been approved to provide advanced training for experienced online teachers,” says Program Coordinator and Clinical Associate Professor of Instructional Technology Richard Smith. “All of the other agencies provide the equivalent of extended online workshops that come with continuing education credit. In contrast, UHCL provides three-credit hour graduate level courses that can also be applied to a master’s degree in instructional technology or the UHCL Online Distance Educator Professional Development Certificate. ”

The three classes offered through UH-Clear Lake include one class designed for teachers who are completely new to online teaching and two others for teachers who already have experience teaching distance education courses.

The Texas Virtual School Network, authorized by the 2007 Texas Legislature, provides online courses to students throughout the state, supplementing courses taught in public school districts and open enrollment charter schools.

“This designation from the Texas Virtual School Network is quite an honor,” says UH-Clear Lake School of Education Associate Dean James Sherrill. “It speaks to the quality of instructors and course content available in all of our offerings.”

UH-Clear Lake’s instructional technology program has provided graduate-level online courses as part of its master’s degree and certificate programs since 1989. For more information, visit http://soe.uhcl.edu or call the Office of Academic Advising, 281-283-3615.