Master of Science
in Instructional Technology

The Master of Science in Instructional Technology provides professional education in educational technology and the related field of performance technology for people in diverse economic sectors including healthcare, higher education, business and industry, and, most importantly, teachers from preschool through high school. Within four semesters attending full-time, you can earn a Master’s Degree in Instructional Technology or a Master’s Degree in Instructional Technology with Human Resource Management specialization. If you want to build skills but don’t want a Master’s degree, consider earning a UHCL Instructional Technology program certificate in online distance education or in performance technology. If you are a Texas State-certified teacher who teaches or wants to teach technology, you can advance your career goals by earning a Texas State add-on certificate; each of three certificate programs prepares current Texas State-certified teachers to successfully pass the corresponding State Examination for an add-on technology certificate.

UHCL Instructional Technology graduates have been hired for positions in every major economic sector in the region and a few continue in doctoral programs. They work in higher education institutions such as San Jacinto College, College of the Mainland, University of Houston, Houston Community College, and University of Houston Clear Lake. Graduates have held positions in the healthcare sector in organizations such as University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston and the University of Texas Health Science Center. Graduates work as designers or in positions requiring performance technology skills; they are employed in large for-profit organizations such as SpaceHab, Lockheed Martin, Boeing, AIM Funds, Shell Oil, and Texaco, and in instructional design firms such as I-Media and Tietronix. When you graduate from UHCL with an Instructional Technology degree you become part of a professional community that extends to business, healthcare, petrochemical, and educational communities. UHCL Instructional Technology graduates have successfully matriculated into related doctoral programs at Texas A & M, University of Houston, and University of Georgia.

You can begin by earning one or more of the Instructional Technology certificates. Then, if you enjoy the work and do well, you may apply your certificate courses to the Master’s degree to complete the degree. The program has five multi-course certificates including two UHCL Professional Development Certificates: Online Distance Educator and Performance Technology; and three Texas State Teacher add-on certificates: Technology Applications (8-12), Technology Applications (EC-12), and Master Technology Teacher.

Want to add a high-demand skill set to your resume? The Online Distance Educator Certificate enables students to prepare effective interactive online educational products including web-based instructional activities. Complete graduate courses in which you will learn to systematically design instruction; write measurable objectives; identify a strategy for teaching objectives; create and design interactive instructional strategies for distance learners; create instructional web materials in HTML; select an appropriate, feasible and cost effective distance delivery system. If you want to learn more about how to prepare alternative effective instructional activities for specific learning outcomes or if you are applying for the Master’s degree program, choose EDUC 5130 Learning and Cognition (on-line section taught by Instructional Technology faculty); this course gives you the “why” of design. Alternatively, if you would like to learn to use the Internet as an instructional resource and delivery medium, choose INST 5535 Internet Instruction.

Want to add a hot skill set to your resume? You can add a Performance Technology certificate with just 12 hours of courses. The good news is that ALL 12 hours may be applied to a Master’s of Science degree in Instructional Technology. Completing the courses for the certificate will enable you to -

• Analyze human work performance problems and outcomes.
• Identify instructional and non-instructional solutions for improving human work performance.
• Select performance solutions from HR tools such as training, electronic performance support systems, job aids, knowledge management, change management, job restructuring, recruitment and selection policies, and more.
• Create powerful instructional strategies based upon effective contemporary learning theories.
• Select the most effective instructional strategies for a given objective.
• Identify the most appropriate and feasible assessment measure for a given learning objective.
• Align any learning goals and objectives to the best assessment measures.
• Meet the instructional needs of diverse learners through instructional support.

Choose one of INST 5433 IT Project Management and Grant Writing or INST 5131 Trends and Issues. The former course enables learners to learn more about the scope of the field or to develop project management and grant-writing skills.

Why continue for the Master’s degree? If you work in the business sector and are considering a future in the educational sector, or vice versa, the degree can facilitate your move. Many Master’s students choose an internship to help the transition. For example, students who sought design jobs in higher education have completed internships at college and university and then found jobs in them. One graduate moved from an internship at one college to a position at a community collage and now works as a designer at a University – all in just three years. Students have served as interns in the public sector, such as Johnson Space Center and in many local school districts. Interns have been hired by their sites for consulting or for permanent work soon after graduating.

Another reason to consider the UHCL program is the convenience of online course options. Most students prefer face-to-face but many appreciate and take advantage of online courses frequently although few do so exclusively. Students may earn a Master’s degree by taking courses online. Some campus visits may be necessary to submit forms or, in the case of statistics, travel to campus for an examination. Most students are from the greater Houston region although students who live in other States are enrolled. The program is especially appealing for students who may move to another State before completing the program. The online courses enable students to finish even after moving. Students can finish the program in three years by taking 2-3 courses a semester.

There are other advantages to the UHCL Instructional Technology program. For example, you may choose from two Masters degree options, an MS in Instructional Technology and an MS in Instructional Technology with concentration in Human Resource Management for students who wish to work in corporate HR departments as learning officers or training managers. You may plan when and how to complete your degree. The Instructional Technology program has a Master schedule that will help you plan which semesters web and face-to-face sections of courses are offered. One big advantage is that at 2004 Summer tuition rates, a Texas resident may earn a Master’s degree for under $10,000 including tuition and books. Furthermore almost all Instructional Technology courses are taught by full-time Instructional Technology advising faculty; qualified adjuncts do teach a few courses when demand requires adding sections.

Instructional Technology MS