As noted on the Instructional Methods and Materials page, faculty who teach in the certificate program demonstrate what and how to do in class, allow students to apply what is demonstrated, and encourage students to solve authentic tasks using the learned knowledge, skills, and abilities. This instructional design principle (by Dr. David Merrill of Utah State University) guides the formulation of the instructional objectives in each class. And, each of the courses in the program has specific course objectives that are aligned with the program goal/objectives. The alignment is governed by the AECT Standards. Required courses are taught by the full-time Educational Technology faculty.

Based on the formulated courses objectives, assessment is strategized and developed. The assessment of student learning outcomes (SLO) is noted in the course syllabi (accessible from the Course Requirements page). End-of-class grades are computed in the adopted Canvas LMS first and then entered into the University’s online integrated database management information system (called Gulfline). If a student’s grade falls below the expectations, his/her file will be red-flagged by the system. The system administrator will be informed automatically. Concerned parties (e.g., Graduate College and certificate program coordinator) will then be notified. This assessment process is iterative from one semester to another until the student graduates from the certificate program. This “formative” evaluation is conducted on the individual course level. The other aspect of the course-level evaluation is on its critical task assessment. Each of the courses in the Instructional Technology Certificate program contains at least one critical task assignment. The instructor enters the grades of student critical tasks in LiveText, an adopted online student assessment solution.

To sustain the Instructional Technology Certificate program, the commitment to continuous program improvement is imperative. On the course level, a “formative” evaluation is conducted. It is the instructor’s job to document individual student work performance and share it with the program coordinator, who also serves as the program advisor to student participants. Course evaluation also provides insights in the course implementation/facilitation for the instructor if s/he likes to triangulate collected data. On the program level, a “summative” evaluation is conducted every semester (when the course is offered) to check if the course-level objectives are met or not using respective critical task assessments before any course development/improvement. It is the instructor’s job to make the course improvement. There is an annual program evaluation at this that focuses on whether the program level objectives are met. Organized by the program coordinator, a faculty meeting will follow for further deliberations on obtainable goals and action plans for program improvement. The course-level and program-level evaluation data can be aggregated and disseminated among the faculty involved in the Instructional Technology Certificate.

In addition, the program has an Educational Technology Advisory Board that meets annually to review the program, its objectives, and course requirements. The Educational Technology Review Board is made up of six administrators from the five PK-12 school districts served by FGCU's College of Education, leaders of five private, international companies (including a global medical device company), five leaders from informal learning organizations (including a zoo, a museum, a conservancy, a historical estate, and county fairgrounds), a leader from the state environmental protection agenday's local estuary preserve, an entreprenuer of a local educational software engineering start-up, and several faculty and administrators from FGCU. The Educational Technology Advisory Board also communicates throughout the year in a private LinkedIn group. This collaboration allows students to participate in authentic learning opportunities with members of our Advisory Board, such as instructional design, coding, curriculum development, technology integration, training, and development of virtual learning solutions.

It is hoped that these levels of evaluation will continuously assist faculty with three major tasks: measurement, reporting, and improvement.

The FGCU Instructional Technology Certificate program is currently seeking external review and seal of approval by the Association for Educational Communications and Technology (AECT) through its certificate program endorsement processes and procedures. This external endorsement, when successfully earned, will further validate the quality assurance and control processes of the online graduate program. The endorsement body’s continuing review will also assist with the program’s ongoing evaluations and serve as a piece of its continual improvement process.