Educational Computing, Design and Online Learning (ECDOL)

Faculty from this program area are housed in the Dept. Secondary Education

The College of Education and C&I Mission	To prepare knowledgeable, ethical, caring decision makers in a diverse world.
The ECDOL Specialization Mission	To prepare educators who want to learn how to use technology to help improve student learning, cognition and achievement, to support technology-driven school reform, and to teach and conduct scholarly research in higher education.
Who We Are: Graduates	Nearly all of our doctoral graduates work in one of the following capacities: • faculty in higher education • multimedia or online education specialists assisting faculty (in higher education) • continuing in their own field as technology-using or computer science educators, often with a promotion
Who We Are: Faculty	• Dr. Rosemary Talab • Other faculty and adjunct faculty
Our Projects and Themes	Our faculty and graduate students are involved in constructivist learning environments, distance learning design and methods, project-based learning, copyright issues, ethical and equity issues, integrated curriculum and cross-curricular projects, telecollaboration, instructional design, and informal and intentional learning projects.

PhD Program in C&I	The PhD in C & I requires at least 90 credits– 30 for Dissertation Research, and 30 doctoral coursework (and of course 30 from the Masters degree): •9 hrs in research (usually EDCEP 816, 817, EDCEP 917 or EDADL 838 Qualitative Research in Education and other courses as needed) •21 hrs. in or related to this specialization (see checklist) •30 hrs. of dissertation (EDETC 999) credits
ECDOL Specialization Requirements	•Prerequisites (not to be counted as part of the 30 hours of doctoral coursework): EDCEP 816 Research Methods & Treatment of Data EDCIP 803 Curriculum Development EDETC 718 Learning Technologies. •EDETC 887 Proseminar I and EDETC 888 Proseminar II, taken in the first and second semesters, respectively •At least one additional research course in place of the usual EDCEP 816 (which is viewed as a prerequisite) •EDCI 886 Seminar/Writing the Dissertation Proposal, if needed, taken during the appropriate semester •A course in cognition (either EDCEP 829 Learning Principles OR EDCEP 912 Psychological Bases of Educational Thought and Practice) and other courses as needed in Philosophy, History, etc.
Transferring in Credit Hours	You may theoretically transfer up to 10 credit hours, if your advisor feel it fits the above outline of requirements. It is advisable not to transfer in content area courses.
ECDOL Courses	These courses and seminars have been offered recently (Future offerings will depend on faculty available to teach them and students interested in taking them) EDCI 887 Proseminar I (each fall) EDCI 888 Proseminar II (each spring) EDCI 763 Instructional Design EDCI 786 Topics courses (Recently: Virtual Learning/Second Life) EDCI 886 Seminar (varies)
Program of Study	By the end of your first 6 courses in this program (typically the third semester) a Program of Study must be filed with the Graduate School. It lists the courses you have taken and plan to take. It is through this document that you choose a Major Professor and 3 additional committee members (at leas one outside the Dept. of Secondary Education). You must choose a general topic for the dissertation to put on the program of study form. (You can change it later, if need be.)
Prelim Exams	Ordinarily, students take preliminary examinations after they have done their coursework and before they submit a formal dissertation proposal, although some may choose to do their prelim studying and proposal writing during the same semester. Prelims can be scheduled as needed, as long as classes are in session. Most students choose to get questions from professors in late fall and take prelims in late July. You must either write in 4 areas during a 2-day period (3 hours for each area) or turn in papers to the committee members, as directed. After passing prelims, you are admitted to candidacy and may begin working on your proposal. You must also take the modules from the Institutional Review Board in order to have permission to work with human subjects.
Proposal Meeting	You must meet with your committee to formally present (in writing and orally) a proposal for your dissertation. The proposal typically constists of Chapters 1-3 of your dissertation. Your major professor will chair this meeting, which usually lasts an hour. Most studies are mixed methods (both a quantitative and qualitative component), but some are qualitative, only.
Dissertation Defense	After completing your research and writing it up in professional format, you must present and defend that thesis before your committee and an outside chair. All dissertations are submitted online and not in paper format using a preformatted template.