UNH’s 6^th year diploma in Instructional Technologies & Media Literacy (IT&DML) is developed for licensed teachers in the state of CT who 1) understand that teaching and learning in 21^st Century schools must embrace and utilize the technological, cultural, and sociological changes implicit in a differently-connected society and 2) want to advance in their careers but do not wish to leave active teaching at the P-12 level.  The program is designed for practicing teachers who can complete this hybrid degree in one intensive calendar year.

The IT&DML program additionally consists of cutting edge open source curriculum and student work product. The IT&DML program will also require the use of iPads for all course content and work, and will utilize iTunesU to make course materials freely available to learners globally.

The objectives of the University of New Haven’s IT&DML program are in alignment with the State, national, and global educational initiatives focused on the authentic and effective use of technology in teaching and learning.  The program fosters the development of professional, certified teachers who:

A.    Understand and can discuss the definition and foundations of Instructional Technologies and their relationship to 21^st Century teaching and learning in K-12 schools;

B.    Identify new media and technologies and be able to plan for their use in K-12 curriculum;

C.    Identify new and critical literacies, and employ both in their daily work;

D.   Locate, identify, and employ adaptive technologies for use in inclusive classrooms;

E.    Use distance learning to expand student and professional communities;

F.    Create and utilize participatory networks in their students’ and their own learning;

G.   Work with colleagues to develop their common understandings of global literacy;

H.   Locate their own roles in supporting and shaping students’ diverse literacy and technological practices;

I.      Analyze the shifting power relationships that accompany new technologies and literacies when used by students and by education professionals;

J.     Are confident and willing to use instructional technologies and new media literacies in their professional practices.

The IT&DML program consists of a planned sequence of 36 credits.  30 of these credits are required of all candidates; the final 6 credits are a Digital or Online Portfolio, designed to be an exit requirement.  There is little flexibility in students’ choices for coursework for two reasons: 1) the length of the program (one calendar year) necessitates that candidates follow a planned program that they know the University can deliver; and 2) the specialized nature of the knowledge bases to which the students will be exposed and that they will be expected to execute demands that they develop a highly-structured, sequential knowledge base in a short amount of time.  The program is designed, if taken in sequence, to do just this.