Online Masters in Teaching Degrees
The challenge with any online teaching program that is meant to lead to a teacher’s license is the fact that the degree requires hundreds of hours in the classroom working as a student teacher. Students who enroll in an online masters in teaching program are still going to have to spend time working with a licensed teacher for on the job training. The schools listed here have all developed methods of connecting online students with the opportunity for classroom student teaching within their local community. Some schools limit the radius for their online programs. Others limit enrollment to teachers who have licenses, so they can arrange for their own internship hours if needed. And some are simply dedicated to working with students in order to find an acceptable local student teaching alternative.
1. Ashford University (**Highly Recommended) offers an online MA in Teaching & Learning with Technology that is designed for K-12 teachers who want to develop skills for utilizing digital presentations and other technology innovations in the classroom. The degree is also an option for consultants and trainers who work in the corporate world and may find new tools in the rapidly evolving field of educational technology
2. University of Southern California Rossier School of Education (**Highly Recommended) has rolled out an online master’s in teaching program that is offered to working teachers and to professionals with an acceptable undergraduate degree in a field other than education who wish to make a career switch into teaching. The School of Education at USC commits to finding a student teaching option for their online students regardless of their state of residence.
3. Kaplan University (**Highly Recommended) offers an online master’s in teaching program that leads to certification as an Iowa teacher – where Kaplan is based. Students may take the academic portion of the program online but must be within reach of an Iowa school in order to complete the internship requirement. Areas of specialization include mathematics, English, social studies, science, and visual & performing arts.
4. Drexel University (**Highly Recommended) has several graduate degrees in education available online. The Masters of Teaching, Learning & Curriculum is principally a degree with several options for teacher certification. The areas of teacher specialization include biology, chemistry, English, environmental education, physics, mathematics, and general science. Special Education requires an additional set of online modules.
5. St. Joseph’s University has two online masters in teaching programs available. The first is a masters in special education available primarily to teachers who are already licensed as general classroom professionals and wish to switch into special education. The second is a master’s in secondary education with specialization in math, science, social studies or English.
6. University of North Carolina has a two-phase online master’s in teaching degree for special education that is offered through the UNC Charlotte campus. Completion of the first phase allows the student to obtain a provisional teaching license in the State of North Carolina; the second phase includes the teaching internship and training for the standard professional teaching license.
7. Western Governors University offers four masters in teaching degrees online that are designed to lead to teacher licensure. They are directed at people new to teaching and unlicensed substitute teachers who would like to obtain full licensure. The four options are in teaching mathematics for either grades 5-9 or 5-12; teaching science in grades 5-9 or 5-12; teaching social studies; and a general teaching degree for grades K-8.
8. Nova Southeastern University has an online master’s in teaching program for working teachers that can be completed in one year. Specialization options for the degree include elementary reading, elementary math, curriculum & instruction and K-12 technology integration.
9. University of Georgia has launched three online masters in teaching programs emanating from several campuses. Valdosta State University has an online Masters in Special Education degree; Georgia State University offers the Masters in Reading, Language and Literacy; and Columbus State University along with University of West Georgia has specializations for mathematics and for sciences.
10. Fresno State University offers the online masters in teaching with a focus on social justice, multiculturalism and action research. This degree is meant for working teachers who find themselves with increasingly diverse classroom populations due to the large migrant communities that have populated California’s Central Valley in recent years.
