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Online Master's (OTEC): Introduction

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The Online Master's in Educational Technology (OTEC) program welcomes busy professionals from the neighbor islands and the mainland United States as well as foreign students who hold a bachelor's degree and find time and distance constraints of furthering an on-campus degree too difficult. OTEC is a two-year academic program leading to a Master's in Education (MEd). Started in 2006, the online Master's program builds on the UH educational technology graduate program with a 25-year history of success and leadership in the field.

Program Structure

The OTEC program is a comprehensive offering of eight (8) required courses and a minimum of four (4) elective courses for a total of 36 credits. Core courses are completed within a cohort system where students entering at the same time take these courses together to build support and professional community. The selection of the electives is based on students' orientation and career plans within the broad field of educational technology. Students attending full time complete the program in two academic years while part-time students may take longer.

The OTEC program is designed to provide students with comprehensive instruction delivered predominantly via the Internet to accommodate their busy schedules. Approximately 90% of the course work is done online and the remaining 10% is facilitated by face-to-face (F2F) sessions which are held only in the first semester of study.

Program Overview

While broad in scope, the OTEC program targets professionals interested in having a better understanding of how diverse technologies can create powerful communities of learning. Areas of interest could include but are not limited to: K-12 teachers, community-college and part-time instructors, technology coordinators, instructional designers, corporate trainers, district technology planners, staff development specialists, and others interested in technology and learning. UH educational technology graduates are found in many learning environments including K-12 and higher education, government, business, industry, and health occupations.

This nationally accredited program prepares students to create resources for teaching and learning through diverse media as well as integrate technology into educational environments. Thus, the program does not emphasize solely technical skills, but deals with larger issues of systematic application of knowledge to such practical tasks as planning, designing, implementing, and evaluating different strategies for an effective and efficient teaching/learning process. Graduates of the program have found professional positions in which development of instructional strategies is sought to be performed in a systematic way. Such positions may be in formal educational settings, in industrial or commercial enterprises, or in governmental or private entities (such as public health or social agencies) which engage in training activities of their personnel or clients.

More detailed information on the OTEC program is found in the following sections as well as the OTEC web site: http://etec.hawaii.edu/omed/

Additional information can be found in the ETEC FAQ containing answers to many commonly asked questions about our programs and facilities.