Certificate programs offered by the Center for Excellence in Learning & Teaching (CELT) and the Center for eLearning are an opportunity for VSU faculty to develop substantive knowledge and skills in particular pedagogical concentrations. Once completed, faculty are encouraged to reference this certification in their curriculum vitae, Annual Faculty Activity Report and Action Plan (AFARAP), and promotion/tenure dossier. 

All courses are designed and facilitated in-house by CELT-eLearning staff, with a few designed and/or facilitated by VSU faculty who have relevant expertise. Our certificate programs have been reviewed and approved for Continuing Education Units by the Office of Professional and Community Education (PACE) at VSU.

Experiential Learning Certificate 

PROGRAM DESCRIPTION 

The CELT-QEP: Experiential Learning Certificate will enhance and certify VSU faculty teaching with experiential learning. This curriculum is intended for current full-time or part-time VSU faculty/staff who want to delve deeper into the theory, practice, and assessment of experiential learning among a community of their peers, or who want year-long structured support when applying for an Experiential Learning Course Activity Endorsement from VSU's QEP and when later conducting assessment of the activity. Participants will apply for, receive, and assess an Experiential Learning Course Activity Endorsement as part of completing the certificate. Participants who have already received an endorsement will propose and assess another activity. However, VSU faculty/staff can always without participating in this certificate program.

PROGRAM STRUCTURE (24 TOTAL COURSE HOURS) 

The certificate program is designed as a cohort community-building model where the entire cohort will complete the certificate together with ongoing mentoring from members of the The duration of each cohort is one year, from May to May. Each cohort can have upwards of 20 faculty/staff.  

Completing the Experiential Learning Certificate requires 24 total course hours. There are seven (7) required core courses that account for 18 of the 24 required hours (see curriculum list below). The remaining six (6) hours are completed by selecting three (3) additional courses from Elective Curriculum (all elective courses are two hours long). A program participant must complete all core courses and three (3) elective courses to graduate. 

Finishing the intro course (offered asynchronously online every March and which must be completed by the end of that month) serves as a prerequisite and an application to join the next cohort. Some of the core courses will be offered during two (2) separate one-day in-person retreats at CELT. The first retreat will occur in May and functions as the certificate's community-building kick-off. The second retreat occurs the following May, one year later, and serves to wrap up the entire program.

Most of the elective courses in the certificate are offered asynchronously online and need to be completed during the fall semester. However, the certificate cannot be completed fully online. Any VSU faculty/staff (including those not participating in the certificate) can register for elective offerings via the .

CURRICULUM 

Register for upcoming courses using the .  

Core Curriculum (18 hours) 

  • Introduction to Experiential Learning at VSU (1 hour, asynchronous online, March) 
  • Kolb’s Theory of Experiential Learning (3 hours, asynchronous online, May) 
  • Designing Your Experiential Learning Course Activity Endorsement Application (6 hours, in-person retreat in May at CELT)
  • Elements of High-Impact Practices (2 hours, asynchronous online, fall)
  • Peer Faculty Mentoring (2 hours, hybrid, fall/spring) 
  • Assessment and Analysis of Student Experiential Learning (3 hours, in-person retreat in May at CELT) 
  • From Activity to Course (1 hour, in-person retreat in May at CELT) 

Elective Curriculum (6 hours) 

  • Undergraduate Research (2 hours, asynchronous online, fall) 
  • Service-Learning (2 hours, asynchronous online, fall) 
  • Work-Based Learning (2 hours, asynchronous online, fall)
  • Experiential Learning for Online Classes (2 hours, in-person workshop, fall) 
  • Mentoring Students in Experiential Learning (2 hours, asynchronous online, fall) 

 

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Online Teaching Certificate

Program Description

The CELT-eLearning Online Teaching Certificate will enhance and certify the technological and pedagogical skills of online teachers at VSU. This curriculum is intended for current full-time or part-time VSU faculty who are preparing to teach hybrid or online courses and want to improve in online teaching and learning. The curriculum for the Online Teaching Certificate was designed specifically for VSU faculty and emphasizes training with VSU’s learning management system (BlazeVIEW) and VSU licensed educational technologies. 

Ten (10) faculty from across skills levels, ranks, and colleges at VSU also participated in a special CELT summer retreat to pilot the certificate and contributed to the redesign of the courses for its launch in the Fall 2022 semester. 

Program Structure (24 total course hours)

Completing the Online Teaching Certificate requires 24 total course hours. There are six (6) required core courses that account for 18 of the 24 required hours (see curriculum list below). The remaining six (6) hours are completed by selecting three (3) additional courses from Elective Curriculum (all elective courses are two hours long). A program participant must complete all core courses and three (3) elective courses in order to graduate.

Participants in the program have two (2) years to complete the required coursework in order to graduate. Courses are offered so that faculty can complete the program within a year.

Due to the content of this certificate program, some of the courses will be delivered in an asynchronous online modality. However, most courses are designed to be delivered synchronously in-person. This means that the certificate cannot be completed fully online. VSU faculty can register for both the asynchronous and synchronous courses via the 

Occasionally, credit towards the Online Teaching Certificate can be earned through attendance in a Faculty Learning Community (FLC) sponsored by the Center for Excellence in Learning & Teaching (CELT) at VSU. An FLC is a faculty-led professional development group that meets throughout a semester to explore a particular pedagogical topic. To receive credit toward the certificate, participants in the FLC must complete the learning objectives for the course it replaces. With questions about CELT's FLCs, contact CELT Director, Dr. Jamie Landau, at 229-333-6032 or jlandau@valdosta.edu

Upcoming Courses

The next Online Teaching Certificate Retreat will be held on May 15 & 16, 2024.  Register for the retreat or other upcoming courses using the .  

Curriculum

Core Curriculum (18 hours)

  • Introduction to Online Teaching at VSU (1 hour, asynchronous online, in-person workshop, fall)
  • Learn BlazeVIEW (1 hours, asynchronous online, fall/spring/summer)
  • Use BlazeVIEW (4 hours, asynchronous online, fall/spring/summer)
  • Master BlazeVIEW (6 hours, asynchronous online, fall/spring/summer)
  • Effective Online Teaching (3 hours, in-person workshop, fall/spring)
  • Creating Content for Online Classes (3 hours, in-person workshop, fall/spring)

Elective Curriculum (6 hours)

  • Best Practices for Synchronous Video Conferencing Using Teams (2 hours, online webinar, occasionally fall/spring)
  • Instructional Design for Online Classes (2 hours, in-person workshop, occasionally fall/spring)
  • Web Tools for Online Teaching (2 hours, in-person workshop, occasionally fall/spring)
  • Orienting Students to Online Learning (2 hours, in-person workshop, occasionally fall/spring)
  • Experiential Learning for Online Classes (2 hours, in-person workshop, occasionally fall/spring)
  • Student Assessments for Online Classes (2 hours, in-person workshop, occasionally fall/spring)
  • Creating Community in Online Classes (2 hours, in-person workshop, occasionally fall/spring)
  • Connecting Online Learning Theories to Your Teaching Strategies (2 hours, in-person workshop, occasionally fall/spring)

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