Earn Grad Credits For Work You're Already Doing!

Summer vacation is upon us, and the last thing most teachers want to think about is diving into more school. But...what if you could get graduate-level credits for work you were already planning to do over the summer? Maybe you are re-designing your course curriculum. Maybe you are planning an entirely new course. Maybe you want to dedicate time to learning how to integrate technology into your workflow. Whatever your professional goals might be, wouldn't it be nice to get some grad credit for them so you can make your way up the pay scale?

Dominican University of California has a great summer "course" called EDUX. It is designed for teachers to create their own professional learning plan and track their own progress - you can work collaboratively too! Depending on how many hours you want to commit to, you can earn anywhere from 1-6 grad credits.

I did the program last year and earned 4 credits (100 hours) on my way to my Masters +30. I had 4 goals:

1. By the end of this course, I will research how Artificial Intelligence can be used in education by students, teachers, and administrators.

2. By the end of this course, I will develop a tool/process for evaluating and assessing AI tools as well as AI results. Ideally, this tool will be shared with both students and teachers.

3. By the end of this course, I will develop a professional development workshop on AI usage for middle school and high school teachers.

4. By the end of this course, I will develop a website to be shared with teachers throughout the district that provides resources and training/PD opportunities related to AI in education.

These were all things I was planning to do over the summer anyway...entirely in my free time. I planned everything ahead of time and got it approved by my coordinator (who was available to support me throughout the summer). Then I simply tracked my hours as I read, researched, or worked. Then at the end of the summer, I met virtually with the coordinator to show all of my work and provide feedback on the experience.

The cost is also super affordable with 1 credit at $169 and 6 credits at $735, so you can use your school district PD money to pay for the whole thing.

If you are already planning to do some work over the summer and you are looking to move up on the pay scale, this program is absolutely worth it!