VA Tech Instructional Technology Master

Does anyone have any experience with this or similar VA Tech programs? I only found a two-post thread from 2001, so the program seems to have been around for a while.

This seems like a really weird and really interesting program. There are hardly any entrance requirements (no GRE, no reference letters), but it's a master's degree from an outstanding institution. The curriculum looks solid and seems to cover a lot of technology basics, which I would appreciate. Is there a catch anywhere? I mean besides the $30,000 tuition of course.

 

I started the ITMA back in the summer of 2006. I live in Virginia, so I was fortunate enough to not only get the in-state rate, but actually get the in-state teacher rate. This 4 years ago, so mind you, things could have changed.

I only took 6 credits before switching to Walden, but it was a course though VT which inspired me to change. The first 6 credits were actually 4 courses. Three were 1-credit courses and the next was a 3 credit course. I thought the 1-credit courses were a joke. One was on how to use MS Office, one was on general instructional technology stuff, and the other was on education and the web. Those courses, including the 3 credit course I took, were all taught by students who had just graduated with their PhD's from VT. I thought that was interesting because the website listed faculty, and I never had any of those faculty.

When I took these courses, the assignments had suggested due dates to keep you on a schedule, but if you didn't turn it on on the due date, it was okay because they were, after all, only suggested due dates. I think they did that more as a way to keep students from doing all the assignments during the last week or so. I originally tried to take more than one class during a summer session. I figured, since I was a teacher, I was off and would have time to focus on the course. Apparently they don't care, as I got a message saying they would only allow you to take one class at a time.

Because I didn't get that far into the program, I can't give it a thorough evaluation. While the 1 credit courses were a joke, the 3 credit course was pretty good. It was "Instructional Design" which is what I chose to do over with Walden. I'm actually teaching a course through UoP now on Instructional Design. I suppose I can say that because of the VT program, I was pointed in the right direction, even if that direction wasn't with VT.

One thing I did like about the VT program was that if you already had a masters, you could do the same program and get an EdS. Part of me is really tempted to do that, but then again, I'm tempted to do a lot of things! haha

Hope this helps!
-Matt

 

Hi Matt,

Thanks a lot for your thorough assessment! I had a feeling that many of the 1-credit courses would be stuff I could easily teach myself. I still like the program and its practical orientation, but I decided that there is just no way I could justify the cost of the out-of-state tuition.

 

I agree. I've noticed a lot of schools have an "online" rate, but VT isn't one of them.

-Matt

 

Was GWU terrible expensive?

 

Steve is right, GWU's School of Education charges only about $1,300.00 per course; which other schools within the institution charge $1,200.00 per credit.

 

Since GW is private, you wouldn't have to worry about the out of state tuition problem. Now, if only their online EdS in Educational Administration wasn't over $30K...

-Matt