Education 4.13.25 - Flipbook - Page 6
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The Baltimore Sun | Sunday, April 13, 2025
Teaching, from page 5
Ask Margit, from page 1
Towson’s post-graduate accelerated instructional technology program classes are offered in person, online or selfpaced asynchronous.
Sadera explains. “The accelerated pathway in
Instructional technology enables students to
earn both degrees much faster than stand-alone
degrees. Students can apply five courses to both
the M.S. and Ph.D. It’s a great program for
teachers and educators looking for opportunities for more rapid career development.”
Students looking for a pathway for individual master’s degrees in educational technology, instructional design, and school library
media, can explore these degrees, and Sadera
says teachers can often find financial peace by
enrolling in cohort programs at discounted
rates.
The accelerated instructional technology
program focuses on a field that is forecasting
a seven percent growth rate through 2033,
according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Pursuing the tracks of educational technology
or instructional design can open the door for
student opportunities in both the education and
corporate sectors, in positions such as corporate
training, media specialist or technology instructor. Graduates leave with skills in e-learning,
training and development, learner experience
design, as well as a strong knowledge of how
to incorporate cutting-edge technology such
as AR/VR and generative artificial intelligence
(AI) into a variety of learning environments.
“The program gives students opportunities
to work in virtual reality environments and
learn to use the tools they will have available
in the workforce. They will graduate knowing
how to use them, not just knowing they exist,”
Sadera says.
TU’s accelerated program classes are offered
in person, online or self-paced asynchronous.
Sadera estimates that between three and 10
students attend the in-person courses. “Those
who are virtual are ‘added to the table’, using
telepresence technology so they do not feel
removed from the group,” he notes. “We work
hard to make a unified experience. Before we
accept any student, we ensure the support of
dedicated faculty who have the time to spend
mentoring students.”
Coppin State University is helping teachers
to climb the career ladder – literally. The school
has created an innovative program that includes
stackable credentials, much like a ladder to success. Stackable credits allow teachers to earn
certificates in the short-term while they are
working at a school. Long-term, teachers can
earn an advanced degree to which the credentials would apply.
Coppin State’s center for inclusive excellence (CIE) designed stackable credentials that
will help achieve the goals of the Blueprint for
Maryland’s Future. The curriculum is intended
to offer multiple pathways to accessing education, improving professional effectiveness and
accelerating career advancement. The Pathway
to Professions, (P2P) partners several local
schools who collaborate on ways to advance
teacher education and careers. They include
Coppin State University, Salisbury University,
Baltimore City Public Schools, Dorchester
County Public Schools, Somerset County Public
Schools and Wicomico County Public Schools.
The resulting courses provide ways for teachers to develop and demonstrate knowledge
and skills to better engage their students in the
classroom.
Yi Huang, Ph.D., CIE executive director
and research professor at Coppin State, says,
“We are among the first to introduce Stackable
Credentials that simultaneously increase value
and quality of education, and among the first to
introduce competency-based microcredentialing, which emphasizes three key characteristics
for learning success.”
These can be remembered as the 3Hs, 3Cs
and 3Es. The H is the learning environment
designed around High-Tech, High-Touch
and High-Impact principles. Curriculum,
Co-curricular and Community anchor the
learning experience, and the learning outcomes should demonstrate through Engaging
Self, Engaging Others and Engaging in Diverse
Communities.
“Stackables are multi-year, offering a high
level of opportunity for reimagining how learning and credentials are designed, delivered,
experienced and awarded. The early result is
promising,” Huang notes. The cumulative retention rate since the inauguration in fall 20233 is
87% among the two cohorts.
“Since spring 2024, our first cohort, for
example, had a 100 percent retention rate and
100 percent completion rate, and will be completing the first certificate this May. She continues, “We are proud to lead credential innovation, and we are grateful to our partners. We
want to reach out and invite people to join us in
credential innovation. We need opportunities to
support teachers.”
not just in what they do, but in their core
attitudes in terms of what they want from
the news. Young people are primarily driven
by progress and enjoyment in their lives, and
this translates into what they look for in news.”
It then continues to point out that there
is a disconnect between what younger people
want from their news and what older people
want. Adults over 30 tend to see news as
“what you should know.” These 18-29-yearolds see news as “what you should know (to
an extent), but also what is useful to know,
what is interesting to know, and what is fun
to know.” Those last three – useful, interesting
and fun – are drivers. Implied in the research
is that they are still individuals, haven’t settled
down yet, so what they look for in their
“news” is very personal, just for them, and
it has to resonate for them. If it doesn’t, it
becomes a chore. (UGH)
Pew Research Center, “a nonpartisan fact
tank that informs the public about the issues,
attitudes and trends shaping the world,”
according to its website, has been studying
this subject for at least five years so it sees
trends and shifts in where young people are
getting their news.
“We generate a foundation of facts that
enriches the public dialogue and supports
sound decision-making. We are nonprofit, nonpartisan and nonadvocacy. We value
independence, objectivity, accuracy, rigor,
humility, transparency and innovation.
“Digital devices are by far the most common way all Americans get news, although
a majority (63 percent) get news from television at least sometimes. The portion of
Americans who often get news from TV has
stayed fairly steady over the last few years,
now standing at 33 percent.
“Americans turn to radio and print publications for news far less frequently. In 2024,
just 26% of U.S. adults say they often or sometimes get news in print, the lowest number
our surveys have recorded,” the center states.
What this means
Digging into this data, what we learn is
that news retrieval is extremely fragmented.
Just about everyone gets some of their news
from digital devices. Is that because it’s convenient? Probably. But as you can see, based
on these percentages, no one platform stands
out.
Among those aged 18-29, they regularly
get their news from the following platforms:
Facebook: 38%; YouTube: 40%; Instagram:
40%; TikTok: 39%; X (Twitter): 25%; and
Reddit: 18%. The first four are, statistically,
almost equal.
The platforms used the least for news,
usually two to four percent, are: Nextdoor,
Snapchat, WhatsApp, LinkedIn, Truth
Social, and Rumble. Snapchat, however, does
garner slightly more, 14%, among young
people. As you can imagine, Truth Social,
formerly owned by President Trump, tilts
heavily toward Republicans or those leaning
Republican.
One site that gained users between the
studies done in 2020 and 2024 includes, to no
one’s surprise, TikTok, which tripled its number of visitors. YouTube and Instagram also
gained. Losers include Facebook and Reddit.
One note about the above statistics and
information. Neither Pew nor Reuters looked
at those younger than 18 for where they got
their news.
At the start of this article, I asked a couple
questions:
• Who is teaching them that it’s important
to know what is going on where we live:
our city, our state and our country.
• Where can you find balanced news that
doesn’t skew one way or another?
Parents should make a concerted effort to
educate kids on civics, on how to be a good
citizen. Break through the noise that surrounds every election in this country. A good
website – yes, another online platform – is
the League of Women Voters (www.lwv.org/).
It is by far the most balanced and fair assessment of questions and candidates.
Sitting with your child, reviewing the
information, teaches more than being a good
citizen. You’re educating your young person
on how to do research into issues they may
not know anything about, and it will stand
them in good stead.
Career advancement, from page 1
advisory board to help meet workplace needs.
“These are good examples of the importance
for us to stay connected to the business community in order to develop and adjust curriculum to help our students succeed,” adds
Simkins.
Simkins says that Stevenson also tracks
employers’ feedback on how students perform
in their internships to ensure that they are
performing at or beyond expectations and that
employers were likely to hire students based on
their internship performance.
Enrollment in University of Maryland’s
online MBA program in the Robert H. Smith
School of Business has increased by 52% from
spring 2024 to spring 2025 and to help students
succeed, the school is leveraging its alumni network to aid in networking opportunities, show
career pathways and assist in mock interviews.
Kerry Kidwell-Slak, senior director of
graduate career coaching at the University of
Maryland, says, “Conversations with alumni
are an important tool to help springboard
your career. We encourage our students to
do lots of research on different career paths,
and these one-on-one conversations can open
their eyes to where they may take their career.
These alumni can help students identify their
strengths and how those can be applied to different jobs,” she says.
Mock interviews with alumni are also an
important way for MBA students to practice
their interviewing skills with alumni. “We offer
both in-person and virtual interviews so that
we can engage more alumni from different
parts of the country and different business sectors,” Kidwell-Slak says. “For our alumni, it’s
also beneficial as they become better interviewers in their current jobs.”
Kidwell-Slak says that the school engages with alumni from different job sectors,
management positions and life experiences.
“Especially for underrepresented students, it’s
important for them to interact with professionals who look like them and can relate to their
life experiences,” she says.
While online programs offer flexibility to
allow students to juggle school, work and family commitments, it can be isolating at times, so
these interactions with alumni also provide a
social function as well.
“Our alumni are incredibly busy professionally and personally, but they are willing to give
back to their school and pay it forward for the
next generation,” Kidwell-Slak says.
Kidwell-Slak says that the school maintains
a database of employers who have hired Smith
alumni for potential networking opportunities.
“We also have an online virtual reunion
of Smith alumni with breakout rooms so that
they can reconnect with their peers. It’s a great
opportunity to reach out to those in the field,
and hopefully, when they have the opportunity to fill a job opening, they will think of our
students here at the University of Maryland,”
she adds.
Public Policy, from page 2
offers students the opportunities to work on
capstone projects, policy labs, internships
and fellowships with all levels of government
agencies, think tanks and nonprofits.
Meanwhile, UB’s NextGen Leaders for
Public Service program places participants in
public service internships, which are required
for the MPA. Through these internships,
students apply their knowledge to real-world
challenges faced by public service agencies.
“Students have completed more than 348
internships in government and nonprofit
organizations in Maryland over the program’s
first two years (2023-24),” Patricia Mikos,
manager of the NextGen Leaders program,
says.
As a NextGen participant, Bowers interned
with the Maryland Comptroller’s Office of
Policy, Public Works and Investment, where
he helped research and draft the “State of the
Economy in Maryland” report. He credits
the internship for helping him transition into
government work. “My experience with the
Comptroller’s Office definitely helped me
navigate my first step into public service,”
he says. “I couldn’t have asked for a better
experience than working on the State of the
Economy Report. It meant a lot to be part of a
highly relevant and impactful project.”
Career Outlook and the Future of Public
Service Leadership
Graduates of UMD and UB’s public
administration programs take on leadership roles across governments, nonprofits
and research organizations, including federal, state and local agencies, think tanks and
international institutions such as the United
Nations and the World Bank. Since many
students are mid-career professionals already
working in the public sector, these programs
often serve as a pathway to leadership and
career advancement.
“Our graduates are employed by government and nonprofit organizations, especially
at the state and local level,” says Joe Adler,
program director for UB’s MPA program.
“Many use the MPA degree to build the skills
needed to advance into senior-level analytical
or administrative positions.”
Similarly, UMD’s alumni network spans
public utilities, academia and policy research,
with graduates securing roles in agencies such
as the U.S. Department of Health and Human
Services, the Maryland General Assembly
and the Institute for Governmental Service
and Research.
Even as political and economic uncertainty affects public service careers, the need
for strong leadership in government and nonprofit organizations remains constant. Public
administrators and policy professionals play a
vital role in shaping and implementing policies, managing public resources and driving
innovation in governance.
For many students, these programs provide a gateway to leadership. “Public service
remains critical, offering a strong foundation
for career growth, regardless of political climates,” says Taryn Faulkner, associate director of graduate admissions at UMD.
Bowers sees this firsthand in his work
with Baltimore City. “A career in the public
sector provides a lot of great opportunities
University of Baltimore college of public affairs alum Caleb Bowers presents findings from his research to
stakeholders at Baltimore City’s Department of General Services.
and room for professional growth,” he says.
“There are a lot of incredibly talented and
hardworking individuals who put a lot of
pride in their work.”
Through leadership development, hands-
on experience and practical skills, Maryland’s
universities continue to prepare the next generation of public service leaders – equipping
them with the knowledge and adaptability to
make an impact in government and beyond.
