Well I'm thinking about going back to school yet again. I am a recent graduate of Ashford Universituy's Online program. Since the economy is been so, well just plain sucks. I feel there may be a need for me to already be heading back to school. I have been seriuous considering Grand Canyon University for there Special Education MA program with cert. I live in NJ and was wondering if it is accept to teach here? I'd love to hear from other student from NJ who have had experience with the program.

Hi, while I did not obtain an MA in Special Education, I did finish up an M.Ed. in Instructional Technology from Grand Canyon University in December of 2007.  The program was rigourous and I learned a great deal.  Classes are 8 weeks and online.  You have a variety of assignments, mostly written papers and projects, you also will do an online portfolio.  You may have 2 group work assignments per class sometimes only 1.  You can obtain certification with their Masters programs, but you should check with your state to see what the requirements are.  My M.Ed. has helped me to obtain a position as an instructional technologist at a local hospital and I also teach at local community colleges.  I did obtain the state of NC's 077 instructional technology licensure for the public schools. Most states require testing requirements to be completed before you teach, in my state of NC thats what a special education teacher has to complete first, but other subjects can obtain a teaching certification as long as they have 24 semester credit hours in the subject they want to teach and then have 3 years to complete the Praxis II testing requirements to become a fully certified teacher.

I'm concerned about the group work, how was that?? I've heard nightmares of people not cooperating wih group work.

I was lucky enough to have great cooperation in my group work projects.  There was one group project, where there was 7 of us and one of us did not do his part.  We emailed the the instructor who contacted him and warned him of his grade.  He didnt want to participate so we were allowed to leave him off our project and he had to do it on his own.  I have found that a quick email to the instructors normally takes care of people who wont participate.  So its not like University of Phoenix, where if someone doesnt participate its ok.

I have had groups as small as 3 people and as large as 7.  It depends on the instructor and how they divide you up.  All in all, GCU is a great place to attend and I havent had any problems there, I am currently a student there once again, I am taking some math courses that will help me obtain a certification in math and the courses will help me with my analysis when doing my dissertation for the doctorate I hope to start in the Fall.

I'm not a big fan of group work.  There was a little of it in my online program at George Washington, but not much, and I was fortunate not to have any major slackers in my group. 

-=Steve=-

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B.S., Info Sys, Charter Oak State College
M.A., Educational Tech Leadership, George Washington University
Doctor of Health Education, A.T. Still University, in progress

SteveFoerster:

I'm not a big fan of group work.  There was a little of it in my online program at George Washington, but not much, and I was fortunate not to have any major slackers in my group. 

-=Steve=-

I agree with you but synergy is still a buzz word now, just as it was in the 90's, so many curriculum specialists think that group work is the key to preparing future project managers and leaders.  At one of the colleges where I am an instructor, it is now mandatory that we implement 2 group projects per 16 week semester, if its an 8 week class, then 1 group project has to be implemented.  This is whether the course is either online or on ground.

SteveFoerster:

I'm not a big fan of group work.  There was a little of it in my online program at George Washington, but not much, and I was fortunate not to have any major slackers in my group. 

-=Steve=-

I agree with you but synergy is still a buzz word now, just as it was in the 90's, so many curriculum specialists think that group work is the key to preparing future project managers and leaders.  At one of the colleges where I am an instructor, it is now mandatory that we implement 2 group projects per 16 week semester, if its an 8 week class, then 1 group project has to be implemented.  This is whether the course is either online or on ground.

scaredrain:

I agree with you but synergy is still a buzz word now, just as it was in the 90's, so many curriculum specialists think that group work is the key to preparing future project managers and leaders.  At one of the colleges where I am an instructor, it is now mandatory that we implement 2 group projects per 16 week semester, if its an 8 week class, then 1 group project has to be implemented.  This is whether the course is either online or on ground.

The difference is that in the real world people working together usually know one another in a different way than fellow students in an online course, and that different dynamic leads to different behavior.  If you know you're going to get a decent grade despite slacking, and there will be little longterm downside because the class will be over and you'll never have anything to do with your groupmates again, you may act a lot differently than if you'll still be working for the same employer.

-=Steve=- 

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B.S., Info Sys, Charter Oak State College
M.A., Educational Tech Leadership, George Washington University
Doctor of Health Education, A.T. Still University, in progress