Why Two Summers?

“With so many options out there, why pursue a degree through Two Summers?”

UConn Two Summers is a one-year, predominantly-online Master of Arts Degree (MA) / Sixth Year Certificate (SD) program with a very specific purpose:

Make contemporary ideas about Educational Technology more accessible to working educators

Although originally conceived to service K-12 teachers and school district technology coaches, we accommodate other professional fields and disciplines as well, including but not limited to:

    • Library Media Specialists
    • Instructional Designers
    • Game Developers
    • Corporate Trainers
    • University Training Staff
    • Medical / Legal Educators

Two Summers stands out from other online and face-to-face Educational Technology programs because:

    • UConn’s Two Summers Program is forward-looking. Rather than emphasizing a handful of current/trendy technologies, the program aims to help teachers, educators, trainers, and designers develop a theory-based vision for technology use, collect/analyze data, and integrate technology in a variety of instructional environments. You can learn more by exploring the ISTE standards for technology coaches.
    • The program is only one year long (12 months) vs. the more common two years for a Master of Arts Degree / Sixth Year Certificate
    • Two Summers is primarily virtual, designed for practicing educators/professionals who need schedule flexibility. Most of the coursework is completed asynchronously and from a distance.
    • Program instructors include a combination of experts in emergent areas of educational technology (e.g., game-based instruction, transmedia storytelling, contemporary learning theory, assistive technology).
    • Two Summers includes a semester-long practicum through which students apply their skills in the classroom/training environment (dependent on the student’s needs/access).
    • Two Summers includes a number of game-based instructional activities intended to actualize the principles taught across the program’s courses.
    • Cohorts are typically capped at 20 students, allowing for greater one-on-one interaction with faculty/advisors.
    • The UConn Neag School of Education has consistently ranked among the country’s top 20 public schools of education.
    • Application guidelines follow those of the UConn Graduate School, but no GRE scores are required for admission.

 

A Two Summers student experiments with virtual reality