Western Carolina University - Computer Education Endorsement for Teachers

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Computer Education Endorsement for Teachers

Teachers in North Carolina's K-12 public schools are increasingly being asked to teach classes in computer education and to provide services in computer education. To ensure that teachers are properly trained for such roles the North Carolina State Department of Public Instruction has developed a Special Endorsement in Computer Education (18079). The Department of Public Instruction document describing the endorsement includes the following description:

"Endorsement in Computer Education was established for partial or full-time school computer teachers or computer resource teachers for one or more schools. Preparation for this position should provide educators extensive knowledge and skills to work with students and other teachers to use computers in the on-going instructional program, and to serve as a computer education leader for a school. An individual with the Special Endorsement in Computer Education should have an in-depth understanding of the features, operation, and instructional use of computer hardware and software; the knowledge of two educational programming languages with the ability to teach one of the languages; the skills to select and integrate computer hardware, software, ancillary instructional materials, and peripherals into the ongoing instructional program; and the leadership skills necessary to advise and contribute to school level technology planning. This individual may be identified by a variety of titles such as computer teacher, school computer coordinator, computer resource teacher, computer lab teacher, or computer education specialist. The endorsement is required for teachers of a course coded as computer education (2501), either one per to full time, and those individuals in a position using the special legislative funds for a math, science, or computer resource teacher if the position has been identified to include computer education."

Two options exist for obtaining the Special Endorsement in Computer Education. This document addresses Option 1, which is described in the following quotation from the Department of Public Instruction document.

"Option 1: Individuals with a current North Carolina teaching license and eighteen semester hours of coursework may apply to the Division of Licensure of the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction, submitting the coursework documentation with the necessary personal data (name and address, social security number, current licensure information). The licensure staff will review the coursework for satisfaction of the endorsement competencies."

The College of Education and Allied Professions and the Department of Mathematics and Computer Science of the College of Arts and Sciences have developed a course sequence to satisfy the specified educational competencies. If a student at Western Carolina University satisfactorily completes this sequence, then the College of Education and Allied Professions will recommend the student for the Computer Education Endorsement by attaching a letter to the student's application for certification. The letter would verify that the student has completed at least eighteen semester hours of appropriate credit in computer education and would request that the Computer Education Endorsement (18079) be added to the student's certificate.

Some substitutions for the courses may be approved by the Chair of the Computer Science Committee of the Department of Mathematics and Computer Science. A student interested in pursuing the Computer Education Endorsement should contact the Chair of the Computer Science Committee of the Department of Mathematics and Computer Science for advising and further information. The Chair of the Computer Science Committee is also responsible for ensuring that a student has completed the course sequence.

Course Sequence

The six courses needed are selected from:

Foundation (Both required)

CS 150: “Problem Solving and Programming I”
EDEL 466: “Computers in Education”

Additional Programming Language (Choose one)

CS 130: “Introduction to Computing”
CS 301: “High-Level Languages” (language must differ from that of CS 150)
CS 340: “Introduction to Scientific Computing”
CIS 240: “Business Application Development I”

Systems (Choose two)

CS 350: “Introduction to Computer Organization”
CS 370: “Operating Systems”
CS 465: “Computer Networks”
EET 332: “Microcontrollers”
EET 345: “Introduction to Local Area Networks”
CIS 235: “Foundations of Information Technology”

Advanced Programming (Choose one more course from the Additional Programming Language, Systems, or this category.)

CS 151: “Problem Solving and Programming II”
CIS 340: “Business Application Development II”