Early Childhood Education Concentration

About the Concentration	Accreditation	Online Delivery
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Program Benefits	Course Descriptions	News
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About the Concentration:

Lock Haven University is offering Early Childhood Education Concentration courses that will meet the new requirements for continuing education for PreK Early Childhood Educators. These courses can be taken separately or can be taken as the elective coursework for one of our other online Master of Education Programs (Alternative Education and Teaching and Learning). The Early Childhood courses and both MED programs are offered 100% Online.

Professional Preparation:

The Early Childhood Education Concentration is appropriate for those with current PA ECED certification or certification in another area who are interested in increasing the depth and breadth of their knowledge and skills as early childhood educators.

Those from a variety of other disciplines may benefit from these courses as well (sociology, social work, psychology, etc.).

Program Benefits:

Nationally Accredited Through NCATE|
National Board for Professional Teaching Standards Alignment
Meets Continuing Education Requirements
Convenience of Online Delivery
Low Out of Pocket Expenses

Course Registration:

Students can register for these courses as a non-degree seeking student in a matter of minutes, via the online Walk-in Registration form. For more information visit the website at: Walk-In Registration

Graduate Enrollment Information in an M.Ed. Program:

For information on enrolling in either the MED Alternative Education or Teaching and Learning click here.

Course Descriptions: (Click here for Complete Listing)

ECED 605 Advanced Child Development
A review of theories for viewing diversity in development from infancy through middle childhood. These theories are then applied to key diversity factors shaping development. Students are provided with the opportunity to explore several of these factors in-depth and to examine and analyze the implications for teaching and learning.

ECED 610 Childhood Play: Theory and Practice
An in-depth look at play theories, and the importance of play in child development and learning.

ECED 615 Family, Community & Educational Collaboration
An overview of frameworks for viewing educational collaboration from a family and community perspective. These two factors are explored in-depth to examine and analyze their implications for teaching and learning.

ECED 620: Assessment, Observation, and Evaluation
A detailed look at various methods of assessment and evaluation, theories of measurement, and the role of assessment as an essential part of the instructional process.

ECED 625: Leadership in Early Childhood Education
Designed to provide graduate students with opportunities to identify and examine critical leadership issues in early childhood education programs for children from birth to age 5. Leadership is defined broadly to include leadership within the early childhood program (e.g., with staff and families) as well as in the community and in advocating for the field.

Accreditation:

The Early Childhood Education Concentration Courses and Master of Education programs offered by Lock Haven are fully accredited through the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE).

The courses are aligned with the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards. Aside from the certification process the program provides skill and knowledge sets indicative of an accomplished teacher.

On-line Delivery:

This program takes advantage of leading edge technology to deliver the curriculum. Streaming audio, streaming video, threaded discussion, journaling, real-time chat discussions, document sharing and other instructional methods make it possible to create active and engaged learning communities. The discussions are tremendously engaging and the opportunities for learners to explore areas of interest and bring findings back to classmates for discussion, input and feedback are highly valuable to the process.

Test Drive the On-line Delivery System
A interactive tutorial program has been built to allow interested students to Test Drive our On-line platform with an interactive guide through a variety of features of our course software.

To access the tutorial follow this link Test Drive Online Delivery

Press Releases:

New Agreement Provides Seamless Transfer of Early Childhood Education Student From Penn College of Technology to Lock Haven University: (Complete Press Release)

In addition, techniques including scripting and live chat will be of tremendous value. As a supplement to the technology, we will also be able to structure assignments in a fashion that allows students to audio or video tape behaviors and mail the results to the instructor.

In addition to the individual work, group work can be accomplished in an online environment through document sharing, e-mail, threaded discussion and other capabilities. Teams will have the opportunity to work on projects such as matching curriculum to standards, writing a grant proposal, generating a model for an ideal alternative school based upon best practices, and developing simulations or role plays for social skills modeling.

LHU Department of Early Childhood Education received two grants: Projects Focus on Childcare and Early Childhood Education (Read Full Article)