04-14-2024 Education - Flipbook - Page 7
The Baltimore Sun | Sunday, April 14, 2024 7
New graduate programs
address workforce needs
Opportunities from digital communications
to special education and library sciences
By Gregory J. Alexander, Contributing Writer
I
n today’s business environment, if you
don’t have a concise, well-planned digital communications strategy, you are
missing out on effective ways to reach
your current and potential customers.
The same goes for nonprofit organizations,
government agencies, religious entities and
sports teams. With this in mind, Goucher
College will launch a Master of Arts in digital communications this fall.
Siobahn Stiles, Ph.D., director of the program, says that digital and strategic communications graduate programs are in demand,
but what makes Goucher’s unique is its curriculum.
“Students in our program take several
courses in both the strategy and audience
analysis arena, as well as digital production,
which is unusual,” says Stiles. “That way, they
will graduate with skill sets in both areas.”
Stiles says that today’s communications
specialists and journalists need to skilled in
an array of different areas, including storytelling, video, editing, podcasts and more in
order to execute a successful campaign from
start to finish.
For example, on the strategy and branding
side, students take a course in foundations in
strategic communications, while a course in
digital arts production provides more technical skills. Stiles adds that a digital media
innovations course will include content on
artificial intelligence – “something that will
be a part of all of our lives,” she notes – while
also stressing the importance of the digital
ethics and social responsibility course.
“Studying the impact of digital communication in ethical and socially responsible
ways is one of our core learning outcomes
in the program,” she says. “With the onset
of A.I. and the impact of social media in our
lives, ethics needs to be embedded in any
communications course.”
As a professional program, students in
the program take a capstone course in order
for them to build an online digital portfolio,
which will aid in the job search. The online
synchronous format allows for flexibility,
while also having one class a week with fellow students and the instructor.
Another area where there is a high
demand of specialized professionals is
special education. This summer, Loyola
University Maryland launched a new Master
of Education in special education program
for educators in order to provide equitable
education and effective services to children
with mild to moderate disabilities.
Program Director Monique Yates says
that the program is suited for recent bachelor’s-level graduates in education, those
currently teaching in the field and career
changers.
“We are focused on equipping candidates
to work with students with diverse learning
needs. Students in our program will gain
clinical, in-classroom experience from the
start so that the pedagogy can be applied
in the classroom through this field experience observing children with disabilities and
working with teachers,” Yates says.
The teacher residency model allows
Loyola’s masters students to work alongside
mentor teachers to gain real life experience.
“They also become active members of the
school community,” Yates adds.
Yates says that students will also gain
leadership skills and learn how to be advocates for students with learning differences
and their families to ensure that they are
receiving the same public education as their
peers.
“Students with disabilities do not graduate high school or attend a four-year college
at the same level as other students,” says
Yates, who was a special educator herself.
“Special education includes physical, emotional and learning differences.”
To assist working professionals, the flexible, hybrid program allows students to complete the program at their own pace within
five years.
For students choosing to major on information science, a career path that may not
immediately jump to mind is library science.
However, at the University of Maryland,
Katherine Worboys Izsak, Ph.D., associate
dean for academic affairs at the college of
information studies (iSchool), explains that
having UMD’s combined Bachelor of Science
in information science and Master of Library
and Information Science program housed in
SOAR
ABOVE
Siobahn Stiles is director of Goucher College’s new Master of Arts in digital communications
the iSchool makes sense.
“It can be eye-opening for our undergraduate students. Unless they have done
an internship in a library, they are not fully
aware of what today’s modern library is. This
program exposes them to how high-tech the
field of library science is,” Izsak says.
The accelerated program allows students
to complete a combined bachelor’s and master’s degree in five years by allowing students
to enroll in graduate-level courses beginning
in their junior year. In the bachelor’s program, students develop a range of technical
skills, including database design, information architecture, and web and mobile development, and then pivot to a comprehensive
foundation in both research and practice in
library and information science.
Izsak says that two courses – “Fake
Checking”: Battling Misinformation and
Disinformation in the Real World and
Information Organization – are used by
the school to assess aptitude for library and
information science skills.
Students can also opt to utilize 18 credits
of MLIS electives to complete a specialization at the graduate level in areas such as
archives and digital curation, diversity and
inclusion, and legal informatics.
Izsak says that there are myriad career
paths with those who complete the combined Bachelor of Science in information science and Master of Library and Information
Science program at UMD.
“Graduates can land jobs at public and
academic libraries, but there are many other
opportunities out there beyond a library
system. For example, managing business
records in a corporate environment, working
in the intelligence community, community
engagement in a social work setting, digital
curation, as well as working in government
archives at institutions such as the Library of
Congress in D.C.,” she says.
AND
BEYOND
Find a fulfilling education at a Top 10 public HBCU. Ever since we opened
our doors 138 years ago, University of Maryland Eastern Shore has been welcoming students to
a community that nurtures aspirations, develops potential and celebrates everyone’s passions.
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