UMUC

Graduate School of Management & Technology - Programs

Master of Distance Education

Distance Education Policy and Management (DEPM) Specialization Description

The core of this specialization is especially linked to the course OMDE 606 Costs and Economics of Distance Education. The course discusses the reason why investment in education is valued by governments and individuals, and how distance education programs are budgeted and costs evaluated.

Note that the goal of the MDE program is to educate managers and leaders in the field of distance education, not technologists or teachers. All specializations present substantial aspects of management competencies.

Career Path

The MDE is a post-graduate program. The overall mission of the program is to educate leaders and managers of distance education and e-learning – a rapidly developing and expanding field.

The professional profile itself is developing and, consequently, job titles are often generic (such as ‘program director’). One needs to read a job description to find out the necessary details about the tasks and job requirements.

Many graduates bring with them competencies from their first degree and professional experience on which they may want to build. For example, some graduates with a technical background, may find that the MDE provides just the ‘added value’ to qualify them as a technical director in a training institution. Such a position would not be available to all MDE graduates, nor would the position be available without the MDE (or an equivalent degree). The careers available for the MDE graduates and their level may also depend on prior experiences and qualifications. (It may, however, be the case that a MDE graduate of the Policy & Management Specialization who has prior specialist ICT competencies may be eligible as technical director.)

The Master of Distance Education program serves a number of careers at mid-, or high-level positions, depending on the prior level of experience of the candidate.

Distance Education Policy and Management

Graduates of the Distance Education Policy and Management specialization, depending on their background can find positions such as:

  • Director of distance learning (or director of extended education; access director; or director of continuing education) (for example, is responsible for the overall planning and management of a distance teaching institution or its distance education department/unit)
  • Project/program manager/director (for example, is responsible for the overall planning and management of a distance teaching project or program)
  • Project management assistant (for example, assists with aspects of the planning and management of distance teaching projects or programs)
  • Coordinator of online instruction (for example, responsible for designing, developing, and marketing of online courses)
  • Financial advisor/account manager (or financial analyst/financial manager) (for example, draws up project or program budgets)
  • Distance learning librarian (for example, sets up resource centers for distance teaching institution; advises on copyright and intellectual property issues)

Requirements

Recommendations

  • Students who wish to improve their graduate writing skills may take COMM 600, Academic Writing for Graduate Students (3).

Core Required Courses

UCSP 611 Introduction to Graduate Library Research Skills (0), to be taken within the first 6 credits of study.

  • OMDE 601 Foundations of Distance Education (3)
  • OMDE 603 Technology in Distance Education (3)
  • OMDE 610 Teaching and Learning in Online Distance Education (3)
  • OMDE 606 Costs and Economics of Distance Education (3)
  • OMDE 608 Learner Support in Distance Education and Training (3)

Core Rules

  • OMDE 601 must be taken as the first course.

Distance Education Policy and Management (DEPM)

  • DEPM 604 Leadership in Distance Education (3)
  • DEPM 609 Distance Education Systems (3)
  • DETT 611 Library and Intellectual Property Issues in Distance Education (3)
  • DETT 615 Assessment and Quality Assurance in Distance Education (3)
  • DEPM 622 The Business of Distance Education (3)
  • DEPM 625 Distance Education, Globalization, and Development (3)

Capstone Course: OMDE 670 Portfolio and Project in Distance Education (3)

Note: Some course names and numbers were updated beginning with the fall 2007 semester. If you began the program prior to fall 2007 and have chosen to follow your original, pre-fall 2007 requirements, you should use the pre-fall 2007 Study Plan for this degree.