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Grumpee78
(Graduate) on December 23, 2012
(email verified)
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Two Degrees From Walden
Before going to Walden, check with you school district or state to make sure the degree is approved. If you do not do this, then it is your fault, not theirs. Heck, they even give you a link on the main page when looking at the education degrees titled "Find information about Walden programs and licensure requirements specific to your state". They are also NAEYC recognized for early education. My experience was great at Walden. My state does have them to meet the licensure requirements and I know this because I checked before signing up. In fact, My sister in law graduated from Walden right before me with her masters degree and already has her raise and it was recognized.I have now gotten both my bachelors and am about to get my masters degree through them and found it to be a great experience. Some people complained it was hard, well its school, college, so it should be hard. As far as the e-portfolio program that you do with your degree, each class you take gives you the final week in the class to work on the assignments. They are graded right away and if they feel you need to do more for them, the teacher will email you and give you two weeks to fix it. All of these complaints about Walden sounds like it is coming from people that did not bother to call their state before they started to make sure the degree was covered, that they did not truly read their emails and coursework, or they messed up. I can honestly say I am not a Walden employee because I know sometimes employees come on to make positive comments for their school. I am a student, or was and you can even look up my name in the graduate list from Walden. Laura B Chandler.
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Anonymous
(Graduate) on November 3, 2010
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Walden Science Education K-8
I am writing this review so you might know some of my experience. If you are a science educator and like me feel strongly about getting a masters in science, this is probably the best bet out there. Unlike when I took teaching methods courses, the Walden course program doesn't just tell you things like 'use inquiry,' it actually has you participate in inquiry. Clearly as a science specialist you get far more depth out of experiences than your students would, but the course really helped me jump start ideas in my classroom. I also got a few lab ideas, although the supplies needed may sometimes be too expensive for a typical classroom. A drawback was that if you didn't have as much understanding in a particular area, it was more difficult to discuss with peers. While you would still learn about the topic, there wasn't as much richness without learning the theories behind the lab experiences first. Some of the professors are fabulous at feedback; some are not. I suppose just as with any masters, the level of difficulty steps up quite a bit over time. You definiately feel this and by the last couple courses, it's a time crunch. I was glad it was summer, and the courses accomodate you for that. There's little flexibility with due dates however. It's asking to move mountains to get your assignments early. I tried twice, once with luck. I'm not sure why they're so strict about that. I know the courses progress, but I would have thought that GETTING MARRIED would have been a good reason to get an assignment one week ahead of time. If you can make due with the rigid due dates, the courses are varied and interesting. The company Walden uses to ship materials is deplorable in it's service. The first few shipments they had a slip that said, "Everyone makes mistakes," so you could tell them what broke or wasn't sent. Initially, it seemed okay. After the first few shipments, that slip stopped coming, but the mistakes sure didn't! You may need to do some shopping and scramble to get the equipment to work at times because of this. I do think I learned more than I expected. It was easy to match with my schedule (most of the time). Overall, I'm happy with what I've learned.
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Anonymous
(Graduate) on February 28, 2009
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Education Reform
I finally graduated a month ago and I must say that the program (Master's of Science in Education with Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment specialization) has been worth my time and money. I know that generally people are very skeptical about on-line learning and I do not blame them. As an educator, I concede that people have different learning styles and as adult learners, they are free to choose the method that benefits them the most.
Quality of instruction: There is a wonderful balance of teacher centered learning and student centered learning through out the whole program. Those who are familiar with the world of education know that the ultimate goal of the learning process is to develop self-directedness, self-monitoring, and self-adjustment. For me, Walden's program gave me an excellent opportunity to further enhance my attribute as a life-long learner. I graduated with a 4.0 GPA but let me tell you, it was not as "easy" as many people would have assumed. I loved the challenge! My writing got better and my whole insight about education had changed. The professors were supportive, excellently credentialed, and have authored books on education.
Cohort learning: Online learning brought educators from multiple states together. Different states have different standards and via the online discussion forum, we learned from each other. That is the most invaluable experience for me. As we educators try to promote learning outside the classroom, online learners at Walden experience it first hand. Truthfully, there were colleagues who did the minimum but this phenomenon is not unique to online learning. I remember my friends in Pharmacy school who just got by and graduated with minimum requirements.
Assignments: There were clear expectations on how assignments should look like and how there would be graded. Basically, you will get what you put in. The rubric was clear and if you want to get an A, just follow the guidelines. The assignments were were very thought provoking and helped me exercise the much needed critical thinking skills in today's classrooms. My having difference of opinion with my professors was never viewed as a negative element. In fact, it was celebrated and brought into discussions for further analysis.
Student support: English is not my first language. I grew up in an ESL environment. Therefore, I struggled in my writing but the Writing Center was extremely helpful and supportive. My essays were constantly 2000 words or more due the depth that I chose to discuss the topics in and the writing center staff gave inputs and suggestions on how to improve the essay. It's a lot of work but one should not expect just to "breeze" through graduate school.
I highly recommend this program for teachers who wish to pursue a higher degree in education.
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Anonymous
(In Progress) on May 23, 2008
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Walden master's in education, you decide??
Based on a very good friend’s recommendation I enrolled in Walden’s online (e college) master’s in education program (curriculum, design, and assessment). My friend told me that she had a great experience with the program, I valued her thoughts and opinions. She also told me it was tough, but very doable. Without really looking around too much, I dove right into program. I am set to finish my masters at Walden in 2008.
My experience at Walden has been mixed. Though some of the videos and material was interesting, the workload was extreme, and filled with too much busy work. As a full time teacher, I found it difficult to keep up with and inapplicable to my teaching situation. Due to the space limitations in this blog, I am not able to describe my experience fully. However, if you follow the link below, it will take you to another online college review website where I have explained in detail all of the good, bad, and ugly about my experience at Walden. Please note that I have tried to be objective, and will leave it to you to decide if you want to take this route to get your master’s in education or not.
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