Celebrating Penn State’s online education programs

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Jeni Kocher Zerphy, a K–5 gifted support teacher, is one of many adult learners who chose a graduate degree in education offered online through Penn State World Campus to help them achieve their personal and professional goals. She said her Master of Education in Curriculum and Instruction program coursework has opened up new ways to connect with her students. She often finds herself sharing what she herself is learning about with her students.

“I know I can take whatever I learn from studying and apply it immediately,” she said. “We have made connections together.”

Penn State World Campus in collaboration with the College of Education at Penn State offers more than 20 graduate degree and certificate programs in education.

A legacy of offering graduate degrees in education online

This year, Penn State World Campus is celebrating 25 years since it began offering degree programs online. For students wanting to pursue careers in K–12 education, higher education, counseling, and human services, there are 22 programs online, including the most recent addition, a Doctor of Education program, which will begin accepting applications later this month.

Master’s degree programs in special education, curriculum and instruction and educational leadership broaden students’ leadership skills and knowledge in teaching and educational supervision. Other programs, like the master's in higher education and lifelong learning and adult education, teach students the practical skills needed for careers in postsecondary education and teaching adults as a teacher, trainer, or leader.

The learning, design, and technology graduate program teaches students the impact of technology on learning, while the master’s in organization development and change develops students’ practical skills and knowledge needed to effectively lead change in corporations, government agencies, and nonprofits.

Learning new techniques to teach the next generation

Zerphy completed her undergraduate degree at Penn State and, once she learned of opportunities for graduate school, knew she wanted to continue at the University.

“I always wanted to go back,” she said. “I just have an insatiable love of learning.”

Zerphy said her experience in the graduate curriculum and instruction program has been remarkable. She praised the program’s accessibility for all types of learners and the support from faculty members.

“I’ve had the pleasure of learning with amazing instructors and peers of all ages — and from all over the world,” she said. “[Dr. Elisa Hopkins] is great. I don’t know that I’ve ever had that kind of support, and she gives it to everybody.”

Zerphy hopes to earn a doctorate after she completes her degree in 2024. For her, teaching is about supporting and building up the children in her classroom.

“I want to continue to be somebody my students connect with, and I can be there for them,” she said.

Helping students change their lives

Brianne Gridley is an academic adviser and outreach specialist at Howard Community College in Columbia, Maryland. She began working at Penn State in the Office for Summer Session in 2016 and quickly realized higher education was her calling.

After completing her second undergraduate degree in a Bachelor of Arts in Organizational Leadership program online through Penn State World Campus, she enrolled in the Master of Education in Higher Education program. She liked Penn State World Campus because it felt more accessible, allowing her to maintain a work-life balance, she said.

“I wanted the ability to get a graduate degree in a highly respected program, but I still wanted the flexibility,” she said. “You could tell that the work was put in to give the World Campus program students the same quality and level of experience as the on-campus students.”

During the program, Gridley discovered her passion for serving first-generation and underrepresented student populations. She focused her capstone project on student challenges, which furthered her drive to impact others.

“I knew I always wanted to help people change their lives,” she said.

Incorporating technology to enhance learning opportunities

Samantha Cinque works as an instructional designer at a credit union and is nearing completion of her Master of Education in Learning, Design, and Technology program, in fall 2023. She pursued the degree, seeking new teaching techniques with the incorporation of technology.

She initially began as an educational technology integration certificate student, but enjoyed her coursework so much, she said, that she decided to pursue a master’s degree.

Cinque found what she was learning online was often immediately applicable to her duties at work. She incorporated a “Learn-Do-Connect” process she learned in one of her courses into a new-hire training program.

“So far, the new hires love it and feel like they have learned a lot. Even a trainee with previous banking experience said she thought she learned more in a week with our training than she did in a 10-week training with her old company,” Cinque said.

Developing skills to evoke change

After starting her first job, Leila Farzam discovered a master’s degree would be necessary for future advancements. So, she enrolled in the Master of Professional Studies in Organizational Development and Change program where she was impressed by the course work and the experience brought by faculty members. She learned about theories and foundational concepts, but what made it special was the sharing of professional experiences by faculty members.

Farzam worked full-time and completed the program in one year, graduating in 2016. She credits a lot of hard work as a student and support from her professors for her success. Farzam said the program provides opportunities for research and projects with alumni and industry leaders, to write and publish academic papers, and more.

“That degree program changed the trajectory of my life. I knew I wanted to be in the human capital realm, but the organization development program provided me with a whole new outlook of impacting whole-system change. I ultimately fell in love with learning organization development and was lucky enough to create a successful career in this line of work,” she said.

She ultimately left her job and earned a doctorate in workforce education and development through Penn State's College of Education.

Farzam now serves as the director of organizational development for AARP, where she provides leadership and focus to the enterprise on modernized approaches to identify organizational needs and develop innovated solutions to attain desired results and outcomes.

'Connected' online learning, anytime, anywhere

Sean Rankin always loved learning and believes it is important to keep challenging oneself academically. When he decided to pursue a graduate degree, he wanted a university that embraced a flexible approach to learning, as he works full-time for a global organization.

“Penn State was not only a pioneer in the online distance education space but continued to evolve its practices through utilizing new technologies,” said Rankin, who is in the Master of Education in Lifelong Learning and Adult Education program.

He expects to graduate in 2024 but, he said, has already applied theory to practice in his full-time position.

 “As someone who heads two global teams, overcoming the transactional distance barrier is critically important,” he said. “The theories and practices I have experienced in this course work have helped me improve my global working practices.”

Rankin describes his online learning experience as “connected.” He said his peers and professors do a great job of being accessible and contributing to discussions.

“Each course I am in, I feel supported and challenged by my peers,” he said. “It is part of the culture of Penn State World Campus courses, and we all embrace it.”

Penn State education faculty members encourage connections with program, peers

The online graduate education programs are often taught by the same faculty members who teach residential students at the University.

William Diehl leads and teaches in the lifelong learning and adult education program, which includes a distance education option and certificate program. Diehl said distance or correspondence education as a field began to serve learners who could not get to a physical classroom.

“It was always about the non-traditional learning in providing equity to diverse populations who did not have opportunities that other people have,” Diehl said.

For military learners, Penn State World Campus offers partnerships like the U.S. Sergeants Major Academy Fellowship, which offers scholarships for Army sergeants major to earn a master's degree so they can teach the Army's future leaders.

Students across the world come together online where they bring a vast number of perspectives and experiences.

“When I go into those discussions, it feels as though everyone is there,” said Elisa Hopkins, who teaches in the curriculum and instruction program. “And there’s an opportunity to reflect, to revisit, to go deep into the content.”

Karen “KP” Paulson, higher education program professor and coordinator of online programs and teaching, said the program emphasizes peer connections for students, encouraging them to get to know their cohort members for networking, as well as professional and personal support.

She said the bonds forged in the program make the Penn State World Campus graduation celebrations, which are held at the end of each semester, special to witness.

“It’s just a lot of joy,” she said. “Everybody has worked their butt off and they’re really great role models for their families and their communities.”

Visit the Penn State World Campus website to learn more about the education degree programs that are offered online.