Visual Impairment Teaching Endorsement and/or Masters Degree Program
- About
- Tuition & Fees
- Courses
- Tech Requirements
- Application Process
- Contact Us
| The Program | ||
The Department of Special Education and Communication Disorders at the Barkley Memorial Center of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, in cooperation with the Nebraska Department of Education, the Nebraska Center for the Education of Children who are Blind or Visually Impaired (NCECBVI) offer a graduate level program leading to a teaching endorsement in Visual Impairments. This unique program is offered online during the academic year with a few weeks of skill-based courses for two summers at the Nebraska Center for the Education of Children who are Blind or Visually Impaired. Students are admitted every other year and proceed through a specially structured sequence of classes. This provides a small, supportive learning community. The program is structured with a specialized visual impairment course offered each fall and spring and two courses each summer across a two and a half year period. Upon completion of courses in the visual impairment sequence or concurrently, students will add a course focused on multiple disabilities and six credits of self selected special education electives. Student teaching is individualized and these experiences can be embedded throughout the students' program.
Methods of Delivery: Courses during the academic year (fall and spring semesters) will be delivered via Internet through Blackboard, a learning management system. Students can access their courses through any computer meeting the minimum computer requirements and may begin at blackboard.unl.edu. Internet or phone-bridge required courses may be scheduled weekly or periodically. Summer courses require on site attendance at the Nebraska Center for the Education of Children who are Blind or Visually Impaired campus in Nebraska City, Nebraska, located along the Missouri River south of Omaha and 50 miles east of the UNL campus. Housing is available at the center at a low cost or hotels are available. For more information: Please visit http://www.unl.edu/barkley/sped/vi/index.shtml |
 Who Should Consider This Program?
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| Resident Tuition Cost: | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Non-Resident Tuition Cost:
Tuition rates are effective as of 7/1/09 and are subject to change in July of each year. UNL Office of Scholarships and Financial Aid provides information about low-interest student loans.Nebraska teachers enrolled in graduate programs may be eligible for special forgivable loans from the Nebraska Department of Education. For students admitted into the VI program, tuition waivers have been provided in the past for the core VI courses. Financial assistance is based upon the availability of state and federal funds. We hope to continue to provide this assistance. |
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| Program of Study | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
For course descriptions view our catalog
All graduate students in endorsement programs follow the same procedures and requirements for student teaching. The Visual Impairments Student Teaching Handbook will be provided to each student. Additional requirements for the Master’s Degree:
(EDPS800 Foundations of Educational Research is available online at UNL, but requires a prerequisite course of Statistical Methods.)
For the degree, the student must complete at least 18 hours of graduate work after being admitted to the master’s degree program by the Graduate Studies through the Department of Special Education and Communication Disorders. Courses required for the endorsement may be used for the master’s degree requirements but no course may be over six years old at the time of graduation. A student does not need to be admitted to the Department of Special Education and Communication Disorders for a master’s degree before taking the first course for endorsement purposes. Students must be admitted to the VI before applying to the master’s degree. A student does not need to be admitted to the Department of Special Education and Communication Disorders for a master’s degree before taking the first course for endorsement purposes. Students in the program must be able to read and write Braille to the extent that he/she can prepare materials for teaching VI students in his/her subject area and can read assignments written in Braille by students. This level of proficiency can be obtained by completing Braille Codes and Material Adaptation for VI and the Nebraska Braille Proficiency Test (NBPT). An application for taking the NBPT can be obtained from . |
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| Tech Requirements | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
High speed Internet connection is required. Check the Graduate Distance Catalog to learn the specific requirements for your program.
Older versions of the above or alternative browsers (such as Mozilla and Opera) may be compatible, but some features might not be available. To download the latest browsers, click the “help” button in Blackboard (My.UNL) and access the Downloads area. Operating Systems:
Note: Using Blackboard with AOL:
While you can use AOL as your service provider, you cannot use the AOL Web browser to access Blackboard (My.UNL). If you try to use the AOL browser, you will find that it will automatically log you out every few minutes and you will experience problems with some of Blackboard’s services including assessments (tests and quizzes). If you are an AOL user, once you’ve connected to the Internet, use a different Web browser to access the Internet. |
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| Application Process | |
Required by Visual Impairment Program
Required by Special Education and Communication Disorders Master's Degree Requirements:
Endorsement Requirements:
Application Deadline Rolling admissions, contact the department for more information. |
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| For information regarding courses offered and department admission contact: | |
Department of Special Education & Communication Disorders
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Extended Education & Outreach 900 North 22nd Street P.O. Box 888805 Lincoln, NE 68588-8805 Phone: (402) 472-2715 Fax: (402) 472-4345 E-mail: Web: onlinegraduate.unl.edu |
