ION Professional eLearning

Certificates

emart2 — Thu, 26 Jun 2025 18:54:14 +0000

Certificates emart2 Thu, 06/26/2025 - 13:54

Propel your career in online learning, administration, and digital accessibility with ION eLearning professional certifications. All ION courses are online, instructor-led, and quality reviewed, which translates into an impactful and accessible learning experience for working professionals. Learn more about our certificate options below and enroll today!

Master Online Teacher Certificate (MOT)

This professional certificate prepares participants with knowledge related to online course design, online instruction, and other issues related to online teaching and learning. These competencies make a master online teacher.

To earn the Master Online Teaching professional certificate, you must successfully complete:

Three core courses
Two electives
The Master Online Teacher Practicum

Students should take all courses before the Practicum, although the elective course may be taken concurrently. All courses in the Master Online Teacher professional certificate program are 8 weeks.

Through the Master Online Teacher coursework, you will create an electronic portfolio that demonstrates knowledge in the areas identified as most important to quality online teaching.

Required Courses

You must complete the following courses to earn the Master Online Teacher professional certificate:

In addition, you must successfully complete two of the following electives:

Suggested Paths

These are suggested paths, but not required.

Instruction

Overview of Online Instruction
Instructional Design for Online Course Development
Student Assessment in Online Courses
Hybrid, Blended, and HyFlex Course Design, Technology Tools for Online Learning, or Universal Design
Cultural Responsiveness for the Online Classroom or Encouraging Communication in Online Course
Practicum

Technology

Overview of Online Instruction
Instructional Design for Online Course Development
Student Assessment in Online Courses
Hybrid, Blended and HyFlex Design and Delivery Approaches
Interactive & Immersive Technologies In Online Learning
Practicum

Support Professional

Overview of Online Instruction
Instructional Design for Online Course Development
Student Assessment in Online Courses
Hybrid, Blended and HyFlex Design and Delivery Approaches
Universal Design or Technology Tools
Practicum

Enroll in the MOT Certificate Program

Master Online Leader & Administrator Certificate (MOLA)

This professional certificate program prepares online leaders, aspiring leaders, and administrators to lead online.

It is a comprehensive professional development program based on the Hallmarks of Excellence in the Online Leadership from the University Professional and Continuing Education Association and provides researched best practices and practical insights from recognized leaders. The courses vary in length from 4 to 8 weeks.

Through the Master Online Leader & Administrator coursework, you will create an electronic portfolio that demonstrates knowledge in the areas identified as most important to quality online leadership.

Required Courses

4-Week Courses

8-Week Courses

Enroll in the MOLA Certificate Program

Enroll in the MOLA Certificate Program

Open Educational Resources for Instruction Certificate (OER)

The OER professional certificate prepares participants to harness the power of high-quality, free educational resources to support student learning. This professional development certificate is offered completely online and is comprised of three 4-week courses and one 8-week course.

Required Courses

You must complete the following courses to be eligible for the OER professional certificate:

In addition, you must successfully complete one of the following electives:

Enroll in the OER Certificate Program

Enroll in the OER Certificate Program

Digital Accessibility for Educators Certificate (DAE)

This professional certificate program focuses on foundational information and specific skills for educators, instructional designers, and other staff who develop digital resources for courses.

The courses provide skills that satisfy the current WCAG standards upon which U.S., Canadian, and European Union accessibility guidelines, policies, and laws are based.

Upon completing this certificate program, you will:

Understand the legal and historical background of accessibility, universal design for learning, and applying these to course design.
Develop accessible Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, and PDF files
Create accessible videos

The courses were developed with educators in mind. The courses explain why and how to make common course materials accessible with free or inexpensive software that is commonly available at many institutions. Technical IT jargon is not used.

Required Courses

4-Week Courses

8-Week Course

Universal Design Principles for Online Learning

Enroll in the DAE Certificate Program

Enroll in the DAE Certificate Program

For U.S. Institutions

An important question to ask is why do our digital materials need to be accessible? The answer is two-fold.

First, federal laws require digital resources to be accessible to the public. Some states, including Illinois, also have laws mandating the accessibility of digital resources for institutions of higher education.

Second, courses that are made accessible to students with disabilities also prove useful students without any documented disabilities. For instance, video captioning helps students who are English language learners or consume content in noisy (or quiet) locations. Making courses accessible means you are providing a better learning experience for everyone.

Digital Accessibility for Businesses and Agencies Certificate (DABA)

This professional certificate introduces the legal landscape of accessibility and universal design to businesses and agencies. Participants will discover and discuss issues regarding accessibility and the gains that can be made from a universal design for learning approach. All courses are online and instructor led.

Required Courses

Creating Accessible Documents for Business and Agencies (4 weeks)
Creating Accessible Videos for Business and Agencies (4 weeks)
Legal Landscape of Digital Accessibility (8 weeks)

Outcomes:

As a result of completing course activities and interacting in discussion forums, participants will be able to:

Discuss disability, disability activism, and the laws, rulings, and policies that govern accessibility.
Explain the importance of web accessibility and understand the history behind it.
Demonstrate knowledge of basic web accessibility supports, such as alt text, keyboard navigation, captions, etc.
Create a plan for implementing accessibility, universal design, and other inclusive teaching strategies in future courses.

Enroll in the DABA Certificate Program

Enroll in the DABA Certificate Program

Micro Certificates

Propel your career in online learning with our professional micro certificates, badges, and CEUs. Micro certificates are short, focused credentials that validate specific skills or knowledge.

Foundations in Online Teaching

Required Courses

Overview of online instruction
Student assessment in online courses
Instructional design in online courses

Enroll in the Foundations in Online Teaching Micro Certificate

Enroll in the Foundations in Online Teaching Micro Certificate Program

Building an Inclusive Classroom

Required Courses

Cultural responsiveness in the online classroom
Encouraging communication in online learning
Universal design principles for online learning

Enroll in the Building an Inclusive Classroom Micro Certificate

Enroll in the Building an Inclusive Classroom Micro Certificate Program

Building an Online Classroom

Required Courses

Foundations of education resources
Foundations of accessibility
Technology tools for online learning
Universal design principles for online learning

Enroll in the Building an Online Classroom Micro Certificate

Enroll in the Foundations in Online Classroom Micro Certificate Program

Building an Interactive Learning Environment

Required Courses

Blended learning design and instruction
Interactive & Immersive Technologies in Online Learning
Universal design principles for online learning

Enroll in the Building an Interactive Learning Environment Micro Certificate

Enroll in the Building an Interactive Learning Environment Micro Certificate Program

Reach out to ion@uis.edu to learn more about stacking these micro certificates to earn the full Master Online Teacher Certificate (MOT)!

Advanced Instructional Design Principles

wstou2 — Tue, 29 Oct 2024 19:12:44 +0000

Advanced Instructional Design Principles wstou2 Tue, 10/29/2024 - 14:12

View Course Sections and Enroll

8 Week Course/Instructor Led/Weekly Modules/Earn a Digital Credential

Discounts

If you are from a community college, please acquire your code from the ION contact at your institution or email ion@uis.edu before registering. Community college members must also use their college email for verification.

Description

This course is a hands-on course that provides theory and praxis in the area of Instructional Design. In 8 short modules, you will learn why Quality Assurance programs emphasize the modification of an online course design, what the best practices are in online course design, and how to create content that will not only please your administrators but also improve student retention and success. Upon completion of this course, you will be able to:

Program

ION Professional eLearning Programs 8 CEU hours

Outcomes

The educational goals of this course include:

Include a welcome module in your course

Provide original teacher media content such as a welcome video and a module introduction video.
Create engaging discussion board prompts that lead to rich and unique conversations among your learners.
Design engaging formative and summative assessments for your course.
Align your learning materials, learning activities, and assessments with your course, program, and institutional learning outcomes.
Create customized rubrics that result in a dramatic decrease of time spent on grading.

Prerequisite

None.

Certificate Series

Certificate elective Course. MOT

Advanced AI

wstou2 — Wed, 24 Apr 2024 14:21:57 +0000

Advanced AI wstou2 Wed, 04/24/2024 - 09:21

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4 Weeks /Instructor Led/Weekly Modules/Digital Credentials

Discounts

Description

AI has the potential to be a valuable tool in education. In this course we hope to capitalize on what you learning in the first AI course and make your journey with AI smoother, richer, and more productive. We'll dive deeper into the workings of AI, its use in your life, both inside and outside of education, and its implications on the future of education.

Program

ION Professional eLearning Programs 4 CEU hours.

Outcomes

As a result of completing course activities and interacting in discussion forums, learners will be able to:

Comprehend the fundamental architectures of large language models
Gain practical knowledge of fine-tuning pre-trained language models for specific downstream tasks
Be able to critically examine the ethical implications of deploying large language models
Be able to evaluate language models effectively
Be able to utilize the principles of effective prompt design, including clarity, specificity, and context-awareness
Understand the nuances of multimodal prompts, combining text, images, and other modalities
Be able to use techniques for identifying and mitigating biases in prompts
Understand how prompt engineering impacts model performance and adaptability
Evaluate prompt quality and its impact on AI model behavior
Understand fundamental concepts of intelligent agent architectures, including reactive agents, deliberative agents, and hybrid models
Understand decision-making processes within agents, such as utility-based decision models, reinforcement learning, and Bayesian networks
Critically examine the ethical and societal impact of intelligent agents
Critically evaluate the ethical challenges posed by AI in education, considering issues such as bias, privacy, transparency, and accountability
Evaluate the effectiveness of policies related to AI adoption in educational setting, including understanding legal frameworks, stakeholder engagement, and the practical steps required for policy implementation
Assess the impact of AI policies on educational outcomes, student experiences, and equity

Prerequisite

AI: The Future Of Learning

AI for Secondary Education

wstou2 — Tue, 07 Nov 2023 14:40:30 +0000

AI for Secondary Education wstou2 Tue, 11/07/2023 - 08:40

4 Week Course/Instructor Led/Weekly Modules/Earn a Digital Credential

View Course Sections and Enroll

Discounts

Description

AI has the potential to be a valuable tool in education. AI can serve as a tool to help students improve their communication and language skills. Through interactions with the model, students can practice writing and speaking more effectively, and learn how to communicate more clearly. The course will help participants become familiar with the technology and be able to evaluate its effectiveness and risks. This four-week course introduces artificial intelligence (AI) and its implications for instruction and learning for secondary education purposes. The course includes numerous web resources, authentic assignments, and engaging discussions with fellow learners on concepts, ideas, and strategies for using AI in the classroom.

Program

ION Professional eLearning Programs 4 CEU hours.

Outcomes

As a result of completing course activities and interacting in discussion forums, learners will be able to:

Provide experience in online education from a student’s perspective.
Enable participants to evaluate, plan for, and apply AI to enhance their teaching and learning experiences.
Equip participants with the ability to recognize and address issues of ethical, social, technical, and emerging trends related to AI in secondary education in order to make informed and responsible decisions.
Provide participants with the ability to address privacy concerns, ethical consideration, and accessibility challenges associated with using AI in the classroom.
Foster participants’ capability to integrate AI tools into lesson planning, student activities, and student assessment and feedback.
Enhance participants’ ability to encourage their students to use AI tools to enhance problem-solving, critical thinking, and AI literacy skills.
Provide an environment where participants can share ideas and experiences related to the use of AI in a secondary classroom and educational practices in general.

Prerequisite

None.

Certificate Series

None

Creating Accessible Videos for Business and Agencies

wstou2 — Tue, 07 Nov 2023 14:32:44 +0000

Creating Accessible Videos for Business and Agencies wstou2 Tue, 11/07/2023 - 08:32

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4 Week Course/Instructor Led/Weekly Modules/Earn a Digital Credential

Discounts

Description

This instructor-led, four-week, fully-online course introduces storyboarding, video production, and video accessibility. Participants will discover and discuss issues in accessibility, as well as learn how to caption external videos and create accessible videos.

Program

ION Professional eLearning Programs 4 CEU hours.

Outcomes

As a result of completing course activities and interacting in discussion forums, learners will be able to:

Produce and share a video on a topic within their field using hardware and software of their choosing.
Evaluate their video and produce a storyboard to better layout a video and incorporate audio descriptions.
Caption an existing video using available captioning tools.
Produce a video based on a storyboard and ensure accessibility of the video, including accurate closed-captions and appropriate audio descriptions.

Prerequisite

None.

Certificate Series

DAE for Business and Agencies Certificate Required Course

Creating Accessible Documents for Business and Agencies

wstou2 — Tue, 07 Nov 2023 14:31:56 +0000

Creating Accessible Documents for Business and Agencies wstou2 Tue, 11/07/2023 - 08:31

View Course Sections and Enroll

4 Week Course/Instructor Led/Weekly Modules/Earn a Digital Credential

Discounts

Description

The goal of this course is to provide an overview of accessibility for written materials in general, with a focus on Word, PowerPoint, Pages, Keynote, Excel, PDF, some HTML, and external vendor products.

Program

ION Professional eLearning Programs 4 CEU hours.

Outcomes

As a result of completing course activities and interacting in discussion forums, learners will be able to:

Understand the fundamentals of document accessibility, including formatting, image use, color use, and more.
Create accessible word processing documents.
Create accessible slide decks.
Understand how to review and edit a PDF for accessibility.
Create accessible spreadsheets or HTML pages.
Read and evaluate a VPAT.

Prerequisite

None.

Certificate Series

DAE for Business and Agencies Certificate Required Course

Legal Landscape of Digital Accessibility

wstou2 — Tue, 07 Nov 2023 14:31:01 +0000

Legal Landscape of Digital Accessibility wstou2 Tue, 11/07/2023 - 08:31

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8 Weeks/Instructor Led/Weekly Modules/Earn a Digital Credential

Discounts

Description

This course introduces several key concepts in digital accessibility, including disability history, disability law, and accessibility implementation. Participants will gain a broad understanding of how disability laws were passed and are currently implemented, as well as how to apply disability regulations and rights in their workplaces. They will also learn specific digital accessibility practices and strategies and will be introduced to concepts of universal design.

Program

ION Professional eLearning Programs 8 CEU hours.

Outcomes

As a result of completing course activities and interacting in discussion forums, learners will be able to:

Understand the federal laws governing digital accessibility, including the ADA and the Rehabilitation Act.
Understand the specific state laws (Illinois) governing digital accessibility.
Analyze the current legal landscape, including recent lawsuits and legislation related to digital accessibility.
Understand the process of drafting a digital accessibility policy for your business, agency, or unit to ensure compliance with relevant laws and regulations.
Understand disability, disability activism, and the laws, rulings, and policies that govern accessibility.
Explain the importance of web accessibility and understand the history behind it.
Demonstrate knowledge of basic web accessibility supports, such as alt text, keyboard navigation, captions, etc.
Create a plan for implementing accessibility and other inclusive practices in your customer service strategies.

Prerequisite

None.

Certificate Series

DAE for Business and Agencies Certificate Required Course

Interactive & Immersive Technologies in Online Learning

khobb2 — Wed, 27 Sep 2023 18:59:54 +0000

Interactive & Immersive Technologies in Online Learning khobb2 Wed, 09/27/2023 - 13:59

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8-Week Course/Instructor Led/Weekly Modules/Earn a Digital Credential

Discounts

Description

This eight-week course explores the integration of interactive and immersive technologies in online learning environments. Participants will examine a range of technologies including multimedia elements, simulations, virtual labs, serious games, and virtual reality to enhance their teaching practices. Participants will develop skills to create engaging and effective online learning experiences.

Course Goals

Familiarize students with the theoretical framework for using interactive and immersive technologies; and their use in online courses.
Enable students to effectively select and evaluate interactive and immersive technologies that can be used in online courses.
Equip students to design, implement, and evaluate online courses that use interactive and immersive technologies to enhance student learning and engagement.

Course Outcomes

Demonstrate understanding of the theoretical framework for using interactive and immersive technologies; and their use in online courses.
Plan for the use of interactive and immersive technologies to enhance student engagement and collaboration.
Analyze how students’ knowledge and skills can be assessed in learning experiences that incorporate interactive and immersive technologies.
Engage in discussions with peers that foster critical thinking and collaboration.
Reflect on personal learning experiences throughout the course and their relevance to professional goals.

Program

ION Professional eLearning Programs 8 CEU hours.

Prerequisite

Requires Overview of Online Instruction or its equivalent

Certificate Series

Master Online Teacher Certificate (MOT) Elective

Overview of Online Instruction

khobb2 — Wed, 27 Sep 2023 18:53:59 +0000

Overview of Online Instruction khobb2 Wed, 09/27/2023 - 13:53

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8 Week Course/Instructor Led/Weekly Modules/Earn a Digital Credential

Discounts

Description

Overview of Online Instruction course is an introduction to online instruction to provide a quality education in a distance setting. As an overview, a number of typical issues relevant to those who instruct in this environment are addressed. Participants will actively discuss topics related to online instruction, learning, facilitation, design, and adaptation to the online environment. Quality online courses connect participants to the resources that lead to the construction of knowledge and problem-solving for real-world tasks. You may take this course without any prerequisites except for the critical non-graded Orientation/Introduction to Online Community provided for you when you registered for the ION program. The Overview of Online Instruction course is typically the first full course taken in the ION Master of Online Teaching (MOT) certificate program although may be taken at any time before the Practicum.

Program

ION Professional eLearning Programs 8 CEU hours

Outcomes

As a result of completing course activities and interacting in discussion forums, participants will be able to:

Identify a topic and learning objectives for an online course module or lesson plan.
Describe online assessment tasks that are aligned to measurable course learning objectives.
Create engaging questions for an online discussion forum to promote critical thinking and interaction.
Explain how meaningful and substantive feedback to classmates can be facilitated during an online discussion.
Determine how instructor feedback can effectively be provided during and after an online discussion.
Describe an online activity that incorporates learning principles.
Determine how meaningful instructor feedback on online assessments can be provided to students.
Create an online lesson plan that incorporates multimedia and microlearning techniques (or existing reusable content) into their instruction.
Identify accessibility design considerations for their online instruction.
Describe copyright considerations for their online instruction.
Interact with classmates and the instructor in the discussion forums.
Discuss issues and trends related to online education.

Prerequisite

None

Certificate Series

Master Online Teacher (MOT) Professional Certificate required course.

External Advocacy and Professionalism for Online Leaders

khobb2 — Wed, 27 Sep 2023 18:51:50 +0000

External Advocacy and Professionalism for Online Leaders khobb2 Wed, 09/27/2023 - 13:51

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8 Week Course/Instructor Led/Weekly Modules/Earn a Digital Credential

Discounts

Description

The purpose of this course is to recognize the emerging global, national, and local entity policies and guidelines that push online leaders to be a driving force to external communities as they represent their institutions. This course will discuss policy updates, strategies for budgeting and acquisition of resources, becoming the voice to external audiences, and how to be actively engaged within the field of online learning.

Program

ION Professional eLearning Programs 8 CEU hours.

Outcomes:

As a result of completing course activities and interacting in discussion forums, learners will be able to:

Associate leadership principles with external strategic alliances
Identify regulatory compliance issues related to online learning.
Articulate, via a professional voice, strategic and operational information relevant to online learning to external stakeholders.
Assess professional development activities for self and team members.

Prerequisite

None.

Certificate Series

Master Online Learning Administrator (MOLA) Professional Certificate required course.