1) Ed.D. in Educational Technology
- An online program; no on-campus requirements
- Coordinated by the Department of Educational Technology
- For more information, please see the Ed.D. in Educational Technology Page
2) Ed.D. in Curriculum & Instruction, with an emphasis in educational technology
- A blended program; the bulk of core courses are taken on-campus
- Coordinated by the Department of Curriculum, Instruction, and Foundational Studies
- For more information, please see http://education.boisestate.edu/cifs/programs/doctor-of-education-in-curriculum-instruction/
This table shows some of the differences between the exising Ed.D. in Curriculum and Instruction offered through Boise State University’s College of Education, and the newly established Ed.D. in Educational Technology.
| Ed.D. in Curriculum & Instruction | Ed.D. in Educational Technology | |
|---|---|---|
| Delivery | Blended (most core and research courses must be taken on campus) | Online; no on-campus requirements |
| Cognate Areas | Multiple; Ed.Tech. is among them (9 hours) | Areas of specialization within educational technology (9 hours) |
| Tuition cost for 6 credit hours (projected, Fall 2012) | Resident: $1,800; Non-resident: $2,316 | $2,856.00 (flat rate for resident and non-resident) |
| Master’s degree | Required, minimum GPA 3.0 | Required, minimum GPA 3.0 |
| Credit Hours, post-master’s | 66
Degree Completion |
66
Degree Completion |
| Graduate Record Exam (GRE) | Required; see admissions information for minimum or preferred scores | Required; see admissions information for minimum or preferred scores |
| Program Expectations | Expected to complete 23 hours within 15 months of start | Must enroll in 6 credit hours per fall/spring semester for first two years |
Ed.D. vs. Ph.D.
Both the Ph.D. and Ed.D. are recognized as research degrees by the U.S. Department of Education and the National Science Foundation. However, we recognize an important distinction between the two degrees in terms of focus. Following the line of reasoning about education doctorates created by the Carnegie Foundation (Carnegie Project on the Education Doctorate), the focus of the Ed.D. in Educational Technology is to prepare candidates for professional practice and applied research. In contrast, a Ph.D. degree’s primary focus is to prepare researchers.
The comparison often made is between the person who has a research degree in a medical field versus a person who obtains a medical or osteopathic degree. Whereas the former is critical to the practice of medicine, the researcher is not him or herself engaged in its application in a clinical setting. The latter, a physician who is a specialist or generalist, is analogous to the professional graduating from an Ed.D. program, where the emphasis is on practice and application of educational research. In both the Ph.D. and Ed.D. programs an understanding of how to do research and theoretical connections is crucial, but the education doctorate as we envision it creates a community of learners who attend to the realities of technology as found in a variety of educational settings.
