CERTIFICATION REQUIREMENTS FOR MARYLAND AND ONLINE COURSES

["Keen, Laura" <Laura.Keen@OCC.TREAS.GOV>]

Hello,
I am a professional librarian (MLS degreed) working in a special library in
DC.  I am considering working on requirements that would fulfill school
media certification in the State of Maryland.  I have had no prior
coursework in School Media, Instructional Technology, Teaching methods for
library media, or Children's/Young Adult literature.

I am finding that there are several accredited library schools outside of
Maryland offering courses on online.  Yes, I have checked into the
University of Maryland's programs, but with my work schedule and the insane
traffic in the DC area, it is a real hassle for me to make it to the campus
for classes in person.  Maryland doesn't offer any of their classes online
and doesn't have any plans to do so in the future, according to the faculty
member I spoke with.
The convenience of the online classes is very attractive to me and I
wouldn't have to break my neck getting to class!!

I am having a terrible time finding someone to talk to me about appropriate
courses that would be accepted for Maryland certification at the Maryland
State Department of Education. I don't want to take an online course only to
find out later that it will not be accepted by Maryland's Department of Ed
for certification. Also, I contacted an advisor in the library school at
Maryland about appropriateness of some of the online courses I have in mind,
but was told that she couldn't speak for courses in other schools and
whether or not they will be accepted by Maryland.  She can only confirm that
folks who go thru the school media program at Maryland will be eligible for
Maryland certification. Therefore, she couldn't tell me if courses in school
media offered by schools I am considering would be accepted.   I am
frustrated by all of this and how difficult it is to get some straight
forward information!!!   I can't believe the only way to become certified in
the state of Maryland is by taking the courses offered only by the
University of Maryland.

Does anyone have any experience with this??  Has anyone ever taken online
courses for certification and tried to apply them to to a teaching
certificate in a different state than the university offering the course??
Has anyone gotten school media certification from an online program, and
then tried to transfer the certification to their home state??  Can one take
classes for certification from a number of different schools and then apply
them towards certification, or do a minimum number of courses have to be
from the same institution??

I did search the archives, but couldn't find answers to my predicament.  I
appreciate any and all comments, particularly from folks who have been
certified in the state of Maryland.  I will try to summarize for the list.

Regards,

Laura Keen
Sr. Librarian
OCC
Washington, DC
laura.keen@occ.treas.gov

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