Special Education is a specialized field in teaching that designs curricula that addresses the needs of special children.
It is different from regular curricula in that it follows a specific standard of education adaptable to children with special needs.
Teachers practicing in this field need to take extra courses on top of their Education courses in order to be trained to handle special needs children.
Online Courses for Special Education
The internet has become an excellent venue for taking non-credit and credit courses. If it’s online courses for Special Education that you are looking for, you’re sure to locate several that can suit your purpose for taking Special Ed. courses.
For an introduction to Special Education, the University of Wisconsin-Colleges Online program has an online course titled EDU 300: The Exceptional Individual.
The title alone speaks just how special these children are. This is a three-credit course that aims to introduce would-be Special Ed. teachers to the world of special needs children.
The lessons included here will equip teachers with the proper knowledge and skills to assess and understand the needs of special children.
Teachers taking this course will also learn the various types of special needs of children who fall under this category.
This will enable them to address the individual needs of kids under their tutelage which will likewise help them create a curriculum specific to each child’s needs.
Graduate Courses in Special Education
DePaul University based in Illinois has a Special Education-Online Endorsement Program that provides graduate courses for students already holding a Bachelor’s Degree in Education as well as a valid license to teach.
The online courses cover a wider scope and are designed to equip teachers with lessons that will help them advance in their career as well as be more effective in reaching out and teaching children with special needs.
The courses should be taken according to a specific sequence designed by the university: Survey and the Characteristics of the Exceptional Learner, Psychological Tests and Methods in Diagnosis, Teaching Students with High Incidence Disabilities I and II, and Teaching Students with Low Incidence of Disability I and II.
The first course, Survey and the Characteristics of the Exceptional Learner, is a prerequisite course for Teaching Students with High Incidence of Disability I and II, and Teaching Students with Low Incidence of Disability I and II.
Also, the courses will require students to do at least ten hours of field work which they can complete within their own classroom or the school where they currently teach.