Southern Utah University

Course Syllabus

Southern Utah University
Southern Utah University
Fall Semester 2025

Professional Growth and Leadership (Hybrid)

EDUC 5076-576

Course: EDUC 5076-576
Credits: 3
Term: Fall Semester 2025
Department: TED
CRN: 33807

Course Description

The Professional Growth and Leadership course focuses on connecting participants with local and global learning communities, fostering collaboration in the adoption and evaluation of digital teaching tools, and developing skills to plan and provide professional learning experiences. This comprehensive course empowers educators to stay current with educational research, effectively integrate technology in their teaching, and lead impactful professional development sessions. The outcome is a transformation into more confident and capable educational leaders, ready to make significant contributions to their communities and the broader field of education.

During this course educators will explore the following topics:
  • Change Management
  • Local and Global Learning Communities
  • Research and Adoption of Digital Tools
  • Professional Learning Models
  • Technology in School Reform
  • Social, Legal, and Ethical Issues in Educational Technology
  • Educational Technology Policy Analysis
  • Equity and Access
  • Digital Citizenship and Professional Responsibility
  • Effective Communication
Educational Technology and Instructional Standards: 
  • ISTE Standards for Education Leaders
  • ISTE Standards for Coaches
  • Utah Effective Teaching Standards

Required Texts

The text is an integral part of this class and will be provided for all participants:
Sheninger, E. (2019). Digital leadership: Changing paradigms for changing times. Corwin Press.
ISBN: 978-1544350837

Learning Outcomes

Learners Will:
  • Examine the role of EdTech leaders and determine defining characteristics of leadership in the digital age.
  • Seek out, join, and participate in local and global learning communities to pursue professional learning and stay current with research that supports student learning.
  • Collaborate with colleagues to identify, adopt, and evaluate digital tools and resources for learning.
  • Critically analyze current district support policies and identify areas of strength and opportunities for improvement.
  • Develop a plan to implement a strategic change initiative for an area of growth at their current site.  
  • Craft a plan that outlines how they intend to communicate with their fellow colleagues during and after the conclusion of this course. 
  • Plan and provide professional learning experiences for a grade level team, department, school or professional conference.
  • Promote the effective use of technology in the classroom by preparing and delivering presentations on current educational technology trends.

Course Requirements

Students must receive a minimum of 70% to pass the course and continue in the Ogden School District Educational Technology Program Endorsement.
Assignment Descriptions: 
Discussion Posts
To stimulate engagement within a local learning community, participants will be expected to write weekly posts that address the weekly ideas and concepts, as well as respond to their peers’ posts.
Digital Leader Profile
Participants will create a Profile of a Digital Leader that highlights and showcases their current understanding of digital leadership knowledge, skills and dispositions. Participants will share their profiles with our local community via our discussion board.
Curated Insights and Resources
Participants will leverage social media and online distribution channels to curate several relevant insights and resources from reputable sources. Participants will share their resources with our local community via our discussion board. 
Digital Learning Tools Reviews
Using a provided template, participants will write reviews for three digital learning tools. Participants will share their reviews with our local community via our discussion board. 
Proposal Presentation
Using a provided template, participants will create a presentation for their team/faculty describing the digital tool, framework, or strategy they would like the team/school to integrate into their instructional practices. This will be the foundation for the professional learning experience assignment. 
Group Policy Analysis
Working within a small group, participants will analyze their district’s current acceptable use policy and user agreements. Their analysis will include areas of strength and opportunities for improvement. 
Professional Learning Plan Group Feedback
Leaders must possess the ability to lead effective and engaging professional learning opportunities. Participants will create a Professional Learning Experience and provide/receive feedback prior to final submission. 
Professional Learning Plan (Substantive Final)
Leaders must possess the ability to lead effective and engaging professional development opportunities. Participants will use their peers’ feedback to revise/improve their Professional Learning Experience.

Course Outline

Course outline will be provided by the instructor.

Instructor's policies on late assignments and/or makeup work

Discussions and other assignments such as the Group Feedback that have a collaboration component will have points deducted for late submissions. Individual assignments such as the Learning Activities will not have points deducted for late submissions, as these assignments are competency based and your grade on these assignments should reflect your competency of the course objectives. All assignment due dates fall on a Sunday night at 11:59 pm (MST), with the exception of discussion peer replies, which are due on the Wednesday following the initial post.

Attendance Policy

Class engagement and attendance is required. This is a Hybrid course, including asynchronous learning and two mandatory face-to-face sessions. The learning outcomes are contingent upon participants' engagement in shared experiences during online discussions and face-to-face collaborative learning activities. If a participant is unable to participate in a face-to-face session, they must notify the instructor in advance.

Course Fees

Course fees for students employed by Ogden School District are covered by the Digital Teaching & Learning department.

ADA Statement

Students with medical, psychological, learning, or other disabilities desiring academic adjustments, accommodations, or auxiliary aids will need to contact the Disability Resource Center, located in Room 206F of the Sharwan Smith Center or by phone at (435) 865-8042. The Disability Resource Center determines eligibility for and authorizes the provision of services.

If your instructor requires attendance, you may need to seek an ADA accommodation to request an exception to this attendance policy. Please contact the Disability Resource Center to determine what, if any, ADA accommodations are reasonable and appropriate.

Academic Credit

According to the federal definition of a Carnegie credit hour: A credit hour of work is the equivalent of approximately 60 minutes of class time or independent study work. A minimum of 45 hours of work by each student is required for each unit of credit. Credit is earned only when course requirements are met. One (1) credit hour is equivalent to 15 contact hours of lecture, discussion, testing, evaluation, or seminar, as well as 30 hours of student homework. An equivalent amount of work is expected for laboratory work, internships, practica, studio, and other academic work leading to the awarding of credit hours. Credit granted for individual courses, labs, or studio classes ranges from 0.5 to 15 credit hours per semester.

Academic Freedom

SUU is operated for the common good of the greater community it serves. The common good depends upon the free search for truth and its free exposition. Academic Freedom is the right of faculty to study, discuss, investigate, teach, and publish. Academic Freedom is essential to these purposes and applies to both teaching and research.

Academic Freedom in the realm of teaching is fundamental for the protection of the rights of the faculty member and of you, the student, with respect to the free pursuit of learning and discovery. Faculty members possess the right to full freedom in the classroom in discussing their subjects. They may present any controversial material relevant to their courses and their intended learning outcomes, but they shall take care not to introduce into their teaching controversial materials which have no relation to the subject being taught or the intended learning outcomes for the course.

As such, students enrolled in any course at SUU may encounter topics, perspectives, and ideas that are unfamiliar or controversial, with the educational intent of providing a meaningful learning environment that fosters your growth and development. These parameters related to Academic Freedom are included in SUU Policy 6.6.

Academic Misconduct

Scholastic honesty is expected of all students. Dishonesty will not be tolerated and will be prosecuted to the fullest extent (see SUU Policy 6.33). You are expected to have read and understood the current SUU student conduct code (SUU Policy 11.2) regarding student responsibilities and rights, the intellectual property policy (SUU Policy 5.52), information about procedures, and what constitutes acceptable behavior.

Please Note: The use of websites or services that sell essays is a violation of these policies; likewise, the use of websites or services that provide answers to assignments, quizzes, or tests is also a violation of these policies. Regarding the use of Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI), you should check with your individual course instructor.

Emergency Management Statement

In case of an emergency, the University's Emergency Notification System (ENS) will be activated. Students are encouraged to maintain updated contact information using the link on the homepage of the mySUU portal. In addition, students are encouraged to familiarize themselves with the Emergency Response Protocols posted in each classroom. Detailed information about the University's emergency management plan can be found at https://www.suu.edu/emergency.

HEOA Compliance Statement

For a full set of Higher Education Opportunity Act (HEOA) compliance statements, please visit https://www.suu.edu/heoa. The sharing of copyrighted material through peer-to-peer (P2P) file sharing, except as provided under U.S. copyright law, is prohibited by law; additional information can be found at https://my.suu.edu/help/article/1096/heoa-compliance-plan.

You are also expected to comply with policies regarding intellectual property (SUU Policy 5.52) and copyright (SUU Policy 5.54).

Mandatory Reporting

University policy (SUU Policy 5.60) requires instructors to report disclosures received from students that indicate they have been subjected to sexual misconduct/harassment. The University defines sexual harassment consistent with Federal Regulations (34 C.F.R. Part 106, Subpart D) to include quid pro quo, hostile environment harassment, sexual assault, dating violence, domestic violence, and stalking. When students communicate this information to an instructor in-person, by email, or within writing assignments, the instructor will report that to the Title IX Coordinator to ensure students receive support from the Title IX Office. A reporting form is available at https://cm.maxient.com/reportingform.php?SouthernUtahUniv

Non-Discrimination Statement

SUU is committed to fostering an inclusive community of lifelong learners and believes our university's encompassing of different views, beliefs, and identities makes us stronger, more innovative, and better prepared for the global society.

SUU does not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, citizenship, sex (including sex discrimination and sexual harassment), sexual orientation, gender identity, age, ancestry, disability status, pregnancy, pregnancy-related conditions, genetic information, military status, veteran status, or other bases protected by applicable law in employment, treatment, admission, access to educational programs and activities, or other University benefits or services.

SUU strives to cultivate a campus environment that encourages freedom of expression from diverse viewpoints. We encourage all to dialogue within a spirit of respect, civility, and decency.

For additional information on non-discrimination, please see SUU Policy 5.27 and/or visit https://www.suu.edu/nondiscrimination.

Pregnancy

Students who are or become pregnant during this course may receive reasonable modifications to facilitate continued access and participation in the course. Pregnancy and related conditions are broadly defined to include pregnancy, childbirth, termination of pregnancy, lactation, related medical conditions, and recovery. To obtain reasonable modifications, please make a request to title9@suu.edu. To learn more visit: https://www.suu.edu/titleix/pregnancy.html.

Disclaimer Statement

Information contained in this syllabus, other than the grading, late assignments, makeup work, and attendance policies, may be subject to change with advance notice, as deemed appropriate by the instructor.