ITeach: Certification in Higher Ed Inc. provides certificates to career academics (sessionals, adjuncts, graduate students, and teaching- and research-stream faculty), or anyone teaching adults, whether in higher education, the workplace, or other courses or programs, either in person or online. 

In this era of upskilling and micro-credentials, you want to make sure you have what you need to be successful. ITeach: certification will benefit you in several ways, it will:

1. Expand your knowledge about learning and teaching.
2. Build your leadership skills. 
3. Accelerate your career advancement.
4. Potentially increase your compensation and stabilize job security.
5. Promote respect and recognition from peers and colleagues.
6. Create a greater network and peer-to-peer interactions.
7. Show your commitment to developing your knowledge and skills. 
8. Validate your abilities to employers.
9. Make yourself more desirable on the academic job market. 

Certificates (registration available soon):

ITeach: certificates are:

• Offered online through asynchronous delivery.
• Delivered in the English language.
• Composed of a series of modules with authentic up-to-date curricula and competencies relevant to potential employers.
• Designed with a mastery approach; therefore, each module’s learning outcomes must be achieved before moving onto the next module. When complete, you will receive your certificate and a descriptive letter indicating the outcomes and competencies you achieved.
• Designed to be completed in no more than 30 hours, but you will be able to proceed through the certificate at the rate comfortable for you.
• To be completed within six months.
• Practical. At the end of each certificate, you will have outputs that you can use immediately in your teaching. The work you do in each certificate is for your purposes. 
• Suitable if you have prior experience in higher education or teaching adults. Therefore, you:
  • have an undergraduate or college degree,
  • have or are currently enrolled in a Masters or Doctorate program,
  • hold an instructor position in post-secondary, 
  • have years of teaching experience, or
  • are teaching adults in person or through online courses.
• Cost effective and highly valuable micro-credentials. Each module is valued at $197.00 USD. Therefore, if a certificate has four modules, the cost is $788.00 USD. If a certificate has six modules, the cost is $1182.00 USD. If you do not complete the course within six months, you may retake the certificate at the advertised cost. 

Testimonials:

Why is seeking certification important?

Increasingly throughout the world, institutions in higher education, governments, or governing bodies are requiring those who teach in post-secondary to hold a credential indicating that they are qualified to teach. In tandem, there is an increase in online and blended courses, initiatives to increase the quality of teaching, and in contingent faculty positions. For example, in the United States, two-thirds of faculty members in 2021 held adjunct status (Conway & Tobin, 2023). Further, as futurist Alvin Toffler predicted, people now need to learn, unlearn, and relearn continuously through their career.

What all have in common is that academics and those teaching adults are all content experts but not necessarily experts in learning theories and how to teach. Due to the increase in the requirement for teaching recognition globally, whether someone is teaching online or in person, within post-secondary institutions, for the government, in business, organizations, or to bring their knowledge base to clients around the world, it is necessary to provide this important certification. ITeach: fills this important gap. The target audience for certification includes graduate students, faculty, trainers, entrepreneurs, or anyone who teaches adults, anywhere in the world, whether online or in person. 

Many institutions across the world offer certificate programs for graduate students and faculty from that institution but there is a vast range of commitment associated with certificates, ranging from completing a few workshops to recognized accredited programs (Palmer, 2011; von Hoene, 2011). Some countries throughout the world require teaching certificates in tertiary education but the opportunity to attain a certificate that qualifies someone to teach in higher education is not always easily accessible. There are many individuals who did not have the opportunity to attain a teaching certificate while a graduate student. The same is true for faculty. Time is limited and there are many demands. Further, increasingly, hiring committees for academic positions require evidence of teaching proficiency.

Faculty currently holding a position at an institution may want to attain a teaching certificate to enhance their skills, for tenure and promotion, required by the institution, or if looking for another position by enhancing their possibility to be competitive. A significant proportion of new faculty hires each year come from practice (up to 50% at some institutions), such as engineering, law, nursing, and medicine and lack knowledge and experience teaching, with some even lacking experience as a teaching assistant. 

For business trainers, entrepreneurs, or anyone teaching a course about any topic, they will gain valuable skills that will make their courses, lessons, and teaching more impactful.

No matter what or who individuals are teaching, it is imperative and an ethical responsibility, that those who teach have training in the theory and practice of teaching and how people learn before they teach.

In short, certification:

• demonstrates professionalism (differentiates those who have sought certification and those who have not) (Gilley & Galbraith, 1986; Harland, 2020); 
• enhances self-esteem and builds confidence (Johnson, Yukselturk, & Top, 2014; Korpan, Gounko, & Jarisz, 2024; Ryan & Deci, 2000); 
• increases financial rewards (Damitio & Schmidgall, 2001); and 
• connects individuals to ongoing sources of relevant information (Fertig, Zeitz, & Blau, 2009).

About me

I have over 18 years experience in Educational Development in Higher Education and over 35 years related to workplace learning. As the former Director of Teaching Excellence at the University of Victoria, I garnered significant experience in developing programs and courses, teaching undergraduates, graduate students, and professors, and mentoring many about learning and teaching in higher education. In 2017, I was honoured with the Educational Developers Caucus Leadership Award for my national work related to educational development. My research focuses on early career academics’ first teaching in the academic workplace. This work and my expertise has been and continues to be shared with institutions around the world, such as Canada, the United States, China, Uganda, Pakistan, and Ghana.

To your teaching success!