Adult Learning and Leadership Online MA

The Adult Learning and Leadership Program has been approved by New York State to offer a fully online Master's degree program. (As noted below, students can also take some face-to-face workshops and courses if they have access to the College campus.)

Our program is designed for those who design, implement, facilitate, or otherwise support learning and development for adults in many different settings—businesses, non-profits, public sector, healthcare, educational institutions, and community settings. We emphasize leadership for transformative learning and change in today’s rapidly-evolving digital world. The program will help participants to:

• Use effective strategies for learning that take into account leadership, structural and cultural factors in the groups, communities, or organizations in which adults live or work

• Design, deliver, and assess adult learning programs and interventions

• Demonstrate understanding and use of technology for diverse adult learning needs

Students will earn 36 graduate credits and complete an integrative project. Up to 14 credits in the Online MA degree program may be taken in-person.

Core courses include:

FOUNDATIONS (18 credits)

• ORLD 4050 Introduction to Adult and Continuing Education (3)

• ORLD 4053 Facilitating Adult Learning  (3)

• ORLD 4051 How Adults Learn  (3)

• ORLD 5063 Online Teaching and Learning: Applying Adult Learning Principles  (3)

• ORLD 5023 Leadership and Self Development  (3)

• ORLD 5054 Strategy Development as a Learning Process in Organizations  (3)

ADULT LEARNING THEORY AND APPLICATIONS (2-3 credits)

• ORLD 4827 Fostering Transformative Learning (2-3)

• ORLD 4828 Imagination, Authenticity, and Individuation in Transformative Learning (3)

RESEARCH (2 credits)

• ORLD 6914 Learning Communities (focused on research for the integrative project) (2)

ELECTIVE COURSES (13-14 credits)

Electives include, but may not be limited to, courses in adult learning practices, coaching, leadership, conflict resolution, policy and evaluation, technology for learning, and management/information systems. These are tailored to the student’s career goals and can be taken in the Department or elsewhere in Teachers College or Columbia University. Students are required to take a minimum of 6 points total at Teachers College outside of the ORLD Program area to satisfy the Teachers College breadth requirement. 

See recommended elective options below:

Applied Workshops in Adult Learning Practices (online, intensive 2-day sessions):

• ORLD 4815 Developing Critical Thinkers (1)

• ORLD 4844 Helping Adults Learn (1)

• ORLD 4850 Discussion as a Way of Teaching (1)

• ORLD 4855 Learning as a Way of Leading (1)

• ORLD 4860 Teaching Race in Predominantly White Organizations (1)

• ORLD 5815 Critical Theory and Adult Learning (1)

• ORLD 4999 Career Strategy Development as a Lifelong Learning Process (1)

Coaching Specialization:

• ORLD 4060 Coaching from an Adult learning Perspective (3)

• ORLD 5073 Action Learning Design and Coaching (3)

• ORLD 5821 Leveraging EQ to Enhance Org. Effectiveness (F2F) (3)

• ORLD 5822 Building Productive Relationships with SQ (F2F) (3)

• ORLD 5823 Building 21st Century Cap. W CQ (Cultural Intelligence) (F2F) (3)

Leadership Specialization:

• ORLD 4065 Leading Change in a Democratic Society  (3)

• ORLD 4085 Management and Leadership Skills in Practice (F2F) (3)

• ORLD 5061 The Learning Organization: The Digital Workspace (3)

• ORLD 5070 Leadership for Adult Development (3)

• ORLD 5062 Global and Strategic Human Resource Development in Organizations

Other Breadth Course Options, including but not limited to the following (check the Academic Catalog or the Course Schedule for potential prerequisite requirements and whether the course is offered online or in-person):

• CCPJ 4050 Microaggressions in institutional climates: Race, gender, and sexual orientation (3)

• MSTU 4083 Instructional Design of Ed Tech (Online) (3)

• HUDK 4029 Human cognition and learning (3)

• HUDK 5023 Cognitive Development (3)

• HUDK 5029  Personality development and socialization across the lifespan (3)

Culminating Project

Required

The M.A. project is a project-based application to practice.

Guidelines for the Online M.A. Culminating Project are available in the Program of Study Advisement Guides (as downloadable files) located on the Adult Learning and Leadership program website.

Students should meet with their advisor the semester before they plan on graduating to review the guidelines.