Online Graduate Certificate: Youth Informatics
College of Communication & Information
Program Overview
Looking to gain knowledge or expand your role in youth services? With the University of Tennessee, Knoxville's online Graduate Certificate in Youth Informatics, graduate or current graduate students of a master's program can study how youth use and apply technology in diverse settings. Youth informatics explores the connection between youth, technology and community. During our fully online program, you will learn how youth interact with technologies and digital learning spaces, as well as how to foster digital literacy education and conduct research.
Credit Hours
12
Cost Per Credit Hour*
In-State $700
Out-of-State $775
Modality
Synchronous
Admission Terms
Fall, Spring, Summer
*Cost per credit hour is an estimate based on maintenance and university fees. Some programs may have additional course fees. Please contact your department for additional information on any related fees, and visit Tuition and Fees in Detail at One Stop.
Advance Your Career With a Graduate Certificate in Youth Informatics
The Youth Informatics Graduate Certificate Program (YIGC) is an online program that provides valuable information, leadership training, and credentialing to any professional or practitioner engaged or interested in working with youth in various settings, such as school or public librarians, MakerSpaces, and STEM coordinators; teachers, researchers, education administrators, youth group leaders (e.g., YMCA, Boys and Girls Club), and more!
Explore how youth use and apply technology and learn how to promote digital literacy education, conduct and analyze research about youth, and learn how youth interact with and use technologies and digital learning spaces, with the online YIGC program from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, School of Information Sciences.
Program Unique Features
The Youth Informatics Graduate Certificate is an accredited, unique program in library and information science school programs nationwide that provide opportunities for learners and professionals interested in working with youth in various settings.
The courses taken during the certificate include options for experiential learning, similar to the type of hands-on learning that takes place in internships and field placements. Even though fieldwork is not a requirement of the Youth Informatics Graduate Certificate program, the same benefits and learning outcomes have been incorporated into the curriculum. Experiential learning in these courses may include completing projects that may include field visits to organizations that serve youth in various settings, interviewing or surveying information professionals and organization leaders that serve youth in these various settings, conducting and analyzing research, or other forms of learning. Learners gain skills to identify, adapt, and respond to youth needs, challenges, and social issues in an evolving digital landscape.
Accreditation
The Youth Informatics Graduate Certificate program is accredited by The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC), which is the body for the accreditation of degree-granting higher education institutions in the Southern states. The Youth Informatics Certificate program is open to any practitioner with a graduate degree and/or any graduate student currently enrolled in a graduate program.
Featured Courses
The Youth Informatics Graduate Certificate program requires the completion of the following courses:
INSC 583: Introduction to Youth Informatics
Presents essential concepts of the study of youth and informatics; explores the connection between youth, technology, and community. Project-driven, with intensive experiential learning components.
INSC 542: Social Informatics
Causes and consequences of accessing and using information and technologies by individuals, communities, organizations, governments, and society.
PSYC 511: Developmental Psychology
Normal processes of human socialization; physical, cognitive, and emotional development from conception through infancy, childhood, and adolescence.
INSC 593: Seminar in Youth Informatics
Research participation-based course in youth informatics.
Potential Career Outcomes
The Youth Informatics Graduate Certificate program can be applied to many settings and initiatives, including the following:
Artificial Intelligence (AI) in K-12 Education
Community Building Programs
Digital Learning Spaces
Digital Literacy Education
Digital Youth. Youth Research & Development
Public Libraries
System Interface Design & Evaluation for Youth
Youth Mentorship Programs
Youth Service Development
Youth Social Media Education
Youth Social Services
Youth Technology Training
Program Learning Outcomes
Graduates of the Youth Informatics Graduate Certificate program can expect to be able to perform the following:
Apply the general principles, values, and ethical standards of providing information services in a variety of settings and for diverse youth populations.
Comply with the changing responsibilities of the information professional toward youth and use of technology in a culturally diverse and networked global society.
Explain the changing nature of information, information needs, and information behavior in relation to youth in the digital age.
Assess and implement information technologies, systems, sources, and services that serve youth effectively and efficiently.
Analyze research and apply it to inform practice.
Technology & Youth Up to 21 Years Old
The lives of today’s youth are impacted by the use and application of technology more than ever before. It plays a role in shaping how they learn, how they communicate with peers and others, how they conduct themselves, and how they spend their free time. The influence of technology on children and young adults has affected all aspects of their lives including in school, home, and work environments.
The Certificate program equips learners with the knowledge and skills they need to develop an understanding of the educational, social, technical, political, and diverse cultural ecologies that shape the landscape of youth learning, engagement, interaction with, and use of evolving information technologies in various contexts, including but not limited to everyday life practices, classrooms, and at home. The graduate certificate provides a unique opportunity to develop a deep understanding of the cognitive, psychological, political, and technological processes that are shaping youth’s digital learning, practices, and engagement.
— Dania Bilal, professor and coordinator of Youth Informatics Graduate Certificate program, School of Information Sciences
