For educators, career development and continuing education is important to stay up-to-date with your teaching skills and innovations. Instead of spending your summer break on-campus or at a workshop, enroll in an online class from USD. We offers quality courses at affordable rates that make it possible to advance your career.
Some programs are funded externally by non-university partnerships as projects or classes. You may earn college credits for the courses, however, the funding to offer the course is provided by the external source or organization.
If you are interested in offering a course for educators through partnership with USD, please contact us.
Inquire About Offering Course(s)
SPED 592: An Introduction to Deafblindness - Course 1
Register through Eventbright Here
Instructor: Brandy Sebera
Dates: June 10, 2025 - July 31, 2025
Location: Online
Credit Hours: 3
Fees: $120
*PLEASE NOTE: This course requires dual enrollment. You must register above through Eventbright first before you can enroll for USD graduate credits.
Course Description: This course will provide online training for school-based educators and clinicians to enhance the capacity to serve and educate students who have sensory disabilities including deafblindness and high intensity needs. The content of this course is aligned with the standards published by the Council for Exceptional Children. The participants will have 45 hours of online instruction (3 graduate credits) to incorporate the skills and techniques which are beneficial to students with deafblindness and high intensity needs.
ELED 592: Differentiated Kindergarten: Practical Strategies for Engaging Kindergarten Classrooms
Register Here
Instructor: Tricia West
Dates: June 16, 2025 - June 17, 2025
Location: Canton PAC, 800 N Main St, Canton, SD 57013
Credit Hours: 1
Fees: $40
Course Description: This two-day intensive course is designed for kindergarten teachers but is also appropriate for those working with grades above or below, with adjustments for student age, skill and ability levels. The course focuses on practical, age-appropriate strategies to enhance classroom engagement, motor skills development, and academic success. Participants will explore topics such as Morning Work, Fine Motor Activities, Sensory Integration, Handwriting Help, Movement, and Math Stations. Emphasis will be placed on activities and tools specifically tailored to the needs of kindergarten learners while allowing flexibility for adaptation to other grades.
EDFN 592: Family Engagement 101
Register Here for USD Credits
Instructor: Pamela Lange & Morgan VonHaden
Dates: July 16, 2025 - August 8, 2025
Location: Online
Credit Hours: 1
Fees: $40
*Please Note: You must register through Canvas first before you can enroll for USD transcribable credits.
Course Description: Research shows that when families and schools work together, everyone benefits. Most importantly, students feel safe to learn, to explore, and to grow. Family Engagement is a buzzword in education, but what does it really mean? In this course, participants will explore the answer to that question as they practice multiple strategies that can be used to build relationships with families while learning how to leverage their strengths in order to support their child, your classroom, and your school. In addition to strategies, participants will explore the latest research around family engagement and gain access to research-based tools for immediate use within classrooms.
Register Here through Canvas
EDFN 492: Family Engagement 101
Register Here for USD Credits
Instructor: Pamela Lange & Morgan VonHaden
Dates: August 25, 2025 - December 9, 2025
Location: Online
Credit Hours: 3
Fees: $120
*Please Note: You must register through Canvas first before you can enroll for USD transcribable credits.
Course Description: Family Engagement is key to the success of students, especially your hard-to-reach students and families. With over 50 years of research, family and community engagement in education is foundational for child development, student achievement, school improvement, and family and community well-being. This class will provide guidance to pre-service educators, practicing educators, educational leaders, and/or administrators through the research and best practices of family engagement.
Register Here through Canvas
EDFN 592: Family Engagement 101
Register Here for USD Credits
Instructor: Pamela Lange & Morgan VonHaden
Dates: August 25, 2025 - December 9, 2025
Location: Online
Credit Hours: 3
Fees: $120
*Please Note: You must register through Canvas first before you can enroll for USD transcribable credits.
Course Description: Family Engagement is key to the success of students, especially your hard-to-reach students and families. With over 50 years of research, family and community engagement in education is foundational for child development, student achievement, school improvement, and family and community well-being. This class will provide guidance to pre-service educators, practicing educators, educational leaders, and/or administrators through the research and best practices of family engagement.
Register Here through Canvas
ELED 492: Kindergarten Academy: Differentiated Kindergarten: Practical Strategies for Engaging Kindergarten Classrooms
Register Here
Instructor: Tricia West
Dates: June 16, 2025 - June 17, 2025
Location: Canton PAC, 800 N Main St, Canton, SD 57013
Credit Hours: 1
Fees: $40
Course Description: This two-day intensive course is designed for kindergarten teachers but is also appropriate for those working with grades above or below, with adjustments for student age, skill and ability levels. The course focuses on practical, age-appropriate strategies to enhance classroom engagement, motor skills development, and academic success. Participants will explore topics such as Morning Work, Fine Motor Activities, Sensory Integration, Handwriting Help, Movement, and Math Stations. Emphasis will be placed on activities and tools specifically tailored to the needs of kindergarten learners while allowing flexibility for adaptation to other grades.
AHED 790: LERN Recruiting and Retaining Adult Students
Register for USD Credits Here
Instructor: William Draves
Dates: June 2, 2025 - August 29, 2025
Location: Online
Credit Hours: 3
Fees: $120
*PLEASE NOTE: This course requires dual enrollment. After registering for USD credit and paying the tuition fee, you must also register with LERN. The LERN link is below.
Course Description: Students will learn:
- Design techniques to enhance communication with prospective adult students and generate registrations.
- Master techniques for integrating traditional print as well as digital communication to effectively recruit and retain adult learners.
- How to measure the effectiveness of print as a recruitment tool and how to increase the impact of print media in recruitment.
- Understand the relationship between print communication and digital communication and how these two techniques enhance the effectiveness of each other.
- How to integrate communication strategies to create engagement and stimulate participation by adult learners.
- Have a more in-depth understanding of advanced important recruitment concepts that are the foundation for improving enrollment results.
- Be able to apply advanced recruitment concepts to the practical how-to practice of creating both digital and print communication.
- Increase your confidence in the effectiveness of your own recruitment efforts.
- Know how to provide the rationale and customer behavior reasons behind successful marketing strategies and why they work so well.
- Possess the knowledge to apply the best practices to marketing campaigns and efforts.
Register Here with LERN
ELED 592: PBL Summer Institute Introduction and Application
Instructor: Melissa Hittner
Dates: July 28, 2025 - July 31, 2025
Location: In person in Jefferson High School, Sioux Falls, SD and Online
Credit Hours: 2
Fees: $80
* Please Note: You must first Register Here before you can enroll Here for graduate credits.
Course Description: Participants will plan a project-based learning (PBL) unit utilizing a project snapshot based on the model of PBL used in the Jefferson HS Project Based Learning Academy. The Project Based Learning Academy has worked in conjunction with the New Tech Network and the Buck Institute for Education. Participants will gain an understanding of the fundamental principles and classroom management strategies of a PBL classroom, and will work with experienced instructors and students immersed daily in the project based learning model.
SEED 592: PBL Summer Institute Introduction and Application
Instructor: Melissa Hittner
Dates: July 28, 2025 - July 31, 2025
Location: In person in Jefferson High School, Sioux Falls, SD and Online
Credit Hours: 2
Fees: $80
* Please Note: You must first Register Here before you can enroll Here for graduate credits.
Course Description: Participants will plan a project-based learning (PBL) unit utilizing a project snapshot based on the model of PBL used in the Jefferson HS Project Based Learning Academy. The Project Based Learning Academy has worked in conjunction with the New Tech Network and the Buck Institute for Education. Participants will gain an understanding of the fundamental principles and classroom management strategies of a PBL classroom, and will work with experienced instructors and students immersed daily in the project based learning model.
