What I want to do with the degree...

When I started talking about the fact that I was going back to school, the one question I heard the most (other than "what is educational technology") was "what are you going to do with this degree?"

Although the knowledge and experience gained will undoubtedly help me with in my current position as distance education librarian in the Health Science Center Library, it isn't my long term goal. My ideal position would be as education or instruction coordinator in an academic library. I'd enjoy any type of academic library, but the longer I'm at the Health Science Center Library, the more I think I would love to stay in a health science/medical library. I started my job search at the newly improved job advertisement site offered by the American Library Association. My ultimate dream job would be working as instruction coordinator in an academic health science center. I wasn't able to find that exact position, but I did locate a suitable instructional coordinator position at the University of Southern California. As far as librarian salaries go, the pay for this type of position isn't too bad. Here are the vitals:

Position: Instruction Coordinator
EXPERIENCE AND QUALIFICATIONS
Required: MLS degree from an ALA-accredited program; five years of experience demonstrating commitment to the academic library's role in education, especially for undergraduates; substantive teaching experience and effective presentation skills; knowledge of current theory, practices, and management issues related to information literacy instruction. Experience in instructional design and the development and implementation of web-based instructional tools, including course management systems, to support on-campus and distance learning; experience in formal assessment of instruction. Evidence of strong leadership and interpersonal skills; demonstrated ability to work in a team environment; and excellent organizational and oral and written communication skills.

Preferred: Supervisory experience; prior attendance at the ACRL Institute for Information Literacy Immersion program.

While this particular position doesn't mention a degree in IDT (and none of the positions I found did) it did require the knowledge, skills, and experiences acquired in an IDT degree program. Possessing the Ed.S in Ed Tech will make me more competitve for these type of positions. Even if the degree doesn't give me an advantage over other candidates, I sure will have learned a lot and had some fun along the way...

I'm calling it quits for the night....