Each year, LDT admits approximately 15 students with diverse backgrounds in the arts, sciences, humanities and professional or technical studies. The program is designed for persons who aim to develop new and better ways to use information technology and new media for learning. LDT graduates continue on to professional work and study in a variety of roles in K-12 schools, school technology support agencies, colleges and universities, nonprofit organizations, and the corporate world. Students tailor their electives, projects, internships, and extracurricular activities to meet their career aspirations. The LDT seminar, required courses, and the informal activities associated with the program help to create a learning community in which individuals pursue personal career agendas and directions, taking substantial initiative and responsibility for their own learning while also participating in teams where they take joint responsibility for ambitious projects.
Students study behavioral, cognitive, and situated perspectives on learning.
In the LDT Seminar, they apply these perspectives in the design of principled, empirically grounded solutions to educational problems. Each LDT student also spends 10 hours per week for nine months as an intern in an appropriate field setting where design problems are being addressed under realistic conditions. Students are encouraged to tailor their electives, projects, internships and extracurricular activities to meet their career aspirations.