How is the programme taught?
The programme is delivered entirely online. With access to a computer with an internet connection, you will have a great deal of flexibility in terms of where and how you study, while at the same time engaging in a structured, designed and supported experience alongside other students on your courses.
Our students experiment with a wide range of technologies, so while many courses have their home base in a virtual learning environment (Moodle), you will also have the chance to use other technologies such as blogs, virtual worlds, and synchronous text chat as part of your study. You will have full access to the digital resources of the University of Edinburgh, including the digital collections of the library.
All courses are taught through a combination of independent study and group activities. Just some of the many different kinds of activities on the programme include:
- in-depth discussion board conversations
- collaborative authoring
- optional synchronous tutorials
- building and socialising in virtual worlds
- open educational resource building
- individual and group blogging
- fast-paced text chat
- creation of visual and digital assignments
- exchange of ideas and resources using social media
What courses are delivered when?
This is shown on the course delivery table. Each course runs over one semester – approximately 12 weeks. Details of semester times are available.
What are the programme’s formal learning outcomes?
The programme will enable participants to:
- demonstrate in-depth practical knowledge and specialist skills in a range of applications and environments for delivering online programmes in post-compulsory education and training
- become confident educational innovators and informed practitioners in the meaningful and effective use of digital technologies for learning
- critically engage with key theories of learning and assess how they are affected by the shift into the digital environment
- show a critical awareness of the ways in which engagement with digital media and Internet culture impacts on and alters modes of interaction and communication within the learning context
- position themselves as e-learning practitioners within the broader social, cultural and policy contexts of technology use
- develop awareness of the importance of continuing professional development in the field and the ability and confidence to continue to pursue further academic, professional and technical expertise in digital education.
The programme will enable participants to:
- develop the critical and conceptual frameworks required in order to take an informed, professional approach to the use of new technologies for learning
- negotiate and evaluate the multiple strands of theory and academic knowledge which converge on the field of e-learning from the disciplines of education, technology studies, media and cultural studies, sociology and psychology
- assess the relationship between theory and practice in the professional deployment of new learning technologies
- synthesise knowledge of the conceptual and theoretical issues relating to the use of such technologies into an understanding of their institutional and political contexts, their social effects and their impact on student learning and course design
- develop the ability and confidence to craft their own innovative and creative proposals for meaningful learner engagement with online programmes
- develop the intellectual and theoretical frameworks needed to pursue meaningful enquiry in the field of e-learning.
Professional, subject-specific and practical skills
In completing the programme, participants will:
- develop practical skills in building, designing and delivering online learning environments and programmes
- be able to demonstrate practical knowledge of a range of leading edge applications for the delivery of online programmes of study
- become skilled online communicators in a variety of synchronous and asynchronous modes
- learn how to manage groups online, and how to craft learning opportunities which engage meaningfully with the digital environment
- gain the ability to plan and execute projects for the effective implementation of online learning in their own professional contexts
- learn to critically assess the policy constraints operating around learning technology use in their own organisation
- develop the ability to reflect on their own professional practice and performance
- learn how to apply key theories of learning
- gain the key skills and critical knowledge necessary for conducting research in the field of digital education
- plan and undertake high quality independent research.
Participants on the programme will gain skills in:
- conducting and maintaining effective communication in online environments
- critical thinking
- reflective practice
- the use and design of web-based environments
- independent learning and self-management
- collaborative group working in online contexts
- written communication in modes specific to the digital environment
- the maintenance of interpersonal relationships in the online mode
- time management and organisation
- information management
- research planning, data gathering, analysis and reporting.
What will I learn on this programme?
The MSc in Digital Education is structured in a way which enables you to customise it according to your own interests and professional needs. It offers a combination of the hands-on experience which is essential to practising education and training in the digital age, and exposure to the theoretical and conceptual issues which make the field so intriguing and exciting to study.
So, depending on which programme options you choose to pursue, you will have the opportunity to:
- participate in a course on the open web
- formulate an institutional strategy for digital education
- design your own course through a portfolio of activities
- nurture online study skills in your learners
In addition, all courses will involve you in investigating fascinating conceptual issues, for example how the digital environment changes the way we construct knowledge, the politics of digital education and the digital divide, and the ways in which video-gaming might affect post-school education and training.