University of Manchester, Manchester Institute of Education, MA Digital Technologies and Communication in Education.
These pages provide an introductory overview to core and optional units on the MA DTCE. Students can also select from other units from across the Manchester Institute of Education, these are just a few of the options with links to more information and suggested pre-course readings.
EDUC70141 Educational Technology and Communication (Core)
Educational Technology and Communication (follow this link for more detail and indicative pre-readings) is the foundation of the programme and is a double weighted unit (30 credits). It explores learning as an interaction with an environment, and the roles that technologies, assumptions about teaching and learning, and forms of organisation. The unit also covers:
- basic pedagogical theories and how these are influenced or affected by technology; the nature of reflective practice and its importance for the professional development of educators
- different types of educational technology, and what influence each type can and does have over teaching
- the role of communication in organisational, community and public life, and communicative approaches to decision making and teaching
- how ICT and distance learning change the way we organise and think about education
- the history of the Internet and how this has affected communication, both online and face-to-face
- Appropriate Technology, and what this means for education in the developed world, for those with disabilities, etc.
EDUC70511: Multimedia Design and Development (Optional)
This unit explores the potential of multimedia learning. It will help you
- develop an advanced knowledge and understanding of the role of (digital) multimedia in teaching and learning;
- analyse and critically reflect on relevant research and theory in the field;
- develop relevant skills in the design of multimedia learning materials;
- understand and respond to concerns relevant to multimedia learning including accessibility, the appropriate use of multimedia materials in diverse learning context, pedagogical approaches with multimedia
EDUC70061 Language Learning and Technology (Core TESOL pathway)
This semester 1 course unit is core for those on the TESOL pathway and an option for all others. The unit explores a range of technologies (software/ apps, video material, generic tools such as the Internet, word processing etc) used in language teaching and learning with reference to both classroom practice and self-access application.
Click here to see more detailed information about the unit structure, content and example resources.
EDUC71221 Digital Education Futures (Optional)
This unit explores the way educational technology tools are designed to capture increasingly large and varied data and the analytics and machine learning approaches are designed to analyse it. Click here to find to find out more.
EDUC60491: Theories of Teaching and Learning (Optional)
Though the unit EDUC70410 covers some basic information on the theories of teaching and learning, this unit will go into more detail about major schools of thought on learning theory, key ideas underpinning theories of teaching and learning and how all of these apply to the debates which arise about teaching and learning in a variety of different institutional, policy and cultural contexts.
EDUC61632: Introduction to Educational Video Production (Optional)
This very popular unit, run by Michael O'Donoghue, combines theory and practice in the production or video for educational purpose. The unit explores:
- the role of video-based material in teaching and learning
- practical experience with cameras, microphones, and editing
- storyboarding and shot selection
- interviewing techniques
- approaches to editing
EDUC71242 AI (Artificial Intelligence) Perspectives on Learning (Optional)
This unit explores the development of A.I. tools, theories and concepts that inform understandings of learning and developmental psychology and which in turn draws on these to develop new technologies. The unit explores the ethical considerations for use of A.I. in education and learning informed by work in philosophy of mind. Click here for more details.
EDUC70050 Teaching and Learning Online (Optional)
Click here for more detailed information about the unit.
The experiential aspect of this course unit provides an opportunity for students to explore and reflect on a range of topics intrinsically related to technology use in virtual learning contexts:
- technology and changing educational horizons
- distance and distributed learning
- computer-mediated communications and online learning
- Web2 and its implications for collaborative learning
- building online learning community
- developing learner autonomy
- technology and teacher training and development
EDUC71212 Educating for Sustainability (Optional)
This unit explores one of the most significant questions in education today: How does education need to respond to the social and ecological challenges the world faces today? This is a question increasingly asked in all spheres of education from formal education to informal education and in community and professional contexts. In this unit you will have the opportunity to exlore and respond to this question. In doing so you will
- explore key ideas, terms and pedagogical approaches associated with educating for sustainability. These include explorations of interdisciplinary and intergenerational learning, service learning and place-based learning;
- evaluate existing learning initiatives, activity/course/curriculum development and policy development relating to educating for sustainability;
- develop learning initiatives for a learning context of your own choice
EDUC70551&77901 Sustainable Education Technology Development (Optional)
Build an app! In this unit we work with professional mentors to design and build an educational mobile app.
Why do we do this? The unit explores how edtech tools are designed and developed, to understand what the drivers behind the tools we create and use are. A sustainability lense is applied to these processes to help us think about questions we need to be asking about these tools. Are they really helping learning, or are they reinforcing a problematic system? Are they supporting the flourishing of ourselves and our world?
EDUC61712 Digital, Media and Information Literacy (Optional)
This unit explores the ways in which education has responded to the spread of information and communications technologies through society, and the subsequent demands that both children and adults be prepared to study, work and live in a digital world. It will explore:
- The history of digital, media and information literacy (DMIL) from the early days of ‘computer studies’ to the present time
- Different models of DMIL including functional, phenomenographic and critical approaches
- Questions of whether, and how, we can be taught to navigate information landscapes
Blended Learning in a Digital Age (Optional)
EDUC70441&77081 and EDUC60452 Digital Education Research (Core)
DER1 and DER2 are two core units each worth 15 credits.
DER1 (Semester 1) introduces students to research in digital educational contexts. This includes exploring key principles, debates, and practices of research methods. Assessment comprises a critical review of an digital education article and a more substantial critical literature review on a topic of your choosing.
DER2 in Semester 2 dives deeper into research designs and methods. Assessment involves developing a research proposal and critically reporting on pilot research.
Together both units will help to prepare you for your dissertation.
EDUC75000 Dissertation (Core)
The dissertation is an opportunity for student to show all that you have learned through the taught section of the programme. Students can work closely with one of the DTCE team to explore a topic or problem of interest or design a tool or curriculum as a learning intervention.
There are different dissertation routes on the programme. You can go down an 'empirical research route' where you do a research study with 'participants'. You can go down a 'literature-based route' where you explore the literature as related to a topic of your choice. You can go down a 'design and/or evaluation' route where you can design and evaluate an intervention in a teaching setting such as a change of management practice, a new technological tool, a pedagogical approach using new media, etc. This can be done in conjunction with an outside organisation.
Credits:
Created with images by Giu Vicente - "VR Smurfs" • Daniel Frank - "earth" • Hannah Wright - "I love you painted in various language from around the world on wood" • Markus Spiske - "Hacker binary attack code. Made with Canon 5d Mark III and analog vintage lens, Leica APO Macro Elmarit-R 2.8 100mm (Year: 1993)" • Xavier von Erlach - "Pestalozzi the educator Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi was born in 1746, in Zürich. He devoted his whole life to the education of poor children, and he is considered by many as the creator of modern pedagogy. He founded many schools that served as models across Europe. The Pestalozzi school in Yverdon is among one of the first he created in Switzerland. That's why the city of Yverdon-les-Bains erected this statue in a square named after him. However, in modern times teenagers are quite creative and sometimes a bit sassy. So they added one interesting element..." • William Bayreuther - "untitled image" • Alex Knight - "White robot human features" • mahdis mousavi - "untitled image" • Markus Spiske - "Made with Canon 5d Mark III and loved analog lens, Leica Summilux-R 1.4 / 50mm (Year: 1983)" • Pinho . - "untitled image" • Martin Adams - "Studying in the Library" • Bernd Klutsch - "untitled image"