Prospective Students
An Introduction to the course
Why this degree? | Why Manchester?
What you will study | Distance or face-to-face?
An iPod - one of many technologies you could employ on the MA: DTCE
Welcome to the web site for the MA in Digital Technologies, Communication and Education (DTCE). The degree’s objective is the use of digital technologies, the broadcast media, and/or interpersonal, group or organisational communications techniques to enhance practice and the professional and academic development of educators in technology-rich environments. It is aimed at educators in any subject or setting, from primary schools to universities and in the corporate and informal sectors too.
This page is supplementary to the enrolment web page, which contains more practical information.
It addresses the question: why enrol on this degree?
Why study this degree?
The MA DTCE seeks to help you answer the question of how digital technologies can and should be integrated into education. This applies to any educational setting, from primary education, through secondary, to higher education; in work-based and community based training programmes, cultural (museums and art galleries) and health education; and in home education and the informal educational processes of society and the media.
Digital technologies influence education in many different ways: they affect the way we teach, but also help administer education, advertise it (as with this page!) and communicate with fellow learners and teachers. They even force us to rethink ideas of what education is, or could be.
The range of “digital technologies” is wide:
- desktop and laptop PCs and Macs
- palmtops and PDAs
- mobile telephones (a.k.a. cellphones)
- iPods and other MP3/MP4 players
- web-based communications technologies such as Skype
- social software or “Web 2.0″ technologies such as blogs, wikis, You Tube, Facebook etc.
- digital cameras and video/audio recording devices.
All are increasingly likely to be found in education, whether brought in by employers, teachers, or students. But how can we use these technologies to organise our educational experiences more effectively? How might they improve the quality of our teaching, training and communication with others – and how can we guard against the fact that used badly, they may damage it? How can we possibly keep up to date with rapid change: what planning and evaluation strategies can we use to cope? How can we empower people to develop creative responses to such rapid change?
The MA: DTCE is also concerned with the role of the broadcast media in education, and how the prevalence of satellite and Internet-streamed broadcasting affects what we think and learn. These media, and the internet, have led to huge increases in the amount of information available to the average person. In the face of such a glut of information, how can we sustain our ability to learn from it? How can we judge the quality of information? What is the impact of government policy around ICT and the media?
The MA DTCE will help you answer these questions and more. Through a combination of practical skills and theoretical study you will learn about the history of educational technology and media, the principles on which they are based, their applications in the present time and their possible futures.
The MA: DTCE can be studied part-time or full-time, and by distance learning as well as in Manchester. For more information on all these modes of study, read on.
Why Manchester?
Manchester is one of the Europe’s premier universities. Its merger with UMIST in 2004 made it the largest campus university in the UK. In 2007 Manchester’s careers service was voted the best in the UK for the fifth year running by the Association of Graduate Recruiters. It has an excellent record at helping alumni further their careers (see the profiles page).
Its tradition in both education and computing is a long one. Indeed, in the 1940s, the campus hosted the first ever working computer in the modern sense. We now host the Manchester Computing Centre, home to several supercomputers and the High Performance Computing laboratory.
Manchester also co-hosted (with the University of Southampton) the ESRC-funded Elearning Research Centre. The School of Education itself has a strong research interest in the use of digital technologies in education and also a portfolio of teaching in this area: as well as the MA DTCE we offer the MA Educational Technology and TESOL.
Manchester itself is a dynamic, modern city with a vibrant culture. The cost of living is less than in London. It is conveniently located, with a major international airport, and two hours by train from the UK’s capital. In Old Trafford, home of Manchester United, it has one of the world’s most famous sports stadiums: nor must we forget the City of Manchester stadium (see picture), home of Manchester City and the 2002 Commonwealth Games. The Manchester Museum of Science and Industry is one of the country’s finest. Its club and music scene are world-famous. Manchester lies on the edge of the Pennine Hills, and a short journey south of the Lake District, England’s finest countryside.
Follow the link to read more about what the university can offer you as a student.
What you will study
This information is a summary only. More detailed information, particularly regarding the requirements for the different levels and modes of study, can be sent to you on request: use the contact details on the main enrolment page, or look at the information in the “current students” section of this site (the page on course units and teaching).
MA DTCE
The MA requires 180 credits’ worth of study:
- The Development of Educational Technology
- Communication in Education
- Researching DTCE (30 credits)
- Dissertation (60 credits)
- plus 60 other credits of your choice (see list below)
List of course units
Note that other course units are available from the School of Education’s wider portfolio. However, in practice, most course unit selections are made from the list below. Please note this list reflects the unit timetable as it will stand in the 2010-11 academic year.
SEMESTER 1 (these units are taught from late September to mid-December: course work is usually submitted in January)
- The Development of Educational Technology: How have theories of learning influenced the historical development of the field from the 1930s to the present day? [All students, regardless of mode of study, do this course unit in their first semester.]
- Communication in Education: Social, cultural, personal and political issues related to the use of new technologies in education will be explored through students’ own practice.
- Multimedia Design and Development: how to evaluate and design educational web sites and other forms of online materials.
- Using and Managing ICT in Schools and Colleges: Of particular interest to students who work, or may go on to work, as teachers or managers in schools, colleges or other primary and secondary institutions.
- Researching Digital Technologies, Communication and Education: Why is research important? What traditions and schools of research exist? How can and should research be criticised? How should a research project around digital technologies and communication be designed? [This is a 30-credit course unit which extends into semester 2. Part-time students do not take it until their final year.]
SEMESTER 2 (these units are taught from late January to mid-May: course work is usually submitted in June)
- Evaluation and Design of Educational Software: How are ICT solutions designed and evaluated? (The screen shot below is of some video-based teaching content used in this course unit.)
- Teaching and Learning through Emerging Technologies: What will be the educational impact of new technologies such as iPods, or communications media like blogs or wikis? What might happen in the next ten or twenty years?
- Introduction to Educational Video Production: What use can be made of video material in education? This unit also develops expertise in writing storyboards and filming techniques using a digital video camera.
- Media and Information Literacy: what impact have digital technologies had on the making of meaning and culture, the management of information, and the implications for educational practice and management?
- Teaching and Learning Online: Gain experience of, and insight into, the use of various online teaching environments including Second Life.
- Independent Supervised Study: Design your own course of study in collaboration with your personal tutor. This would be suitable for students with a specialist interest not otherwise catered for in our portfolio. This includes the completion of “client-based projects” in which you work on and evaluate a project on behalf of a client, who could be your employer, ourselves, or a third party organisation.
Distance or face-to-face?
We recognise that in the 21st century, students increasingly seek education for professional development, but that they are not always in a position to take a year’s leave of absence from their jobs (and possibly families) in order to come to the UK and study. As a result, we offer each of the DTCE course units in an online form as well as face-to-face. We consider there to be no difference whatsoever between the face-to-face and online versions of the degree. Distance and on-campus students interact in many different ways on the degree; assessments are shared; and online materials equivalent to face-to-face classes are always available. On occasion, on campus students take classes as online students, and then reflect on the experience: we believe that only in this way can students come to fully understand the impact of digital technologies and online communication on education.
We recognise the contradictory aspects of educational technology; that on the one hand, students and teachers alike have an interest in pushing boundaries and exploiting emerging technologies in their teaching. On the other, there is a need to address “digital divides”, and not exclude people from education simply because they cannot afford the latest technology, or their local infrastructure is struggling to keep up. We have therefore designed our learning environments to meet this double-headed challenge.
Indeed, because you will be both using and learning about digital technologies in education, we use the course environment as an arena for your own experimentation. As Marshall McLuhan once famously said, “The medium is the message”. Students on the MA DTCE, whether working in Manchester or in their own homes and workplaces, actively reflect on the technologies they use and can immediately apply them in their own teaching.
Regardless of whether you choose to study online or face-to-face, for a 60-credit Certificate or the full MA, we hope you are interested in applying for the Digital Technologies, Communication and Education course. If so, you can do so through the enrolment web page.
