Postgraduate Course: Digital Education: Literacies (EDUA11474)
Course Outline
| School | Moray House School of Education and Sport |
College | College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate) |
| Course type | Online Distance Learning |
Availability | Available to all students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | There are many forms of literacy in circulation - digital, information, media, political - that are intended to help people interpret, understand, or critically evaluate messages in their digital environments. These forms of literacy are often responding to a crisis; for example, the proliferation of misinformation and its effect on public opinion. These issues are complicated. Literacies can be a proxy for understanding epistemology, and who and what to trust. This course takes a critical overview of these literacies to help understand the implications for digital education.
Students who are not studying on the Digital Education (MSc/PGDip/PGCert) programme who wish to enrol for this course must liaise directly with the programme secretary before enrolling. |
| Course description |
With an abundance of digital information constantly available at our fingertips, Houser (2020) has described the current moment as one characterised by infowhelm: 'that state of being overcome by the onslaught of information, especially information that is contested' (p21). At the same time, authors such as McIntyre (2018) have written about this period as one which is 'post-truth': in which truth may have become less important than the ability to make unsupported statements with confidence. In this course, we will explore the complex landscape of media and information literacies in the current context of digital education. We will consider carefully the ways in which digital platforms and environments shape knowledge, including taking the opportunity to explore the workings of those with which we are most familiar, such as Google and Wikipedia. The course will support the development of digital media and information literacy practices, as well as encouraging reflection on the development of the literacies of other student groups, clients, or co-workers in educational contexts.
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
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Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | None |
Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | None |
| High Demand Course? |
Yes |
Course Delivery Information
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| Academic year 2025/26, Available to all students (SV1)
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Quota: 0 |
| Course Start |
Semester 2 |
Timetable |
Timetable |
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
200
(
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
196 )
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| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
0 %,
Coursework
100 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
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| Feedback |
Not entered |
| No Exam Information |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Critically engage with shifting literacies concepts such as 'information literacy', ¿digital literacy¿, and 'algorithmic literacy'.
- Critically examine your own information seeking practices.
- Critically reflect on the development of the information-seeking practices of your students, clients and/or co-workers in educational contexts.
- Demonstrate a critical understanding of issues related to the publication, circulation, and re-use of information, and the role of digital platforms in shaping knowledge.
- Engage with information as an element of social and political power.
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Reading List
Bruckman, A. S. (2022). Should You Believe Wikipedia?: Online Communities and the Construction of Knowledge. Cambridge University Press.
Cox, A. (2024) ¿Algorithmic Literacy, AI Literacy and Responsible Generative AI Literacy¿, Journal of Web Librarianship, 18(3), pp. 93¿110.
Fricker, M. et al (2020). The Routledge Handbook of Social Epistemology. Routledge.
Haider, J. and Sundin, J. (2022). ¿Educating for media and information literacy¿ In Paradoxes of Media and Information Literacy: The Crisis of Information. Routledge. pp91-116 [Chapter 5]
Head, A.J., Fister, B. and MacMillan, M. (2020). ¿Information Literacy in the Age of Algorithms: Student Experiences with News and Information, and the Need for Change¿. Project Information Literacy Research Institute.
Houser, H. (2020). Infowhelm : Environmental Art and Literature in an Age of Data. Columbia University Press.
McIntyre, L. C. (2018) Post-Truth. MIT Press.
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Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Not entered |
| Keywords | Digital literacy,Infowhelm,Post-truth,Social epistemology |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Philippa Sheail
Tel: (0131 6)51 6238
Email: P.Sheail@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Ms Annemarijn Huizinga
Tel:
Email: ahuizing@ed.ac.uk |
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