External summary

Learning, teaching, training, and research are profoundly affected by the challenges and opportunities posed by the acceleration of digital technologies in education. Since 2006, the MSc in Digital Education has given professionals in education-whether in higher or further education, schools, NGOs, commercial organisations, and government ministries-the critical insight they need in this fast-moving and richly diverse field.

The Digital Education programme is delivered fully online and is designed as a part-time programme, with most participants studying over a period of 3-4 years. The programme is distinctive for its innovative design, its breadth of scope, the high level of support provided to students and its basis in the research activity of the Centre for Research in Digital Education.

Educational aims of programme

The main aim of the pathway is to provide an opportunity for students to complete a course of study leading to an award based on an academic but applied study of Sport Science. The programme aims are to provide students with the intellectual, practical and research skills that will enable them to ask relevant questions in sport science and utilize appropriate methods to answer those questions, to enable students to understand the principles and application of scientific methods in sport science, and finally, to enable students to apply their academic abilities within the wider community, thus engaging in lifelong learning. To this end students study appropriate discipline-based subjects that underpin sport, physical activity and exercise (such as biomechanics, physiology, sport psychology and motor learning), as well as the application of these principles to participation, performance and excellence in sport.

The social significance of sport with contemporary culture and the organisation, administration, structure, development and provision of sport and exercise in Scotland and the U.K. is also investigated, to allow students to understand the context in which Sport Science takes place. The first year of study reflects the broad study of sport detailed above, with following Levels increasing the amount of discipline-based and applied work until the final year in which students focus on research and investigation in Sport Science (including a major dissertation).

Programme outcomes: Knowledge and understanding

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 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 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.

Programme outcomes: Graduate attributes - Skills and abilities in research and enquiry

Programme outcomes: Graduate attributes - Skills and abilities in personal and intellectual autonomy

The programme will enable participants to:

• develop the critical and conceptual frameworks required 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 programmers;
• develop the intellectual and theoretical frameworks needed to pursue meaningful enquiry in the field of e-learning.

Programme outcomes: Graduate attributes - Skills and abilities in communication

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.

Programme outcomes: Graduate attributes - Skills and abilities in personal effectiveness

Programme outcomes: Technical/practical skills

In completing the programme, participants will:

• develop practical skills in building, designing and delivering online learning environments and programmers;
• 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.

Programme structure and features

The Digital Education programme is SCQF Level 11. There are three awards possible in the Digital Education programme and these are provided as follows along with their respective months to completion:

• Postgraduate Certificate (PgCert): 60 credits. 12-24 months to complete
• Postgraduate Diploma (PgDip): 120 credits. 24-48 months to complete
• Masters (MSc): 180 credits: 24-72 months to complete

As this is entirely a part-time programme, the completion ranges are designed to reflect that.

In order to progress, students must first complete the compulsory 40 credit introductory course, Critical Issues in Digital Education (CIDE). In order to progress to Dissertation, MSc students must complete the compulsory Introduction to Social Research Methods course.

Teaching and learning methods and strategies

The programme is delivered entirely online. With access to a computer with an internet connection, students 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), students will also have the chance to use other technologies such as blogs, virtual worlds, and synchronous text chat as part of your study. 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.

The MSc in Digital Education is structured in a way which enables students to customise it according to their 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 students choose to pursue, they will have the opportunity to:

• participate in a course on the open web;
• formulate an institutional strategy for digital education;
• design their own course through a portfolio of activities;
• nurture online study skills in learners.

In addition, all courses will involve students 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.

Assessment methods and strategies

Career opportunities

Our students are lecturers in higher education, developers of online education in public and private sector organisations, trainers, educational developers, professors, administrators, researchers and school teachers.

They are spread across the globe, from Canada, Iran, Jamaica, Sri Lanka, Kenya, Rwanda, Malaysia, Hong Kong, USA, Mexico, Austria, Uganda, South Africa, Ghana, and many more. We reach across 40 countries at present, with about 35% of our students being based in the UK and 65% from the rest of the world.

After completing the programme our students go on to build careers in the development of online education, as teachers or trainers, faculty, developers, government officials, and more. Many go on to further research and doctoral level study.

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