Postgraduate Course: Digital Playgrounds for the Online Public (DESI11183)
Course Outline
| School | Edinburgh College of Art |
College | College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate) |
Availability | Available to all students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | The purpose of this course is to allow you to engage with the process of contextualising and creating digital media art projects that explore the Internet as a public sphere and playground for creativity. |
| Course description |
The course is directed particularly to the creative aspects of the Internet and digital media. It explores current and emerging artistic practices and theories in the virtual public sphere This course will help to strengthen the academic core of both Digital Design Media and Digital Design Media ODL programmes by supporting the transfer of theoretical aspects of design and digital media into your design practice. The course aims to expose you to discursive frameworks through which your work can be discussed and to enable you to contextualise and reflect on your own creative ideas whilst developing a project.
Indicative topics covered:
Social media art
Art for virtual worlds
Augmented Reality
Creative hacking
Shared creativity online
Artificial Intelligence and creativity
Touch screen creativity
Art apps.
Aims:
To expose you to discursive frameworks through which your work can be discussed.
To enable you to contextualise and reflect on your own creative ideas whilst developing a project.
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
|
Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | This Course does not require any additional costs to be met by the Student. |
| Additional Costs | This Course does not require any additional costs to be met by the Student. |
Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | None |
| High Demand Course? |
Yes |
Course Delivery Information
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| Academic year 2026/27, 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
(
Lecture Hours 22,
Seminar/Tutorial Hours 5,
Feedback/Feedforward Hours 3,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
166 )
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| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
0 %,
Coursework
100 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
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| Additional Information (Assessment) |
1. Project draft, documentation, and reflective report (50%), due mid-semester.
2. Completed project, documentation, and reflective report (50%), due end-semester
Both components address all Learning Outcomes.
Project Draft - focuses on the initial stages of the project, including concept development, experimentation, and early prototyping. It addresses the course Learning Outcomes through both creative and written components. The creative component engages Learning Outcomes 1, 3, and 5 through exploratory practical work using relevant digital tools and techniques. The written component addresses Learning Outcomes 1, 2, 3, and 4 by demonstrating how emerging creative decisions are informed by art and design theory and practice, alongside reflective analysis of the developmental process and initial direction of the work.
Completed project - centres on the refinement, resolution, and final realisation of the project. Building directly on the foundations established in Assessment One, it continues to address the course Learning Outcomes through integrated creative and written components. The creative component further develops Learning Outcomes 1, 3, and 5 through the production of a resolved and coherent final outcome using appropriate digital tools and techniques. The written component addresses Learning Outcomes 1, 2, 3, and 4 through critical evaluation of the relationship between theory and practice, as well as sustained reflection on the effectiveness and implications of the creative decisions made. |
| Feedback |
This course comprises two assessment components, unified by a single project brief articulated through staged processes of design, development, and implementation. The practical work generated for assessment one establishes the conceptual and technical foundation for the subsequent development and resolution of assessment two. |
| No Exam Information |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Gain an understanding of the established and emerging practices and principal theories in digital media art and the Internet as a creative platform.
- Consider the creative potential of Internet tools and platforms and develop critical approach to their use and misuse.
- Contextualise and reflect on your own creative practice in an appropriate written / visual form.
- Successfully communicate ideas and approaches using academic protocols for research and writing.
- Articulate in a creative and original way ideas through the means of digital production.
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Reading List
ATKINS, R., FRIELING, R., GROYS, B. & MANOVICH, L. 2008. The Art of Participation: 1950 to Now, London, Thames & Hudson.
CHANDLER, A. 2005. At a Distance: Precursors to Art and Activism on the Internet Massachusetts, MIT Press.
DIETZ, S. 2009. Public Art 2.0: Media, Technology & Community in the Interactive City. Public Art Review, 11.
GAUNTLETT, D. 2011. Making is Connecting: The Social Meaning of Creativity, from DIY and Knitting to YouTube and Web 2.0, Cambridge, Polity Press.
GERE, C. 2002. Digital Culture, Reaktion Books London.
JENKINS, H. 2006. Convergence Culture: Where Old and New Media Collide New York, New York University Press.
LIESER, W. 2009. Digital Art. [Konigswinter]: Ullmann/Tandem.
MANOVICH, L. 2009. The Practice of Everyday (Media) Life: From Mass Consumption to Mass Cultural Production? Critical Inquiry 35, 319-331.
SHIRKY, C. 2010. Cognitive surplus: Creativity and generosity in a connected age, Penguin.
TRIBE, M. & REESE, J. 2009. New Media Art, Taschen Benedikt Verlag Gmbh.
WANDS, B. 2006. Art of the Digital Age. London: Thames and Hudson. |
Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
It is expected that upon completion of this course you will have gained knowledge of relevant theories and concepts in relation to digital media and acquire an in-depth understanding of a range of specialised tools and applications in this field. You will be able to use of reflection as a tool for supporting and expand your practice and develop original and creative responses through digital means. |
| Keywords | Virtual,Hacking,Online,Artificial Intelligence,Creativity,Art,Social Media,Augmented Reality,Digital |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Denitsa Petrova
Tel:
Email: Denitsa.Petrova@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Miss Barbara Bianchi
Tel: (0131 6)51 5736
Email: barbara.bianchi@ed.ac.uk |
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