What is digital education? | with the University of Essex
In this episode we discuss the MSc in Digital Education, available from the University of Essex Online, which uses technology to make learning more flexible. The programme covers online teaching methods, digital tools, and AI in education. It's designed to help students build skills for careers in digital teaching and learning
Participants
- Emily Slade - podcast producer and host, 蘑菇视频黄片
- Dr. Kristina Vardanyan - head of the education department, University of Essex Online
Transcript
Dr. Kristina Vardanyan: I think for me, one of the most exciting things is the opportunity to engage in the most current developments in the field of education.
Emily Slade: Hello and welcome back to Future You, the podcast brought to you by graduate careers experts, 蘑菇视频黄片. I'm your host, Emily Slade, and in this episode we look at the MSc in digital education available from the University of Essex.
Dr. Kristina Vardanyan: I am Dr. Kristina Vardanyan. I'm the head of the education department at the University of Essex Online, and I'm here today to talk about a new, exciting postgraduate program we launched, called Master of Science digital education.
Emily Slade: Amazing. So to begin with, what is digital education?
Dr. Kristina Vardanyan: Well, that's a that's a complex question, but I will try to answer it in a briefly, if you like. So digital education refers to the user of digital technologies, tools and platforms to facilitate learning, teaching and knowledge acquisition. It involves a wide range of formats. This includes online courses, blended learning, virtual classrooms, digital content and interactive learning environments. So digital education aims to enhance the learning experience by integrating technology into education, making it more accessible flexible as well as personalised.
Emily Slade: Oh, amazing. So are you able to describe for us the MSc digital education course?
Dr. Kristina Vardanyan: Of course, our MSc digital education program integrates digital technology with formal academic learning such as learning theories and psychological principles, with a particular emphasis on cognitive load theory, interleaving and other associated principles that often feature within current educational concerns. So this degree explores the changing technology and behavior within teaching and learning through first of all, the development of practical skills with digital technology relevant to synchronous, asynchronous and blended models of learning and through the application of social science research methods within the digital education sphere, so grounding graduates in suitable academic conventions for their further study, if they wish to, in addition to modules which focus on, as I said, philosophical and theoretical underpinnings of teaching and learning, this program offers an opportunity to gain knowledge in digital learning and inclusion digital production methods in teaching and artificial intelligence and education, if you like. I can provide some examples of these modules and what they explore absolutely for example, inclusive practices in education and understandings around neurodivergence have been, you know, have progressed radically in the last 20 years, and the core concern of digital learning and inclusion module is how these beliefs are redefined in the digital space. So focusing on the core principles of blended learning, online education, and how neurodivergence, such as autism, dyslexia and ADHD may be supported in the digital space. In this module, students explore the tensions between efficiency gains associated with digital methods and the potential for cognitive overload, which is very important, particularly for for an online or blended environment. We also have a module called digital production methods in teaching, and this module focuses on the practical production of online learning artifacts and how they may be used within a larger course of learning, so students produce, edit and create a portfolio of digital learning products such as podcasts, video casts, quizzes and other formative assessment artifacts using a range of commercially available software. So after this interesting module, we move on to digital features, artificial intelligence and education module, and this one examines the potential of artificial intelligence to improve education by enabling personalized and adaptive learning experience, enhancing assessments and feedback strategies and also streamlining processes and processes. Teachers in educational organisations. So you can understand how important this module is, considering what is happening around AI, across the world, across the education sector in particular. Yeah, this module is quite an interesting one. It aims to equip students with the knowledge and skills needed to critically evaluate AI based educational tools and systems, so that these are main three modules. But we also, of course, have research methods where students will engage in research focusing on some of the experiences that already had throughout their course.
Emily Slade: Fantastic. Thank you. So how does this course prepare students for their future career?
Dr. Kristina Vardanyan: Well, in order to answer that question, I will probably need to introduce a little bit of what's happening to the education system currently, and digital methods of teaching and learning, as we'll already know, are an emerging technology throughout all levels of formal education, and this is internationally, so more than just web based tools, digital teaching, learning and assessment have changed student behavior and consumption of learning, whether that is on or off campus, with further and higher education activity organically moving to a blended model of course material delivery. So although the pandemic, Covid 19 has accelerated the adoption of such technologies, this new modes of teaching, learning and assessment predated of course, but now we can safely say that the pandemic accelerated both student demand and intensified the need for a digital pedagogy skill set, and this course will prepare students for for that so beyond higher education, technology enhanced learning has been used in all age phases, both that's in UK and internationally, and now it's matured into an integrated part of modern education system. So it is an emerging discipline through all stages of education in which teachers, lecturers, learning designers are retooling and repurposing traditional conceptions of pedagogy for a new learning experience, and this course gives students the flexibility to expand their current teaching practice or take a new direction within the wider labor market. And the practical focus of this program also aims to provide students with new skills, a clear understanding of production values, learning, design and the link of education and technology as it evolves and revolutionises learning,
Emily Slade: Yeah, brilliant. Thank you. So who would suit this course?
Dr. Kristina Vardanyan: Well, we hope everyone. But the course is designed for UK and overseas students, graduates who require flexible distance online learning and are interested in taking the course for personal interest or to enable greater understanding of how to provide quality online experience for their students or staff or whatever they would like to pursue. It also will allow career progression within the field of education. Therefore, it's it's forced. It for students who are interested in the field of education, expanding their knowledge into the digital sphere, Emily Slade: Fantastic. What advice do you have for someone thinking of taking the course?
Dr. Kristina Vardanyan: Oh, undertaking an online course, especially postgraduate, can be, of course, a very rewarding experience, but it also requires strong discipline, effective strategy of managing work life, balance and education. So it would be also beneficial for students to engage in online discussions and co. Collaborate with their peers. It's very important, particularly for an online environment when you're far away and everyone can be across the world. So that's the main way to connect with with peers and your tutors. Our tutors are there to help and support our students. So it's important, I would I would suggest, to take that opportunity and communicate with tutors who have wealth of experience, international experience in the field of education, and of course, finally, take full advantage of our library virtual learning tools as they are designed to support and enrich our students learning experience.
Emily Slade: Yeah, fantastic. What's the most exciting thing about the course? For you?
Dr. Kristina Vardanyan: I think for me, one of the most exciting things is the opportunity to engage in the most current developments in the field of education, particularly with, of course, the rapid growth of AI and implementation of AI in education and digital tools in education. It's a great opportunity to follow what's happening across the across the world in that field.
Emily Slade: Absolutely, that's fantastic.
Dr. Kristina Vardanyan: I would like to just tell everyone to explore, look at the website, maybe, and have a look what the course can offer. It's it's for everyone who's interested in education, whether that's a learning technologist or someone who thinks about learning technology or someone who's interested in education and new tools that are developing. So go ahead, explore and see whether you're you're interested is, it's an exciting time in the field of education, so it's great to be part of it.
Emily Slade: Yeah, fantastic. That's brilliant. Well, thank you so much for your time today.
Dr. Kristina Vardanyan: Thank you very much. Thank you.
Emily Slade: Thanks again to Kristina for her time. For more information on the course, you can head to prospects.ac.uk. if you enjoyed the episode feel free to leave us a review on Apple or Spotify. For full length video version of each episode make sure to check out our YouTube channel @futureyoupod. Thank you as always for listening and good luck on your journey to future you.
Notes on transcript
This transcript was produced using a combination of automated software and human transcribers and may contain errors. The audio version is definitive and should be checked before quoting.
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