Masters in Education for Learning, Design & Technology

One of the intriguing aspects to the marriage of technology and education is the variety of career tracks that are developing around it. The MEd for Learning, Design & Technology starts with a macro view of this combination, providing students with an informed perspective on the goals for traditional education and the contribution that emerging communications technologies can contribute to the process.

This MEd option teaches the student to evaluate all types of learning environments and the goals they are designed to meet. The school classroom is one of those environments and an important one, but just one of several. Mastering this skill set can lead to a career designing corporate training programs, organizational development plans, or public sector communications concepts. This field began as an outgrowth of instructional technology, the utilization of technology in the classroom, and has become what is a fully formed professional niche that incorporates digital design with learning theory.

Learning, Design & Technology Foundations

The curriculum will provide an overview of learning environments, a thorough review of learning theory, and the tools to assess how teaching functions in those environments - and how it can be enhanced with technology. Students learn the basics of education in concept and in practice. They are brought up to speed on the digital tools being employed in learning situations today - the software, the hardware, and the changes that have directed the development of educational technology.

With those basics, a MEd in Learning, Design & Technology student is charged with taking a creative approach to bringing new methods of using technology to teach. Those functions will vary tremendously, depending on the targeted group; businessmen learn differently than middle school math students, who have little in common with a group of public health professionals.

Applying Technology and Design to Learning

Professionals in this field begin with the goal of enhancing a particular learning experience and in some cases, may wish to redesign the process altogether. Utilizing the power of digital interactivity brings fundamental change to the educational process; a lecture becomes an empirical exchange between the teacher, or trainer, and those who are there to learn. Textbooks become multimedia presentations and exams are created from software applications.

Learning, Design & Technology is an exciting field, drawing students who came to higher education with a range of interests - graphic arts, teaching, organizational development, and change management. While it's a Master of Education degree the skills that graduates develop can be applied in business, social services, consulting work, - and of course, teaching and learning in the classroom.