Acclaim for the programme

Awards

Our programme was nominated for an Edinburgh University Student’s Association Teaching Award for 2008-09, and Hamish Macleod and Clara O’Shea were nominated individually for their work with us.

Programme Co-Director Dr Sian Bayne was honoured with a Chancellor’s Award for Teaching in 2008 for her work on the MSc.

Jen Ross, Sian Bayne, Hamish Macleod and Clara O’Shea were recently awarded Principal’s Teaching Award funding for a 2-year project on ‘Student writing: innovative online strategies for assessment and feedback’ (2009-10).

Comments from graduates

I found the course rewarding, directly relevant to my own practice and enjoyable. Participating online as a student gave me an invaluable insight into how it might feel for my own students and allowed me to adjust my own practice accordingly. As well as introducing me to a range of innovative ways that online resources, technologies and approaches could be used to enhance the learning experience, the MSc brought me into direct contact with other participants who were willing to share their own wide range of knowledge and experience. My main concern at the beginning of the Programme was that my lack of technical skills would be a barrier, however the support from tutors and technical staff was excellent and this didn’t prove to be a problem at all. The courses were excellent, stimulating, engaging and challenging and I particularly liked that the assignments were structured so that the majority could be undertaken in ways that would be directly relevant my own work situation. I would highly recommend this programme.
Dr Karen McKenzie, Doctorate in Clinical Psychology Training Programme, The University of Edinburgh (MSc graduate 2008)

In September 2009, one month after successfully completing the MSc in E-learning full-time, I was offered a full-time job designing and implementing an e-learning strategy for a Modern Languages and Cross Cultural Studies department in an HE institution, including teaching French or Spanish eight hours per week using a blended learning approach. The job was offered to me solely on the basis of my MSc since the only experience in e-learning I had was obtained throughout my course as an online learner. Now on the job, I begin to fully appreciate the MSc, in particular a subject like Research Methods, not only because I have to research new technologies, write reports, design surveys and interviews to assess training needs and assess progress, but also because I have to set my own goals and deadlines; show initiative; observe a great deal and persevere in the face of unexpected results. I have never been an ‘A’ student but the MSc and the people in it and behind it have given me the confidence to face any challenge as though I was one.
Tamy Zupan, Language Centre, London School of Economics (MSc graduate 2008)

I signed up to the MSc E-learning to pursue the increasingly converged study of my two favourite things; Computer Science and Education. I was rewarded with a range of modules that reflected current (and future!) practices in e-learning, in both a theoretical and technical context. Despite the ‘distance’ aspect of the course, I had regular and positive contact with both knowledgeable tutors and reassuring co-students, in a variety of conventional and emerging environments. Since graduating from the MSc I have been able to apply the content to my work life as an educator, as well as benefiting from the scholarly experiences that continue to enhance my professional life.
Stuart Easter, ICT and EFL Teacher (MSc graduate 2008)

My experience with the course was very positive and overall I really enjoyed it. When I decided to enrol for the MSc in E-learning I was anxious whether I would be able to cope with the workload as I also had a full-time job. However, the course was so stimulating and the tutors so encouraging and supportive that any worries were soon forgotten. Although it is an e-learning course, there is a range of web 2.0 tools used to facilitate online teaching and communication both with the tutors and other students around the world and you seldom feel alone. Also, the course proved so inspiring that one of the modules provided me the stimulus and the incentive to formulate a more concrete idea of the field I wished to pursue at doctoral level.
Anastasia Gouseti, PhD student, Institute of Education, London (PGCert graduate 2008)

Press coverage

The MSc programme has received substantial press coverage thanks to our innovative work in the virtual world Second Life:

The Times, 18 June 2007, Today’s tutorial will take place on the virtual beach

The Guardian, Tuesday 8 May 2007, It’s a world of possibilities

The Times Higher Education Supplement, 1 December 2006, Campus created in an acre of pixels (sign-in required)

The Scotsman, Saturday 18 November 2006, Welcome to your second life

The University of Edinburgh Bulletin, October 2006, University enters Second Life