Education, the Internet and Society

About

The Internet and related technologies have significant implications for learning within and outside the classroom. ICTs have the potential to transform how, what and where people learn, facilitate or inhibit people’s access to educational opportunities, challenge existing ideas of what the purpose and nature of formal education is and what the future of education should be. Over the course the changing nature of society and technology and the implications this has for learning will be explored from a range of theoretical, empirical and policy perspectives.

This course will provide students with an opportunity to understand and explore some of the debates around the use of the Internet for learning in relation to the academic literature on this topic; and will also draw on theories and concepts from other research that investigates the social implications of the Internet in other areas of everyday life. At the end of the course students will have a critical understanding of the theoretical debates, key concepts and appropriate methodologies that could be used to explore this rapidly developing area.

Learning outcomes

By the end of the course, students will:

• Gain an in-depth understanding of the potential of the Internet for learning in a variety of contexts;
• Demonstrate a critical understanding of the theoretical perspectives which have been developed to understand learning and new technologies with an awareness of the wider social context;
• Develop an ability to assess and evaluate the inter-related factors that affect the success of using the Internet for learning and education;
• Understand how research on learning and new technologies can benefit from, and contribute to, theories and concepts from other research that investigates the social implications of the Internet.