Program

The aim of the New Learning and New Literacies masters program is to develop teachers who are knowledgeable in contemporary theories of learning and language/communication, and who can create vibrant and challenging learning environments for the learners in their classes.

'New learning' signals an approach to education that engages students as active designers and co-designers of their own knowledge. 'New literacies' exposes learners to the variety of forms of representation to be found in different social contexts. It sets out to expand learners' meaning-making modes and capacities, and uses digital media to enhance student learning. The purpose this approach is not to negate the value of traditional literacy practices and modes, but to supplement and extend these, thereby opening up a broader repertoire of literacy practices and pedagogies for teachers and learners.

Participants in the program are teachers of literacy and teachers in other discipline areas who wish to focus on the investigation of language across the curriculum, and on the broader question of the communicative or representational conditions for effective learning. Participants able to join the program will have training and professional experience ranging from the early years of schooling to adult learning.

The program is both intellectually ambitious and pedagogically innovative. It is:

• Firmly grounded in the 'real world' of professional practice, requiring cycles of reflective action, hands-on intervention, and empirical engagement. Participants (individually or collaboratively) develop, trial, peer review, and publish online a 'Learning Element' or unit of work relevant to their own practice.
• Based on the latest research and theory in the learning sciences. Participants will be intellectually challenged by reading key classical and contemporary theorists. Each Learning Element will be accompanied by a teacher-researcher reflective report linking theoretical issues with evidence of learner outcomes arising during application.
• Presented through the new media and about the new media. The discipline and profession of education is undergoing a transformation in which new forms of media are central and new social and learning possibilities are afforded by the new media, hence the focus on authoring digital Learning Elements.
• Global in its content and outlook, reflecting the diversity of program participants. Joint research and writing collaborations will be encouraged, especially between teachers working in very different settings.
• Designed to nurture and build lateral knowledge communities, encouraging and support collaborative learning with peers, peer review, and peer assessment. In this way the program aims to model new forms of teacher collaborative work.

The following specific objectives will be achieved through this program:

1. Expand program participants' understandings of the connections between new media and new literacies.
2. Expand program participants' knowledge base on learning theories and theories of language/communication.
3. Enhance program participants' instructional design skills, particularly in thedevelopment of learning environments in which learners are active co-designers of knowledge.
4. Prepare program participants for the ongoing innovation of communications media and learning technologies.
5. Prepare program participants for the management of learning processes in a context of social transformation and change in the heritage arrangement of the traditional classroom.
6. Enable program participants to convert proven learning theories into practical solutions to enhance learner performance.
7. Achieve a long-term impact on pedagogical practices with focus on the effectiveness of teaching and learning.
8. Create an environment that is highly interactive and relies heavily on knowledge sharing among the participants, direct application of instructional principles, and self-assessment of instructional effectiveness through reflective activities.

Program Characteristics

This program prepares teachers for positions as instructional designers, instructors, and teachers, particularly for learning environments which use new media extensively, including e-learning environments.

This 36 credit hour degree incorporates seven department courses and two College foundation courses. Each course will be ten (10) weeks in length. The degree will normally take two years to complete - one course per ten-week term, plus an ongoing capstone project.