Course description
Module details
The MA in EdTech & TESOL consists of compulsory course units covering approaches, methods and techniques in TESOL, language learning and technology, multimedia and courseware development, online teaching and learning and developing researcher competence.
Other units on offer cover topics such as: psychology of language learning; language education as intercultural practice; course design for language teachers; the education of language teachers. Course Unit outlines are available from the Postgraduate Course Units list
Career opportunities
Participants often go on to positions of seniority, undertake new areas of professional activity, contribute to the professional development of other teachers, and act in advisory or consultancy capacities to teaching and associated agencies. It is also possible to go on to doctoral studies in TESOL.
Teaching and learning
The course is taught by lecturers who themselves have been language teachers (TESOL and other languages) with experience of working in Britain and overseas. This background is reflected in the range of teaching approaches and techniques used on the course. Onsite, formal lectures are rare and instead classes tend to mix sections of input with group-work, computer and video activities, simulations, problem-based learning and so on. Although not all of these activities are easily replicated in distance/e-learning mode, and other forms of interaction are possible and utilized, we seek to provide a similarly varied range of teaching and learning experiences for our off-site participants.
The course can be characterised in terms of participant's critical reflection - as informed by theory and research as well as by their professional experiences and intuitions - on their understandings of their professional practice. We encourage both individual and co-operative learning and research and hope to foster an ethos of life-long-learning. As most of our participants are themselves experienced teachers, we appreciate the wealth of knowledge and practical experience that they bring to the course and we encourage all participants to use all sources of professional insights including their fellow participants. We provide training in the use of electronic databases, library resources, and computer based statistics packages. Many other key skills will be developed during the course.
Progression and assessment
The form of the assessment varies from unit to unit but usually consists of a written assignment of approximately 3,500 words for a 15-credit course unit (double this word count for a 30-credit course unit). In such assignments, participants are expected to demonstrate an understanding of the relevant theory as applied to their professional practice, and through such work they must also demonstrate their technical, academic, and professional skills as appropriate to the topic. All assignments will be followed by both formative and summative feedback.
Participants can choose between a Mode A (ie more traditional type) or a Mode B (portfolio type) dissertation. Mode A dissertations can also be characterised as having of one of the following centres of gravity: empirical (which report on a research project); conceptual (which discuss or develop a conceptual understanding or framework of relevance to the participant's professional development; or practical (which involve the development of a rationale for practical activities related to professional practice). Mode A practical dissertations and Mode B portfolio-type dissertations are very similar but in the latter the materials produced are close to being in a publishable format. In all cases, the dissertation will be 15,000 words.
