The essential focus will be centred on developing expertise in the new discipline of media education formed by media literacy linked to information and communication technology in learning, media production and critical thinking in media saturated societies. The emphasis encourages the development of conceptual awareness and practical skills that are necessary for competence in reading and writing media, also creating suitable learning environments. The programme will facilitate maturity in the cognitive skills needed to understand and evaluate media and their contents, as well as cultural practice – enabling media users to be more than consumers by actively engage in doing mediation for themselves (i.e. as ‘prosumers’). This field is of keen relevance for the development of education curricula across all levels, and especially for children and young people today. Teachers in several stages of schooling want to develop greater expertise to be able to teach about and through diverse mediated platforms effectively. Moreover, educators in pre-school organisations and youth counselling need skills to reflect on media with children, and competence to organise relevant events, especially media workshops. Thus the focus for this
programme emphasises the respective and combined pedagogies of media and information literacies, as well as relevant pedagogies that will be useful for users in new kinds of learning environments.
Students will explore the roles and functions of media and genres of content in everyday life, comparative similarities and differences as a function of cultures and identities (e.g. gendered, age-related, language-based, majority and minority populations, etc). They will learn how to collect, analyse and critique empirical data of many types, quantitative and qualitative, to deepen understanding of trends and dynamics characterising change as well as continuity. They will be engaged with coursework in the fields of media education and literacy, and graduate study in this field will prioritise the development of theory in media education, especially as this is related to theories about media audiences and users of diverse generations and cultural milieus. The practical application of theories is pertinent to various contexts, for example in schools, media organisations and public administration. The contents of the program are organized in three categories as 1) research on media education, 2) teaching and learning in mediated environments, 3) developing media education in organizations.
Osaamistavoitteet
The Master’s Degree Programme on Media Education will conform to the requirements for level 7 of European Qualification Framework. The knowledge acquired will be specialist in nature and will further develop UTA’s historic leadership in this field not only in Finland (since the 1970s), but more broadly in the international development of the field.
Students graduating with a degree in this programme will:
• Be experts in media literacies and media education
• Be able to conduct research projects at professional standards in the field
• Have developed analytical and problem-solving skills
• Be able to demonstrate a sound knowledge of respective and integrated attributes of media and education in theory and for practice
• Be able to participate and lead members of team structures
• Be able to understand and reflect media, cultures and technologies like ICT in learning environments
• Be able to manage (develop, implement, lead) media education in organisations
• Be able to think critically to develop fresh insight and build knowledge
• Be able to respect the crucial importance of professional media ethics in the face of many and often significant pressures to engage in questionable practices
• Have established a competence to continue studies for a Ph.D.