Digital MediaMA

Digital Media Project Management

You will develop professional skills in: the management of digital projects; digital media project management methodologies; digital project planning and production life-cycle; the selection, recruitment and management of digital media teams; managing creativity; crisis management; hardware and software requirements for digital media projects; outsourcing; client handling, digital media asset management, copyright and legal issues, quality assurance procedures and localisation.

MODULE AIMS:

• To enable students to critically evaluate best practice in digital media project management.
• To enable students to effectively manage all the stages in the production of digital media projects.
• To research, produce and apply appropriate solutions in relation to digital media project management.

Digital Media Research Project

This module will enable you to develop postgraduate research skills and to research, plan and develop your final Digital Media Research Project. The module addresses issues about the research tradition in digital media, which might include the design-led research tradition in digital media production. You will acquire research skills, including research project planning, evaluation of relevant literature, research and project evaluation methodologies, data analysis and, when relevant, planning of the production of digital research-led digital projects and the process of managing research and development in digital media productions.

Module aims:

• To enable students to research into a particular topic or issue within the chosen field of study.
• To enable students to acquire research methods skills, which might include research methods skills applied to a practice-led project.
• To enable students to produce a research project proposal and plan for their research project.
• To consolidate and advance skills and knowledge in the research, execution and presentation of a Digital Media Research Project.

Principles of Digital Media

This module will provide students with a detailed understanding of the
essential changes new media bring about to society and culture; it will introduce them to the principles constituting new media functionality and will raise awareness of the operative structures new media enact and work through. This module will also help students develop a concept for and produce a new media project.

Digital Journalism

Students will learn to place their skills in, and understanding of, journalism in relation to today’s digital environment. They will develop their writing, production and design skills to a professional level, learning how to adopt creative approaches to creating journalistic stories across different media platforms, (including social networks, such as Twitter TikTok, Facebook Live, Snapchat). Students will be asked to build multimedia packages, blogs, websites and develop ways of working that engage the audience in interactive and participatory ways.

Specifically, the module will introduce students to the writing skills and technical demands of online, audio and visual journalism. Students will be asked to develop and deliver news stories working individually and as part of a team.

Digital Media Strategy and Consultancy

This module explores the use of digital media technologies and digital media applications for business and society. The module also focuses on best practices in digital media consultancy and on how to develop digital media strategies for a client group.
Students will evaluate and analyse current and future trends in the digital media industries and identify the application of communication technology to business and everyday life. Students will learn to evaluate and address the needs of a client group and produce e-solutions appropriate for such needs.

Digital Storytelling

This module explores the creative potentials of digital platforms and tools for writers within the postdigital era. It stimulates students to experiment with how their own writing practice and ideas about literature, storytelling and persuasive communication might continue to take new directions in response to the many ongoing innovations in digital media and their cultural impacts.

Aims

• You will extend your own writing practice in relation to digital innovations of narrative and rhetorical technique, form and effect.
• You will develop your technical, theoretical and experiential understanding of the current state of the field of digital forms of creative and professional writing.
• You will think critically about dominant cultures associated with various digital tools and platforms.
• You will enhance your range and critical self-awareness as a writer in contemporary creative and/or professional domains.

Digital Video Production

This module provides students with practical experience in the production of digital video. It will serve as an introduction to the topic but is also suitable for those with some experience in this area.
Students will develop professional practices working individually or in small groups to produce a short documentary, promotional video, or mockumentary. They will be required to research, pitch, and develop a documentary proposal following industry guidelines and legal frameworks.
The module will give an overview of the commissioning process and will include input from industry professionals.
There will be an emphasis on how to film and work with documentary subjects (or characters) in an ethical way.
Students will learn about a range of documentary modes, genres and techniques via screenings, discussion, and practice. Key figures and films will be explored as well as emerging styles and formats.

Games and Gamification

This module introduces students to the role of digital games in the digital media industry. It explores various applications of digital games in entertainment, education, business, marketing and advertising, analysing gamification practices as well as key game design practices and game design theories.

The module addresses issues in game ethics, game genres and gaming cultures, the evolution of technologies and delivery platforms, and the impact of the games industry on interaction design practices. Students will explore current trends in game design and game research, gamification approaches and applications. They will evaluate game designs and gamification methods in relation to specific applications. Students will apply these principles and theories to the design and conceptualisation of an interactive game or a gamified experience.

Module Aims

• To enable students to evaluate the ethical, technological and theoretical frameworks in game design and gamification theory and practice.
• To enable students to plan and conceptualise a digital game or a gamified experience.

Interaction Design

Interaction design is an expanding field increasingly concerned with end user requirements, user experiences and their everyday practice. Digital networks and portable devices have changed the way we work, play and interact with each other. This module provides an introduction to the theoretical and practical issues that underlie interaction design for end users of digital products. Students will be introduced to the key concepts of Human Computer Interaction (HCI), user-centred design approaches and design research methods as well as practically implementing these principles and methods. From gathering use requirements to assembling high fidelity prototypes this module will enable students to develop practical as well as analytical skills necessary for digital project development on different platforms.

Web Design

This module will provide students with a detailed understanding of the contexts and practice of internet publishing and will introduce them to the production of a website. The course will examine internet technologies and the production process. You will develop industry- ready skills to develop and design in the web and mobile industry.
The module aims to identify the nature of the web as a medium and introduces a range of design concepts. In particular it focuses on the key issues of usability and simplicity on the web and the implementation of web-based multimedia with the advent of broadband consumer networks. It also focuses on a range of technical skills including basic text formatting; working with images and interactive programming. This module aims to:

• To examine and evaluate the major technologies involved in website production.
• To enable students to design & produce a web design project which also works on mobile.
• To encourage innovative design of applications for web and mobile environments
• To gain experience of the techniques involved in web design within a professional context.
• To survey and critically analyse the methodologies, design conventions and technical considerations involved in web design
• To analyse current trends in usability, accessibility, technological change and experimental practice in web design, in the context of current social communications, design theory and practice.  

Work Related Learning

The module enables students to undertake an appropriate short period of professional activity, related to their course at level 7, with a business or community organisation and to gain credit for their achievements. The activity can be a volunteering activity, employment activity, or an activity within the University or its entrepreneurship facility, Accelerator.

It is expected that students should work for 200 hours which should be recorded clearly (in a learning log for instance) in the portfolio. The 200 hours can be completed in a FT mode, or spread over a semester in a PT mode.

Students should register with the module leader to be briefed on the module, undergo induction and work related learning planning and to have the work related learning agreement approved, before they take up the opportunity. It is essential that students are made aware that both the “work related learning agreement” and relevant “health and safety checklist” where applicable need to be approved before starting the placement.

It is the student's responsibility to apply for opportunities and to engage with the University to assist them in finding a suitable placement.
The suitability of any opportunities will be assessed by the Module Team and all roles must meet the Health and Safety requirements for Higher Education Work Placements.
Those studying on a Student Visa will be required to submit weekly timesheets for the hours undertaken for the work based learning activity to meet requirements. These will need to be signed by their line manager/supervisor.

The module aims to provide students with the opportunity to:

• Gain a useful experience of the working environment and the career opportunities available on graduation.
• Undertake a work related project appropriate to their academic level.
• Enhance and extend their learning experience by applying and building on their academic skills and abilities by tackling real life problems in the workplace.
• Enhance professional and personal development.