This edited volume builds upon the premise that online learning is not separate from the social and material world, and is made up of embodied, socially-meaningful experiences. It is founded on a postdigital perspective in which, much more than interactions with keyboards, computer screens, hardware or software, the learning that happens on online postgraduate programmes spills out into professional and informal settings, making connections with what comes before and after any formally-scheduled tasks.

Unlike other books relating to online education, this book combines a theoretical perspective, in which the digital, physical and social are all interconnected within complex educational ecologies, with a focus grounded in postgraduate practice. This focus has important implications for the kinds of students and learning that are explored in the chapters of the book.

This book provides an important contribution to the knowledge of what is required to produce quality, online postgraduate programmes at the level of teachers, curriculum designers, faculty developers and policy-makers.

Tim Fawns is a lecturer in clinical education at the University of Edinburgh. He is Deputy Programme Director of the MSc Clinical Education, Director of the international Edinburgh Summer School in Clinical Education, and an associate of the Centre for Research in Digital Education. His research focus is on the relationship between technology and education, seen from an ecological perspective. He has previously edited a book on digital media practices and memory (Memory and Meaning: Digital Differences).

 

Gill Aitken is a senior lecturer and lead for postgraduate clinical education within Edinburgh Medical School and is the Programme Director of the MSc Clinical Education at the University of Edinburgh. Gill is a Registered Dietitian with many years teaching experience. Her research interests lie in the relationships established online in postgraduate education and how learning develops and impacts on the clinical environment.

 

Derek Jones is a lecturer in clinical education at the University of Edinburgh and Programme Director of the PhD Clinical Education. Derek is a Registered Occupational Therapist and has a degree in sociology. He has previously edited a textbook entitled Sociology and occupational therapy: an integrated approach. Derek is interested in the management of pain and the application of sociological theory to clinical education.

DRAFTForeword (TBC).- Introduction by the editors.- Assessment, feedback and learning in a networked world; by Dai Hounsell (agreed).- Evaluation of teaching: Toward complex, postdigital ideas of quality; by Christine Sinclair and Tim Fawns (agreed).- Student experiences and expectations of online learning; (TBC).- Managing diverse student needs, backgrounds, and contexts; by Cathy Stone, Janet Dyment and Jill Downing (TBC).- A sociomaterial look at reflective practice (TBC).- Networked professional learning in the postdigital age: Asking critical questions of postgraduate teacher education; by Rachel Buchanan (TBC).- Finding the teacher: Recognising and rewarding postgraduate, online teachers in policy and practice; by Gill Aitken and Sarah Hayes (TBC).- Navigating the institution: Developing a vision for educational futures; by Tim Fawns, Michael Gallagher, and Sian Bayne (agreed).- Conclusion by the editors.- Afterword (TBC).