We've designed the MA in Learning Technology and Experience Design (LTXD, formerly known as DMDL) to be responsive to your goals, and choosing an area of focus can help you refine your curriculum to meet your needs. All you need to do is take at least three specific courses related to your personal and professional goals.
Want to choose your own path? You can work with your advisor to create a unique area of specialization, tailoring your program of study in areas including UX for learning, emerging media AR/XR/VR, edtech entrepreneurship, and so much more.
User Experience Design (UXD)
Through this specialization, you’ll learn to create impactful, learner-centered technology and experiences through a deep understanding of user needs and iterative design processes. You’ll gain skills in UX research and design, using techniques such as empathy mapping, personas, prototyping, and ideation to develop effective designs.
When you’ve completed this specialization, you'll have the skills to:
- Use a learner-centered and human-centered approach to design, redesign, and constantly improve educational experiences and products
- Effectively apply UX methods such as sketching, ideation, personas, empathy maps, analysis, and prototyping to develop your products and present your findings to stakeholders
- Work in and lead teams through collaboration and strong interpersonal relationships
Artificial Intelligence and Education (AI-Ed)
You’ll develop foundational knowledge of AI as it relates to teaching and learning, using this knowledge to design AI-enhanced educational experiences that are user-centered and responsive to diverse learner needs.
In particular, you’ll:
- Learn about AI fundamentals in education, including foundational AI concepts like machine learning, natural language processing, and data-driven decision-making, especially as they relate to teaching and learning
- Design AI-enhanced learning experiences, applying principles of user-centered design to create AI-powered educational tools and experiences tailored to diverse learner needs and contexts and leveraging AI affordances like adaptive learning, personalized educational content, assessment, and creativity
- Foster AI literacy and responsible AI use by understanding AI’s potential impacts on the future of learning and society, along with ethical concerns and biases in AI
Formerly Learning Analytics and Educational Data Science (LADS)
Transformative Learning Design (TLD) Specialization
In this highly relevant specialization, you’ll learn about emerging technologies and innovative learning activities and approaches. You will build on emerging trends afforded by new media and technologies (AR/VR, AI, social media, etc) and the latest findings in learning sciences and learning experience design to design engaging online experiences for K–12, higher education, and adult learning environments, both in formal and informal settings.
Upon completing this specialization, you'll have the skills to:
- Move beyond traditional learning activities and technologies to create engaging, motivating learning environments
- Develop the ideal mix of synchronous and asynchronous learning activities for any situation, drawing on best practices in the field
- Respond effectively to the expectations of today’s learners
- Work with educators from diverse backgrounds and in divergent settings to craft designs that meet unique needs
- Help deliver on the promise of expanded educational opportunities for diverse communities
To complete this specialization, you’ll choose three elective courses from four options. You’ll also have the opportunity to engage in supplemental learning activities including research internships, faculty projects, independent study, events and workshops, and an online learning thesis.
Games for Learning (G4L)
You'll create, use, and evaluate digital games for use in learning environments, both formal and informal.
Upon completing your concentration, you will have an in-depth knowledge of:
- The ways social, emotional, cultural, and cognitive aspects of learning affect game design
- Game design models and developmental practices
- The value of narrative in game design, and how to develop it effectively
- How to produce research that can improve and evaluate the design of games for learning
You'll also gain the skills to:
- Discuss the role and function of play in games for learning, as well as how diverse features of games contribute to games for learning, such as roleplaying, immersion, narrative, feedback, consequences of failure, and more
- Explain the potential values and limitations of the use of digital games for learning, including what types of learners and subjects benefit from them and in what settings games have the potential to support learning