Artificial Intelligence and Technology Enhanced Learning: Key Issues & Debates - EDU00136M

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  • Department: Education
  • Credit value: 20 credits
  • Credit level: M
  • Academic year of delivery: 2025-26

Module summary

It has long been recognised that teachers can raise educational attainment and increase inclusion by harnessing Information and Communications Technologies (ICT) to support learning and teaching. Recent developments in Artificial Intelligence (AI) are further expanding these possibilities but at the same time raising fundamental questions about education and how to ensure that all learners benefit from its deployment to support learning and teaching. This module is designed to introduce students to some of these debates and equip them with the knowledge required to make informed decisions about the equitable deployment of educational technology.

The module will consist of tutor-facilitated sessions, involving discussions, demonstrations of technologies, group work and practical tasks. Students will be expected to participate actively, sharing their everyday experience of using technology. Experiential learning will be integrated into the module to provide students first-hand experience in using the technologies discussed in the module.

Module will run

Occurrence Teaching period
A Semester 2 2025-26

Module aims

  • To develop awareness of how technology can assist learning and teaching

  • To explore current debates about education and technology

  • To practise evaluating policy about the role of technology in learning and teaching

  • To explore the impact of educational technology on social justice and equality

Module learning outcomes

Students who complete the course successfully should be able to:

  • Critically engage in debates and evaluate policies surrounding educational technology

  • Be aware of varying needs of different types of learner and understand how respond to these through the use of technology

  • Be aware of the potential impact of educational technology on social justice and equality

  • Engage with recent research on educational technology

Academic and graduate skills:

  • Formulate arguments and contribute to discussion

  • Engage critically with published research and with practical learning problems

  • Take part in group work and problem-solving activities and team work

  • Demonstrate effective planning and time management

  • Word-process, use the VLE, and a range of other technologies

  • Online communication and collaboration

  • Prompting AI technologies

Module content

Indicative course content:

  • Introduction and policy context

  • The place of technology in the curriculum

  • Digital natives and the transformative impact of educational technology

  • Literacies for the 21st century (digital literacy, multiliteracies, information literacy and AI literacy)

  • Digital citizenship (netiquette, e-safety, digital footprints and copyright)

  • Social justice, equality and educational technology

  • Accessibility and assistive technology in education

  • Open educational resources and technology in low resource contexts

  • Technology and the role of the teacher

Student presentations

An opportunity to explore emerging themes and issues (e.g. bring your own device and personal device policies in schools).

Indicative assessment

Task % of module mark
Essay/coursework 100

Special assessment rules

None

Indicative reassessment

Task % of module mark
Essay/coursework 100

Module feedback

Individual written feedback reports, with follow-up tutor meeting, if necessary. The feedback is returned to students in line with university policy. Please check the Guide to Assessment, Standards, Marking and Feedback for more information.

Indicative reading

Apart from the bibliographies recommended for each session, you may find the following titles useful:

  • Davies, C., & Eynon, R. (2013). Teenagers and technology. Routledge.
  • Kalantzis, M. (2000). Multiliteracies: literacy learning and the design of social futures. London : Routledge.
  • Sawyer, R. K. (Ed.). (2014). The Cambridge handbook of the learning sciences. Cambridge University Press.
  • Selwyn, N. (2013). Distrusting educational technology: Critical questions for changing times. Routledge.
  • Selwyn, N. (2016). Is technology good for education?. John Wiley & Sons.
  • Thomas, M. (ed.) (2011). Deconstructing digital natives: Young people, technology and the new literacies. London: Routledge.