Education and ICT (e-learning)

The Education and ICT (e-learning) doctoral programme from Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (UOC) focuses on the study of the phenomena linked electronic teaching and learning, the institutional or social framework, and technology-mediated online learning systems in general in any geographic or cultural setting.

Key Features

The challenges facing education in the 21st century are closely linked to competent and rational use of Information and Communication Technologies as we know them, and the different forms that these technologies might take in the immediate future. This connection between education and ICT will not remain the same over time, rather it will become more complex, taking on new challenges that are hard to foresee at present.

The mutually influencing evolution of education and ICT requires professionals who are knowledgeable and curious about technological advances, while also being committed to the social ends inherent in all levels of education, clearly including non-formal forms of education. Likewise, study and analysis in the field of education requires interdisciplinary and intersectoral work that opens the door to companies that develop and apply knowledge in any of the different areas of learning.

It is open to any innovative research that involves the use of ICT in education. With this in mind, the Education and ICT (e-learning) doctoral programme from Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (UOC) supports interdisciplinary work that covers fields as diverse as psychology, pedagogy, computer engineering, law, tourism, economics, mathematics or the humanities, among others.

Courses include:

• The period of study undertaken prior to the research phase takes place within the research pathway of the UOC university master’s degree in Education and ICT (e-learning) or a similar master’s degree that ensures the candidate is equipped to successfully conduct original research that advances knowledge in the field of e-learning.

• During the period of research, students focus on acquiring the skills they will need to embark on their journey in the field of e-learning research.

• This period also prepares them for the next stage: writing a doctoral research plan that will lead to them being awarded a doctoral degree and, therefore, to the recognition of their research capabilities.
• It will include up to five types of blocs of training ot support the doctoral student’s research project: Seminiars, bridging courses, research, transfer and entrepreneurship courses and workshops.