Learning, Media, and Technology
MIT OpenCourseWare's Comparative Media Studies offering examines how digital tools are reshaping education across the lifespan, from reading apps built for toddlers to intelligent tutoring systems in schools, blended learning models in college, MOOCs for working adults, and informal interest-based communities for hobbyists. Coursework approaches these technologies through several lenses at once: the history of educational media, the policy debates surrounding it, social theory about how people learn, design principles for building tools, and methods for evaluating whether they work. Students read case studies and scholarship on each format, discuss the tradeoffs institutions face when adopting new platforms, and complete written assignments that sharpen their own position on what educational technology can and cannot do. Graduate students take on additional assignments beyond the core coursework. Materials are published free through MIT OpenCourseWare under a Creative Commons license, including the syllabus and assignment prompts, though there is no certificate or instructor interaction attached to this self-paced version.