Interactive Digital Media

MSc / Postgraduate Diploma / Postgraduate Certificate

The MSc in Interactive Digital Media is a part-time modular programme designed to equip students for careers in the digital media sector.

Campus	Chester
Course	MSc / Postgraduate Diploma / Postgraduate Certificate
Length	MSc: 2-6 Years / Postgraduate Diploma: 2-5 Years / Postgraduate Certificate: 1-3 Years Part-time
Start date	October 2010

The interactive media industry is maturing and requires specially skilled and knowledgeable professionals able to offer varied profiles of creativity and a diverse range of expertise. This programme delivers the skills and knowledge and provides practice and experience of multimedia content creation, design for interactivity, and the digital media production environment.

Why study Interactive Digital Media at Chester?

The MSc in Interactive Digital Media addresses issues in design for interactivity and navigation, digital media production (sound, video and animation), digital media solutions for the industry and the public sector, the internet and its applications, usability design, mobile communications and cultural and ergonomic design influences. The course provides skills in the relevant multimedia software.

This part-time modular programme is designed to equip students for careers in the digital media sector. The interactive media industry is maturating and requires especially skilled, knowledgeable professionals able to offer varied profiles of creativity and a diverse range of expertise. This programme addresses those skills, knowledge and practice needs, and is designed to provide students with experience of multimedia content creation, design for interactivity, and the digital media production environment.

Next: Modules

Programme Structure:

Taught modules are normally delivered over ten consecutive evenings, followed by individual work resulting in the submission of a practical and or written assignment. There are no formal examinations.

The taught modular programme includes:

Interactive Digital Media Production and Authoring
Usability and Interactive Systems
Programming for Interactive Digital Platforms
Multimedia on the Web - Issues and Implementation
Music and Sound for Interactive Digital Media
Research Methods for Interactive Digital Media

The Masters Dissertation

Following the completion of six taught modules, MSc students are required to undertake a programme of personal research leading to the submission of a Masters Dissertation. Projects may be work-based or theoretical, and students are under the direction of an individually allocated supervisor.

Postgraduate Diploma

The Postgraduate Diploma is taught concurrently with the MSc and follows the same overall programme structure, but without the dissertation.

Postgraduate Certificate

The Postgraduate Certificate is taught concurrently with the first year of the MSc and follows the same overall programme structure but with fewer modules and without a dissertation.

Next: Assessment

For each module, assessment is normally by coursework. This will usually take the form of a portfolio of practical work, although some of the modules contain an element of theoretical research. There are no examinations.

Next: Careers

Employers of our graduates have commented very favourably on their broad range of relevant skills - a reflection of our commitment to employer liaison and continual updating of course content. Typical careers for graduates from this programme include the following key roles in modern organisations:

Internet Designer with Multimedia Skills
IT Consultant
Web Designer
Information Solutions Developer
Learning Technologist
Educational Media Designer

Next: Entry requirements

Those with related undergraduate degrees (minimum of lower second class honours) and an interest in digital media, both technology orientated graduates who wish to extend their design skills and have their creativity challenged, as well as design graduates who wish to improve their technology expertise.
Media and IT professionals with relevant experience, and those wishing to progress towards research and PhD studies.

Beginning: Overview