Digital Media BA (Hons)

 

Course Code

UCAS Code: P479
International Code: AHU080

Location

Coventry University (Coventry)

 

Study mode

Full-time
Sandwich

Duration

3 years full-time
4 years sandwich

Start date

September 2022
January 2023

How to apply
Book an Open Day
Download a prospectus
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Course overview

Study level: Undergraduate

Love combining digital skills with creative storytelling? Our degree can provide a foundation of creative and technical skills that prepare you for a potential future career in immersive media.

  • Preparing you for a career in the fast-paced digital media, design and communications industries, this course will allow you to work on multiple live projects, exploring a range of multimedia forms, practices and platforms to create imaginative, cutting-edge content.
  • You’ll have access to our extensive specialist resources, including video and photography studios, industry-standard software suites, radio studios, specialist IT facilities and our dedicated ‘digital media lab’ (subject to availability).
  • As a part of this course we provide you with your own Media Technology Pack. This pack gives you access to mobile working and learning 24 hours a day, and on some courses, includes a high quality laptop/tablet with prosumer software, or a communication device. The packs are on loan and when you have successfully completed your course, you can keep your pack, accessories and operating system (but not university-licensed software). See our terms and conditions.
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Global Ready

An international outlook, with global opportunities
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Teaching excellence

Taught by lecturers who are experts in their field
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Employability

Career ready graduates, with the skills to succeed

Why you should study this course

This course has five unique features:

  • Explores a mix of creative and technical skills and knowledge development through a range of modules that will take you through the entire software development workflow from concept to user testing. In particular our creative hack lab modules offer the opportunity to tackle a project from concept to user testing during a one-week intensive course.
  • On this course you are issued with a media technology pack – currently a MacBook – to be used in line with the 24/7 mobile learning scheme, and pre-loaded with a suite of industry-standard software including Adobe Creative Suite (terms and conditions apply).
  • Access to high standard professional media equipment via our Media Loan Shop, with equipment ranging from the most basic audio recorders, to a highly professional camera line up (all subject to availability), with our technicians who could support you and give advice and instructions for ease of use.
  • Hear from expert guest speakers from the creative industries, including artists, performers, media producers, photographers and journalists who will look to share their experiences of recording and publishing their work.
  • Past staff and students have a strong track record of collaborative applied projects with organisations including Genesys, Jaguar Land Rover, Coventry Telegraph, Rolls-Royce, BBC Big Screens and BT.

What you'll study

Merging the creative and the technical, this course will help you to develop skills and practices suited to a range of fields including the Internet of Things (IoT), immersive technologies such as augmented and virtual reality (AR/VR), and web, mobile and games app development.

The Digital Media BA course is different from a traditional programming or computer science course as its focus is primarily on creative production in the field of media using digital tools in 3D modelling, application development, immersive technologies, and audio and video production among others.

You will engage in practical hack labs, where you will work through the entire iteration process for digital projects such as reinventing classic arcade games or deploying mobile applications to a client brief. Using the principles of Agile software development, this will enable you to develop your project management and user testing knowledge and skills.

The course focuses on laying a flexible foundation of skills which will prepare you for a changing digital and technological landscape. On successful graduation, you can seek out roles in digital marketing and advertising, IoT development, UI/UX design and testing, web and mobile app development and, increasingly, in augmented reality/virtual reality development.

In the first year, you’ll be introduced to the core principles of digital media practice. With a focus on the Internet, we’ll look at how to produce different forms of media, how to apply and publish these and methods of local media distribution, such as microcomputers and beacon technology. We consider the idea of audiences, their characteristics, needs and expectations. 

Modules

  • This module introduces you to the core skills and knowledge necessary to effectively produce, distribute and analyse a range of digital media. You will examine how people, ideas and content flow through digital environments and use this knowledge to develop a range of digital media artefacts. It includes looking at the history of the development of the digital media landscape and how it has challenged traditional notions of production and consumption. As part of this, you will experiment with producing different forms of multimedia content including digital video, sound, web and other forms.

    Compulsory

    Assessment: coursework

  • This module will investigate the effects of immersive forms of digital media on storytelling by exploring areas such as Augmented Reality, Pervasive and Immersive Media, Locative Media and Interactive Storytelling. You will engage in practical experiments that play with the complex interactions between digital technologies, interface design and participation in digital storytelling.

    Compulsory

    Assessment: coursework

  • This is an intensive real-world simulation module where you will be handed a live industry brief (either commercial, artistic, social or cultural) with a problem to solve. The goal will be, by the end of the module, to create a ‘rapid prototype’ solution that can be presented to the client or wider public. Modelled on a ‘hackathon’, where coders, designers, project managers and others collaborate intensively on a project, this module will enable you to learn a number of areas including project management techniques, working to a creative brief, collaboration and problem-solving.

    Compulsory

    Assessment: coursework

  • This module will introduce you to the meaning, importance and use of a number of fundamental concepts within the broad fields of network media analysis and production. You will be introduced to the history, development and use of a series of key concepts that have been employed to understand how meaning within media objects has been produced, consumed and interpreted.

    Compulsory

    Assessment: coursework

  • The module aims to provide you with critical and technical skills and understanding in the design, development and testing of websites using front-end and back-end technologies. The module will expose you to the latest design principles, technologies, development techniques and best practices used in contemporary web authoring projects.

    Compulsory

    Assessment: coursework

  • This module will enable you to think critically about digital media. You will be asked to engage in key debates through key readings as well as combining theoretical.

    Compulsory

    Assessment: coursework

The second year focuses on your creative and professional development, introducing you to the demands of operating within the professional sphere of digital media through a series of live and simulated projects and assignments. For example, current students are looking at a project incorporating the use of location-based media (LBM), which uses beacons placed throughout specific locations within the City of Manchester, in its year as European City of Science, to deliver key pieces of targeted local information.

Modules

  • This module explores the rise of Web 2.0 and the end of cyberspace, as well as the development of the social profile and location resulting in the ‘devirtualisation’ of the internet. It explores concepts of mobility, private and public spaces, democracy and technological distinctiveness. It examines the implications of media and technological development in the context of big data, machine learning, and the algorithm. You will be asked to critically engage with these concepts through your practice as well as engaging in debates about the nature of digital media.

    Compulsory

    Assessment: coursework

  • Professional Experience aims to provide you with the opportunity to develop skills and to foster flexible and adaptable approaches towards employment and professional opportunities. You will be encouraged to consider your professional career and identify possible future pathways, which may combine different employment modes (self employed, contract, freelance and employed). Where appropriate, you will be encouraged to start a freelance photography practice as the first step towards a professional career after graduation. You will be offered support in this process and will learn about managing yourself as a business in a future that will require you to adopt portfolio careers.

    Compulsory

    Assessment: coursework

  • This module will enable you to learn and utilise range of concepts and practices from the area of digital marketing and campaigning. You will learn the underpinning principles of market research and its relationship to the marketing mix, techniques for audience and consumer research and how to implement a digital marketing campaign. You will explore and analyse the art and techniques of the persuasion industries, drawing on a range of academic disciplines including marketing science, psychology and behavioural economics.

    Compulsory

    Assessment: coursework

  • This is a real-world simulation module where you will be handed a live industry research brief (either commercial, artistic, social or cultural) and respond to it within an intensive timeframe. It builds on previous learning, enabling further development of your creative, communication and research skills and applying them to a live project within an international context.

    Compulsory

    Assessment: coursework, presentation

  • This module will explore how the convergence of media forms has created a number of ways to tell and circulate stories across the digital landscape. You will analyse a range of approaches to contemporary transmedia and inter-media storytelling as well as looking at how ‘official’ narratives are remediated, reconstituted and circulated by fans. It will also explore how convergence within the traditional cultural industries has led to new approaches to storytelling, content development and distribution strategies.

     

    Optional

    Assessment: coursework

  • This module explores mobile application design and development fundamentals, focusing on principles of design and development techniques for specific platforms and a basic to intermediate level. You will engage critically with the notion of mobile media and examine ways in which design and development techniques can be used to create mobile media experiences.

    Optional

    Assessment: coursework, presentation

  • This module explores the notion of immersion and examines ways in which you can employ techniques of narrative storytelling and media design to create immersive experiences across a range of digital media forms. The module approaches immersive production in a technology-agnostic way, experimenting with digital platforms and formats as a means to interrogate immersive practice in fields such as immersive journalism, theatre, film, sound, and extended reality.

    Optional

    Assessment: coursework

After your second year, you have an opportunity to take a sandwich year, studying abroad or on professional placement*.

Modules

  • Optional

  • Optional

By your final year, you will have a sound understanding of all forms of professional media production and interactivity, as diverse as virtual reality and apps to social networking and physical computing. You will have the chance to try to enhance your research and innovation skills by working on your own Final Digital Media Research Project on a topic of your choosing.

Modules

  • This module examines the relationship between public policy, media law and the communications industries. It concentrates on the way legislative acts and regulatory instruments influence the structure, operation and practice of communication professionals and the way that norms and values that are contextualized through the political process.

    Compulsory

    Assessment: coursework

  • The module aims to develop your ability to research and develop the theoretical, conceptual and professional issues that underpin digital media practice within a chosen area of research. This will involve looking at and utilising a range of digital research methods to undertake critical analysis on enquiry-led research and development projects.

    Compulsory

    Assessment: coursework

  • This module gives you the opportunity to gain substantial practical and professional experience in one or more areas of digital media research and practice. You will further develop and realise the ideas generated within the Research and Development in Digital Media module. Your digital media project will be based upon the project proposal and development work submitted for this module and will culminate in an extensive body of work or practice using your chosen form, or forms, of specialist digital media practice and theory.

    Compulsory

    Assessment: coursework

  • This course aims to provide you with a chance to explore various modelling and animation methods, and develop a showreel of work to help you into your chosen industry. You will apply your knowledge to the planning and production of a collaborative modelling and animation project within a specified timescale and in response to a specified brief and stimuli. You will be able to develop skills in modelling and animation by acquiring the principal knowledge on texturing, lighting, camera, bones, physics, dynamic control, and other relevant 3D concepts.

    Optional

    Assessment: coursework

  • This module explores the fastest growing art form in the world: game design. The concept of ‘game’ is defined broadly here and refers to a wide scope of interactive play; with the module covering both theoretical aspects and best practices of game development. Whether you wish to develop an indie ‘metroidvania’, the next Pokémon Go or a boardgame with app functionality, this module will provide the tools necessary for you to realise your vision, specialise your skillset and begin a career as a game designer.

    Optional

    Assessment: coursework

  • This module engages critically with the notion of immersion and examines ways in which you can employ techniques of narrative storytelling and media design to create immersive experiences across a range of digital media forms. The module approaches immersive production in a technology-agnostic way, experimenting with digital platforms and formats as a means to interrogate immersive practice in fields such as immersive journalism, theatre, film, sound, and extended reality.

    Optional

    Assessment: coursework

  • The module aims to provide you with the opportunity to develop your knowledge and skills in digital research methods. This will involve experimenting with techniques and practices of data collection and analysis, as well as data visualisation and design. This module will enable you to develop abilities in analysing information, collecting and evaluating data, and to critically reflect on, comprehend and create practice-based digital media research work within a chosen specialism. You will work in small teams and encouraged to be self-reliant and develop methods of evaluation, reflection and critique.

    Optional

    Assessment: coursework

  • This module examines the ways in which the Internet of Things (IoT) is changing the way we conceptualise, produce, disseminate and consume digital media. You will be asked to critically engage with the implications of connected devices in a variety of contexts and contend with debates around privacy, ethics, the cloud, data, connectedness and immersion. From a practice perspective, the module looks at ways to approach IoT development from beacons and push data to intelligent assistants and embedded connectivity.

    Optional

    Assessment: coursework

  • This module explores mobile application design and development, focusing on principles of design and development techniques for specific platforms. You will engage critically with the notion of mobile media and examine ways in which design and development techniques can be used to create mobile media experiences. The module approaches mobile app development through experimentation with digital platforms and formats. Project management techniques will also be explored and applied. You will be asked to conceptualise, design, develop and test a mobile application.

    Optional

    Assessment: coursework

We regularly review our course content, to make it relevant and current for the benefit of our students. For these reasons, course modules may be updated.

How you'll learn

Your course focuses on areas such as photography, cinematography, web design, web coding, web apps, illustration and augmented reality.

The course normally lasts three years when studied full-time. Students successfully completing the first two years of the course can opt to spend a year out between the second and third years on placement or study abroad*.

Your personal tutor will regularly review and discuss your progress on the course. We aim for you to develop through activity-led learning, with an emphasis on live projects, industry briefs, real-world working simulations, experimentation and play. You’ll also have the opportunity to take part in international trips* where you will be able to develop your knowledge and skills through fieldwork and group projects. Last year, previous students had the opportunity to participate in creating and hosting an immersive experience enhanced by augmented reality in Hong Kong with students from the Hong Kong Design Institute.

Assessment

This course will be assessed using a variety of methods which will could vary depending upon the module. Assessment methods include, practical or project work, coursework, tests, essays and presentations, posters.

The Coventry University Group assessment strategy ensures that our courses are fairly assessed and allows us to monitor student progression towards the achieving the intended learning outcomes. Assessments may include exams, individual assignments or group work elements.

Job ready

On successful completion, you will be able to:

  • Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of: the various processes and practices that combine towards the production, circulation and consumption of media, communication and cultural texts.
  • Generate ideas, concepts, proposals, solutions or arguments independently and/or collaboratively in response to set briefs and/or as self-initiated activity.
  • Appreciate the cultural and social significance of the emergence of new technological forms of media and communication practice and how these shape the lived experience of everyday domestic and professional life.
  • Undertake a variety of forms of research appropriate to different forms of study and analysis and be able critically to reflect on the appropriateness of each form of research.
  • Critically reflect on the chosen processes of production of media artefacts and products.
  • Engage in creative, innovative and imaginative work.

International experience opportunities

We aim to encourage you to broaden your horizons by taking advantage of either study abroad or placement opportunities*. You may also have the opportunity to go on field trips international trips*. Past trips have included Berlin, New York, Hong Kong, and Barcelona. These are often combined with industry or community projects on location in the international destination. Last year a group of our previous final year students had the opportunity to work on the AR Prison Break project and present this immersive experience using augmented reality at the Spark Festival in Hong Kong.

Entry requirements

Typical offer for 2022 entry.

Requirement What we're looking for
A level BBC
GCSE Minimum 5 GCSE's graded 9-4 / A* - C including English
BTEC DMM
IB Diploma 31 points to include English at Higher level

If you do not have the typical entry requirements, you may want to consider studying this course with a foundation year. We recognise a breadth of qualifications, speak to one of our advisers today to find out how we can help you.

Chat with UK admissions

Portfolio

You may be required to attend a portfolio showcase, activity session or audition or submit a portfolio via email (as is appropriate to your course), either virtually or face to face, as is practical to arrange. Invites for these sessions will be sent directly to your contact email.

Each application will be considered on its merits.

Are you eligible for the Fair Access Scheme?

We believe every student should have the opportunity to dream big, reach their potential and succeed, regardless of their background.

Fair Access Scheme

Select your region to find detailed information about entry requirements:

Europe

Americas

Middle East

South Asia

South East Asia

East Asia

Africa

Russia and Central Asia

You can view our full list of country specific entry requirements on our Entry requirements page.

If you do not have the typical entry requirements, you may want to consider studying this course with an international foundation year. Upon successful completion our International Foundation Year - Art, Design and Media will provide you with the knowledge and skills you need to progress onto this undergraduate degree.

Alternatively, visit our International hub for further advice and guidance on finding in-country agents and representatives, joining our in-country events and how to apply.

Portfolio

You will be required to submit a portfolio via email or alternatively attend a showcase activity session or audition (as is appropriate for your course) which can be virtual or face to face, as is practical to arrange. Invites to send in your portfolio or attend these sessions will be sent directly to your contact email.

Each application will be considered on its merits.

English language requirements

  • IELTS: 6.0 overall

If you don't meet the English language requirements, you can achieve the level you need by successfully completing a pre-sessional English programme before you start your course. 

For more information on our approved English language tests visit our English language requirements page.

Chat with International admissions

Fees and funding

2022/23 Tuition fees

Student Full time Part time
UK £9,250 per year Not available
International £18,050 per year Not available

For advice and guidance on tuition fees and student loans visit our Undergraduate Finance page and see The University’s Tuition Fee and Refund Terms and Conditions.

We offer a range of International scholarships to students all over the world. For more information, visit our International Scholarships page.

Tuition fees cover the cost of your teaching, assessments, facilities and support services. There may be additional costs not covered by this fee such as accommodation and living costs, recommended reading books, stationery, printing and re-assessments should you need them. Find out what's included in your tuition costs.

Facilities

Coventry University is home to superb facilities and our new Arts and Humanities building is set to open in 2022. We also have a well-stocked Media Loan Shop so you can borrow an extensive range of specialist, professional equipment, including 4K and HD video cameras, DSLR cameras, tripods, audio equipment and lighting, with technicians on hand to give advice and instructions for ease of use.

Two male students presenting in a TV studio to a camera in the foreground.

Television Studio

You’ll have access to our on-site television studio The Tank, offering specialist equipment such as large cameras, mixing facilities and fibre-optic wiring throughout.
 

Male student setting up a photography light in a studio.

The Photography Suite

This specialist facility is available to media students to take and process photos in a professional environment. There is also support for printing, high-end scanning and film processing.

 

Exterior front of the Ellen Terry building.

Media Loan Shop

Our media loan shop provides you with access to all the equipment and support you need to excel in your studies – from basic audio recorders to professional cameras and expert advice from our technicians.

Careers and opportunities

This course places your future employability at its core, so you will be well placed to go into a number of industries that require multi-skilled digital media professionals on graduation. Throughout your studies, you will develop your own Professional Practice Portfolio which you may use when looking for work.

Roles could include Digital Artists and Designers, Digital Project Managers, Creative Technologists, Web Developers, Content and Platform Developers, Digital Researchers, Learning Technologists, Digital Marketing and Business Professionals, as well as more traditional areas within the creative media industries.

We are committed to preparing you for your future career and giving you a competitive edge in the graduate job market. Our Talent Team provide a wide range of support services which could help you when you choose to plan and prepare for your potential career in industry.

Where our graduates work

We have a very long and impressive history of previous graduates who have gone on to establish themselves in extremely high profile media and cultural employment, examples of which include: executive producer for many highly prestigious Hollywood films, director for BBC documentaries, DJs for national radio stations such as BBC Radio 6 and Virgin Radio, developer at a customer experience company, digital marketing executive at a full-service agency, and planners and creatives for a number of prestigious London-based advertising agencies.

Further study

You can choose to continue your studies at Coventry University with the Media Practice MA or Immersive and Virtual Media MA. You may be entitled to an alumni discount on your fees if you decide to extend your time with us by progressing from undergraduate to postgraduate study.

How to apply

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Your next steps

Student life
Accommodation
Fees and funding

  • Student Contract

    By accepting your offer of a place and enrolling with us, a Student Contract will be formed between you and the university. A copy of the 2021/22 Contract can be found here. The Contract details your rights and the obligations you will be bound by during your time as a student and contains the obligations that the university will owe to you. You should read the Contract before you accept an offer of a place and before you enrol at the university.

    Tuition fees

    The tuition fee for the course that is stated on the course webpage and in the prospectus for the first year of study will apply. We will review our tuition fees each year. For UK and EU students, if Parliament permit an increase in tuition fees, we may increase fees for each subsequent year of study in line with any such changes. Note that any increase is expected to be in line with inflation. Following the UK’s exit from the European Union, EU students should be aware that there may be a change to UK laws following the UK’s exit, this may change their student status, their eligibility to study part time, and/or their eligibility for student finance. We will act in accordance with the UK’s laws in force in relation to student tuition fees and finance from time to time.

    For International students the tuition fee that is stated on the course webpage and in the prospectus for the first year of study will apply. We will review our tuition fees each year. For international students, we may increase fees for each subsequent year of study but such increases will be no more than 5% above inflation.

    Accreditations

    The majority of our courses have been formally recognised by professional bodies, which means the courses have been reviewed and tested to ensure they reach a set standard. In some instances, studying on an accredited course can give you additional benefits such as exemptions from professional exams (subject to availability, fees may apply). Accreditations, partnerships, exemptions and memberships shall be renewed in accordance with the relevant bodies’ standard review process and subject to the university maintaining the same high standards of course delivery. 

    Facilities

    Facilities mentioned on this page may not be relevant for every course. Due to the ongoing restrictions relating to COVID-19, some facilities (including some teaching and learning spaces) and some non-academic offerings (particularly in relation to international experiences), may vary from those advertised and may have reduced availability or restrictions on their use.

    Placements and study abroad opportunities

    Please note that we are unable to guarantee any placement or study abroad opportunities and that all such opportunities may be subject to additional costs (e.g. travel, visas and accommodation etc.), competitive application, availability and/or meeting any applicable visa requirements. To ensure that you fully understand the requirements in this regard, please contact the International Office for further details if you are an EU or International student.

    Additional costs

    This course may incur additional costs associated with any field trips, placements or work experience, study abroad opportunities or any other opportunity (whether required or optional), which could include (but is not limited to), equipment, materials, bench fees, studio or facilities hire, travel, accommodation and visas).