Abstract:

In the 2010-2011 academic year has started the first edition of the Master’s Degree and PhD program in “Education and Museums: Heritage, Identity and Cultural Mediation" by the University of Murcia (Spain). This official degree is based on the lack, both in Spain and Latin America, of a postgraduate offer on a currently topic such as education and museums from a comprehensive perspective of natural and cultural heritage.

Why is it necessary and interesting this Master’s Degree?

First of all, it is because of the importance of its virtual nature. We agree with Gordon and Anaya (2004) in that virtual education is an enormous educational potential means, offering the possibility of combining text, images and sounds, incorporating interactivity and personalization at the same time.

As well, collaborative work enhances learning and teaching process. Learning is an individual process, inner, which require the efforts of each individual, but collective work reinforces learning. Reflection, debate, difference of opinion, cooperation and dialogue allow us to better understand and integrate new knowledge (Casamayor, 2008). Among the advantages of virtual education as a learning system are included:

- Training is focused on the student and is adapted to their needs and characteristics facilitating the self-learning.

- It provides flexibility in education: breaking the space-time coincidence.

- It connects to students from different places, expanding context and learning opportunities.

- It allows to use a variety of communication tools and materials, incorporating multimedia and interactivity resources in teaching. Thanks to these elements, many opportunities are offered for teacher-student contact and between students themselves.

It has also been taken into account the internationalization of the Master's Degree, so has the support of Latin American and European teachers, giving it unprecedented international dimension at the University of Murcia on topics related to the advanced study on education and museums.

Finally, the need to promote research in museums determines the scientific-research orientation of this Master’s Degree. This Master’s Degree is associated with a PhD training program called "Education and Museums" by the University of Murcia, and a mobility program between the PhD Program in "Education and Museums. Heritage, Identity and Cultural Mediation” by the University of Murcia and the PhD Program in “Science of the Preservation of the Cultural Heritage in Morocco: Cultural Heritage Preservation in Morocco" by the University of Cadi Ayyad, resulting on the whole PhD program "Tourism, Economic Development, Education and Heritage" within the “Mediterranean Office for Youth Programme for Mobility of Students and Young Professionals”.

References:

Casamayor, G. (2008). La formación on-line. Una mirada integral sobre el e-learning,
b-learning. Barcelona: Grao

Cordón, O. y Anaya, K. (2004). Enseñanza virtual: Fundamentos, perspectivas actuales y visión de la Universidad de Granada. Centro de Enseñanzas Virtuales de la Universidad de Granada. Extracted March 29, 2011 from
http://cevug.ugr.es/web-cevug/documentos/thales2.pdf

Keywords:

Master's Degree, PhD program, learning, virtual education.