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Press release: Making the most of your experience beyond the walls of the classroom: how digital teaching and learning will expand the teacher`s horizon.

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Madrid, 17th of November 2014

At the beginning of November, 14 brand new Massive Open Online Courses MOOCs were released on the central platform ECO-Learning. 2 More are set to be uploaded by the end of this month. The purpose of the MOOC platform is to attract students to participate and experience what ubiquitous and community learning is like during the course of 6 weeks. The 16 ECO-MOOCs cover 5 different topics at the start of the project and are set up to impulse the creation of new MOOCs, adding a growing number of courses and topics to a self-sustaining ECO-system within the next 2 years.

One of the project` goals is to motivate teachers to create and design their own MOOCs. The consortium ECO-learning is therefore looking to recruit 4,000 teachers from 7 different countries specifically for the purpose of becoming an active member of the ECO-learning community. Whether either teachers are experienced and enthusiastic users of the digital tools available for education or dread the learning curve and time that is required to learn how to use the tools, ECO-Learning is an open community for both.

The project´s central message Learn. Teach. anywhere, everywhere refers not only to the freely accessible nature of these massive online courses, but also in the social inclusive concept behind the methodology. In addition it refers to the paired mobile app, as to enable users to access and participate wherever and whenever they can and want.

The content of the MOOCs varies from e-learning methodology, computing and digital skills to creative skills and the classical foundation of our education system such as mathematics. These MOOCs are all content orientated , whereas a Common Course will be developed where teachers will be offered a training in the basics of MOOC design.

All available MOOCs can be accessed via https://portal.eco-learning.eu, where new users will be prompted to create a login. The MOOCs are offered in 5 different languages:

  1. In English: Videos for teaching, learning and communication
  2. In German: E-Learning-Projektmanagement an Schulen (E-learning and project management at schools)
  3. In Portugese:
    – Introdução aos Sistemas de Informação Geográfica (Introduction to basic Geographic Information systems GIS)
  4. In Italian:
    – Introduzione alla matematica per l’università: Pre-Calculus (Preparation course mathematics for university: Pre-Calculus)
    – M’appare il mondo: dalle carte alla Terra digitale partecipata (Geomatics course)
  5. In Spanish:
    – Sexualidad Amigable y Responsable (Assertive and non-abrasive sexuality)
    – Innovación Educativa y Desarrollo Profesional. Posibilidades y límites de las TIC. (Innovation in education and in professional training: Possibilities and limitations of ICT)
    – Competencias creativas para el profesorado (Creativity MOOC Camp. (Creative skills for teachers)
    – Necessidades Educativas Especiales. Como enseñar, como aprender (How to teach & learn. Special needs in education)
    – Flipped Classroom
    – Comunicación y aprendizaje móvil (mobile communication and learning)
    – Alfabetización Digital para Personas en Riesgo de Exclusión: Estrategias para la Intervención Socioeducativa (Digital literacy for people with high risk of ssocial exclusion. Strategies for digital, socioeconomic intervention).
  6. In French:
    – DIY Education aux médias et à l’information – DIY Media Education and information

Contact details

Contact person Spanish MOOCs: Mr. Rodríguez Hoyos Carlos, at the University of Cantabria, rodriguezhc@unican.es
Contact person English MOOC: Ms. Teresa Rasgado, teresa.rasgado@manchester.ac.uk
Contact person German MOOC: Ms. Eichler Sünne eichler@eichler-beratung.de
Contact person French MOOCs:  Ms. Divina Meigs divina.meigs@orange.fr
Contact person Italian MOOCs: Mr. Stefano Menon, stefano.menon@polimi.it

“Your chances to teach, share and build knowledge are going to expand and there is no need to be afraid.”

By | Interview, Technology in education | No Comments

Consortium member Divina Frau-Meigs from the University of Sorbonne and PhD Matthieu Cissel, specialising in MOOCs were interviewed this summer by the UNED-Radio about the added value of MOOCs in the digital learning landscape.

We are talking to Divina Frau-Meigs, Professor at University Sorbonne Nouvelle, one of the partners of this European project and Matthieu Cisel is a PhD student at the Cachan École Normale Supériere, in France.

INTERVIEWER: Matthieu, in your opinion, what is the added value of MOOCs versus traditional courses?

MATTHIEU: “First of all: they are open and allow for a large variety of people with different interests to participate. People who perhaps cannot study because they do not have financial resources or the required time. The format of the open, ubiquitous course as is a MOOC allows them to strike these barriers and do a course, anywhere and anytime. That is for me the added value.”

INTERVIEWER: And Professor Frau-Meigs, what is according to you the added value of MOOCs versus traditional courses?

DIVINA: “Well, to complement Matthieu’s answer, I think the implications of social networks in the workings of a MOOC increase the value of e-learning or distance learning. This is a novel factor of the MOOC that permits teachers to control the subjects and use resources different from those typically used in the traditional learning sphere adding a shared dimension. And as I usually say: “a MOOC without social networks is like a bird without wings”.

INTERVIEWER: What ECO project proposes is totally new and something to take into account: networks joining an open online course, massive and free. How do you see the situation of MOOCs in France, particularly, and in Europe, in general?

MATTHIEU: “There are several countries in Europe creating their own MOOCs but in France there are still less than a 100 as of today. There are for instance a much larger volume of available MOOCs in Spain. I believe it is more of a cultural thing than anything else. We are still getting to know more about distance education and its culture so it is going to take some time to learn the pedagogy, how to make videos and all that.”

INTERVIEWER: UNED leads the European Project ECO, a project that focuses on the analysis and design of MOOCs. There are 24 partners from different countries, universities, enterprises and other institutions, some of them experienced in distance education and others that will have their first contact with these courses. Universities are opting more and more for distance education and, especially, the design of MOOCs.

Divina, how do you see the situation of MOOCs in France, particular and in Europe in general?

DIVINA: “It is true that from an international point of view MOOCs are in an early stage in France. Some colleagues call that “effet diligence” (diligence effect). We are living a period where we need to promote the transition from traditional courses to modern courses. There is not a French MOOC model yet. And I think every country is going to create its own model, a sign of cultural diversity. I believe this is a good thing. But the transmissive model is still deeply rooted in France because it is a very centralized country. For the moment, the French MOOC-model considers this new MOOC initiative as a learning stage with deeply resounding ripple effect in the academic community.”

INTERVIEWER: Do other countries in Europe share this view? Or can we identify different views on the use of MOOCs? It is a new initiative but many countries are going for this kind of education.

DIVINA: “I see it as an opportunity for all countries to make universities moves intro the possibilities of the 21st,, isn’t it? Furthermore I believe the Union´s way of seizing this possibilities is as diverse as its joint cultural and linguistic heritage. Moreover, I believe the smaller countries will be able to adopt the MOOC-way of teaching and learning more easily than big countries, such as France, that are slower in their response to necessary change. But there is a real interest in it and little by little decisive authorities are assimilating the topic of digital and distance learning.”

INTERVIEWER: What kind of resistance against MOOCs have you encountered, Matthieu?

MATTHIEU: “First, a lot of teachers are scared of losing their jobs with this new model. I do not believe this will affect them but the fear and therefore the resitance is palpable. The thing is, it requires the teacher to make drastic adjustments. To make MOOCs you need to be flexible, fast and very efficient. It is a very different culture, it is working in groups, it is all very new… The biggest resistance is that MOOCs require a new way of working, a new organization… that is for me the biggest resistance.”

INTERVIEWER: Divina Frau-Meigs…

DIVINA: “I would like to add to what Matthieu just indicated is the factor of Intellectual property. The fact that for the teachers who are creating MOOCs they have no certainty about what will happen with their material they created. They believe that others are going to seize their knowledge and competences. So, there is a strong resistance against this in France, which has been a flagship for intellectual property. We are pushing ahead with MOOCs, the idea of an exception to intellectual property in education, a right to “re-mix” and the use of Creative Commons licenses, because there are solutions. But France does not really believe in these solutions and there is resistance in the very heart of ministries (of culture, media education, education) in general. So, we kind of know how to create MOOCs but spreading and adopting the model is a different matter that we need to address separately.”

INTERVIEWER: And what is the future of MOOCs, Matthieu?

MATTHIEU: “I am not sure yet. I hope we will create a viable ECO-system of MOOCs in France. The hurdle here is that we as of yet lack a feasible, stable economic model as for the MOOC-modules to offer a certain longevity.”

INTERVIEWER: In fact, this particular topic is being addressed by ECO-learning consortium. Embedding the MOOCs into a stable future economical ontext is one of the objectives of the ECO project, if not, one of the strongest commitments the European Commission isdemanding of all project members to provide a definitive answer for.  

Divina, what is the future of MOOCs in your opinion?

DIVINA: “I think MOOCs themselves are going to evolve and will be further integrated in education. In my opinion there is a clear future for MOOCs in life-long learning.”

“It is going to be difficult from the perspective of primary education, but perhaps, eventually we will make it happen. This is what I say to teachers who are afraid: “This is going to take a weight off your minds, these are the steps to follow. Your chances to teach, share and build knowledge are going to widen and there is no need to be afraid.” But it is a very important change in mind-set and this will be difficult given the fact that there are so many teachers who represent a traditional generation of teachers. It will be easier for the next generation of teachers who are more accustomed to the digital world. Digital skills are new and some teachers still have to acquire them.”

“The response of teachers so far however is promising. After sending out a call for MOOC proposals and we have received over 50 proposals. I think there will be teachers who profit from this chance and there will be others who will not go down that road until they see clearer future perspective.”

MOOCs minimising the ICT gender GAP?

By | Gender, Technology in education | No Comments
GenderGAP_ICT_ECOMOOCs

Image taken at the Women’s Race, A Coruña Spain 2013 by The Owl nº30 Source link: Flickr licensed CC BY-SA 2.0

Women tend to experience barriers when it comes to accessing technological environments and in particular Internet. In addition, we must add the difficulty in producing content, its visibility as a female identity and advanced use of the Internet. The first gap is about usage and equipment and the second one is related to literacy and the digital culture. Both hinder equal opportunities. Given this scenario, the MOOC philosophy (universal, accessible, open, free) represents a learning potential beyond the multidisciplinary education.

The national Institute of Statistic in Spain (INE) assures that in 2013 that the digital gender gap has been reduced in 2012 in the main indicators analyzed (using computer and Internet usage) over the previous year, except for the frequent use of the Internet, which has increased at one point. The highest value corresponds to frequent Internet use (6.7 points), followed by the use of the Internet (5.2 points), and useage of the computer in general (4.9 points). Always with regards to these three indicators, gap values have declined over the last years.
Nevertheless, gender gaps are still existent. The first ICT (quantitative) gap we identify is the difficulty of access to the technology itself. The second difficulty is a gap related to usage of ICT, and has a qualitative nature and thirdly a sifnificant is the limited use of more advanced ICT services, such as mobile Internet. This is where the percentage of usage drops significantly.

Beyond equipment and Internet access to include, as indicated by Castells and Cecilia Brown, there are a set of factors such as educational level, personal training, access to employment, culture and social and family background. “A second cause of social division which is much more important than connectivity in terms of technology, is the educational and cultural ability to use the Internet.” ECO foresees a relevant role for ECO MOOCs in this respect.

It is a complex problem that requires solutions and coordinated responses between different fields, disciplines, individuals and social institutions. ECO plans to embed findings from the following proposals from the source Mujeres en Red, as a roadmap for equal opportunities in relation to MOOCs:

  • Connect with the interests of women.
  • Generate strategies of appropriation and self-esteem of women through the use of ICT.
  • Become agents of equality in ICT. Change the persception of basic issues such as: sexist language and stereotypes inside Websites.
  • Promote the leadership of women in different areas of ICT and the called “Information Society”.
  • Highlight best practices from the perspective of gender.
  • To coordinate families, schools, political institutions and media projects that convert the digital environment in a space with equal opportunities.

Author:José Antonio Gabelas, University of Zaragoza. Adaptation of the blog post Crystal Rooms: http://educarencomunicacion.com/2014/04/brecha-digital-to-genero