MOOC on Dys Erasmus Project

Project Title

MOOC on Dys

Project Key Action

This project related with these key action: Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices

Project Action Type

This project related with this action type : Strategic Partnerships for school education

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2017

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: Early School Leaving / combating failure in education; Disabilities – special needs

Project Summary

Specific Learning Disabilities affect about 15 % of the general population, unfortunately teachers are scarcely aware of the impact of such disabilities on school life. Additionally, families are unprepared to cope with the specific needs and obstacles of their children with SLD.
The ways of support vary in each country of the EU but all share similar challenges with a lack of open and reliable material for the general public. For example: online training about dyslexia is hardly accessible and only in English.
To provide a better answer to that problematic reality, we have created the project “MOOC Dys”, an international and multilingual MOOC. Its 1st edition has provided:
– online training for teachers
– reliable information on how to cope in the daily life and school obstacles
– free and usable resources for families and teachers
– space for expression for all involved
– testimony of coping strategies
Mooc participants
We have attracted 12.373 users in 3 categories:
– Parents of children and teenagers with SLD
– Teachers and professionals who face students with SLD
– Paramedical professionals (speech therapists, occupation therapists, etc.)
Activities
The MOOCDys was organize around 7 weeks of classes:
– Introduction to the course itself (week 0)
– Common body for all the participants (4 weeks)
– Specific set of modules for teachers and professionals (2 weeks)
– Specific set of modules for parents (2 weeks)
The collaborative aspect of this MOOC was very important, and we have therefore made it mandatory. In order to obtain a certification, learners had to discuss, exchange and contribute to the content through testimony about the SLD challenges they face and the solutions and strategies they implemented to overcome their situation.
In addition, 7 webinars have been organised in French (the largest learning community), one each week, to deepen some topics by inviting expert to interview.
There were 2 types of certification: one for the parents’ module and one for the teachers and professional module. The delivery of those certificates was based on the full completion of the course (all modules and exercises) but also on a set a participation criteria.
In addition to the MOOC itself, several other activities and OER have been made:
– Conferences in all the partner countries gathering over 301 participants
– 42 workshops with parents and specialists to go over the content of the MOOC and beyond
– 1 syllabus gathering all the resources of the online course to ensure the sustainability of the content and its transferability
– 2 toolboxes, one for each module, with a total of 60 tools to help learners with SLD
Methodology
The methodology we have used for this project is a mix of the ADDIE method and the Design Thinking:
– first identified the learners’ needs via surveys in SLD social media groups,
– empathized with them and their condition
– brainstormed during the M2 with experts about the best solutions to meet those expressed needs
– created a prototype and test it with a panel of learners with the end users’ profile
– distributed the content of the MOOC through a collaborative virtual learning environment
– engaged a group of 106 ambassadors (active parents and professionals) that supported the community around the MOOC.
All along during the project, we have used online collaborative tools (SLACK and ZOOM) and live meetings to coordinate and structure the partnership work according to the general plan.
Long term impacts
On the learners:
– the participants who have used and who will use the online and on-site tools will be able to support better the learning of pupils with SLD, at home and in the classroom;
– the provided material delivered under the Creative Commons Licence 4.0, allows everybody to use and modify those contents according to their specific needs
– the learners have and will continue to disseminate acquired knowledge in their own environment and network, even years after the MOOC, thanks to materials on the website
– participating in the discussion on the multilingual MOOC forum allowed learners to create a sense of community and mutual support while sharing their experience with SLD and their methods to cope with the challenges
On the partner organizations:
– the partners organizations are quite different and complement each other very well: we have all learned from each other’s experience and specific skills
– the experience gathered during this project has already proven and will continue to be reusable by each partner for new projects, internationally as well as at home.
– the partner organizations and several experts form an informal European network of experts and professionals which is lasting after this particular project
– collaborative work during the content creation phase for MOOC allowed partners to acquire new digital skills like: creating videos with multilingual subtitles, animated content and infographics

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 196826 Eur

Project Coordinator

SCS LogoPsyCom & Country: BE

Project Partners

• Rhéatis
• Civiform società cooperativa sociale
• KENTRO DIAFORODIAGNOSHS, DIAGNOSHS, KAI YPOSTHRIXH EIDIKON EKPAIDEFTIKON ANAGON
• UNIVERSITATEA DIN PITESTI
• REDE DLBC LISBOA – Associação para o Desenvolvimento Local de Base Comunitária de Lisboa