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Multilit Moocs
Start date: Sep 1, 2016, End date: Aug 31, 2019 PROJECT  FINISHED 

Within the European Union, teaching staff have been confronted with great challenges in heterogenous classrooms. One of these challenges relates to identifying suitable programmes for the teaching of language and literacy.Children may have a number of reasons for facing difficulties in this area, e.g. learning disabilities, a right to an individual special educational needs programme, social disadvantage, or a multilingual background. This challenge has increased over the past year, due to the increase in refugee numbers in Europe this past year, leading to rising numbers of pupils who struggle to follow lessons due to language issues. Many teachers have pointed out the lack of suitable professional development opportunities inthis area, and in the area of differentiated facilitation of literacy. They are faced with growing challenges, often without the required knowledge or skills. The project therefore aims to develop practically-oriented knowledge in the area of language and literacy development, and to make these available via an online-learning platform and two MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses), to all those interested (teaching staff, volunteers, students). A starting point is a discussion with teaching staff in participating countries, through which questions will be developed which aim to address good practice in the area of language and literacy facilitation among a heterogenous student body. These questions will be addressed at three synthesised levels: 1) through relating to relevantexpert knowledge, 2) through examples of good practice, and 3) through the development of relevant exemplary materials. This synthesis will occur via a number of media, including text, video-sequences and video talks. Furthermore, materials will be developed from an international viewpoint, incorporating examples from many different national contexts.The project participants span universities, as well as a college and a school, from five different countries (Germany, Luxembourg, Ireland, England and Spain). Each participating institution has expertise in at least two of the three relevant topic areas (multilingualism, inclusion, social disadvantage), resulting in a close network of competences. The following activities are at the core of the project: Questioning teachers about their questions/needs in the area of language and literacy facilitation and creation of case studies about teaching for further development through video sequences, video talks and texts, which will be made available on the online learning platform; Bring key findings together in two MOOCs (MOOC 1: Language Facilitation, MOOC 2: Literacy Facilitation); Creation of teaching handbooks for the continuation of MOOCs following the end of the project's life cycle.Due to the primary dissemination focus of project results and activities via the WWW, intellectual outputs will be openly accessible to anybody interested. In addition to this, project structures and results will be developed in such a way that all materials will be accessible and usable beyond the lifecycle of the project, specifically the online learning platform and the MOOCs. It is expected that resources will be made available in English, German and Spanish, allowing teachers to address everyday questions in the area of language and literacy development for children with difficulties in these areas. The focus is on well-researched, yet practically-oriented ideas, allowing staff to draw parallels to their own practice and helping staff to gain ideas for their own teaching, as well as for longer-term planning of provision. The project team is aware that the project results will form only one of many important aspects of daily teaching pressures facing staff, yet the project hopes to facilitate staff to develop their on pedagogic practice and competences. The long-term usability of the project lies in the development of expert knowledge in the area of language and literacy facilitation, relevant both within the EU and internationally. The project results will remain topical and relevant, since teaching staff in a multi-faceted Europe are continually confronted with questions around facilitation of children from a multitude of backgrounds.
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