ntellectual Output 5: 2GEM MOOC “How to valorise and use 1.5 and second generation unique culture”

An essential part of the project’s offerings is the 2GEM Massive Open Online Course. This will complement the training opportunities carried out in the previous outputs whereas those will provide face-to-face training while this online course will provide online training, thus expanding the user groups unlimitedly.

The specific target group of the Outputs is 1.5 and second generation individuals interested in the topics. The Course, however, will be inspirational and useful to all those with an interest in the subject and wishing to promote it in their working areas: social workers/educators /volunteers dealing with migrants, policy makers, integration officers, representatives of NGOs working in the field and academics who will want to use it as reference for effective practices.

In recent years, MOOCs have been successfully used in education and widely applied in many fields. Through open access via the web, the 2GEM users will find the project educational resources in a specific training format able to empower them as intercultural workers. They will be able to expand awareness of their specific and unique cultural assets and will develop unique knowledge and competences within the intercultural field of study and applications that is today essential to work at multiple levels within multicultural communities, and much sought after in any European country.

Learners will be able to use the acquired set of competences in a way that they can be applied as transversal keys within their own specific study and/or working areas (i.e. language teaching, sociology, community aid, any working areas related to improving the quality of life for individuals and families) or as a set of competences leading to a qualification on its own: the intercultural worker. In other words, they will be equipped and prompt to use the Course to work as intercultural workers within communities or they can apply the acquired competences in any of the areas related to the project topics in which they are already working or studying.

2GEM learners will study the educational resources from the comfort of their own home and will be learning with the help of video lectures, assignments and self-assessment. The MOOC will provide resources such as ppt, educational videos, audio clips and forum features which will make the online learning experience enjoyable, informational and attractive.

The MOOC will reflect contents of previous outputs but organized in different format and units, with specific distance learning traits and in a way that will make learning effective, user-friendly and lively.

All learning units of the Online Course prototype will be tested by users from the partners’ countries who will act as learners as well as evaluators of the Course. According to their feedback the final Online Course will be perfected and made available to massive use across Europe and beyond.

Expected impact

The output will have a direct and strong impact on 1.5 and 2nd generation migrants and an impact on professional trainers dealing with migrants, social workers, job counsellors, teachers and volunteers working with migrants. European society at large will benefit from the output as innovative and open-minded training will be available to produce changes that are beneficial to migrants and host countries alike. In terms of quantitative impact, the output is potentially unlimited as it is an Open Educational Resource, freely available on the project online platform.

Elements of innovation

The output is in essence highly innovative both in the format and in terms of content. MOOCs are at the forefront of innovation in teaching formats and methodologies. The content is innovative in that it offers a unique and articulated answer to the need of providing adult educators who work with migrants with training tools that empower them in dealing with the specific socio-cultural instances and with the cultural assets of migrants in general. The MOOC, building on IO3, will expand the approach and the knowledge of adult educators’ (dealing with migrants) and will lead them towards an understanding of the training opportunities that could arise from working with 1.5 and 2nd generation individuals (whose cultural/behavioral specificities and potential are often ignored).

Moreover, the MOOC builds knowledge that will help 1.5 and 2nd generation persons become the perfect accelerators for changes within both the migrant communities and the whole society. The Online Course will enable them to use their own cultural resources to become intercultural mediators and possibly to start a useful, sought-after and creative vocational career.

Transferability potential

The output is transferable to the target groups of any country across Europe (and beyond) where 1.5 and 2nd generation migrants are present.