Certificate-of-Open-Studies

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Introduction

The Certificate of Open Studies (COS) is a new format offered by the Centre for Continuing and Distance Education of the University of Geneva (https://www.unige.ch/files/3415/8271/1574/Statut-20fevrier2020.pdf, art. 65). The COS in Education in emergency contexts, takes the form of an intensive three-months training of trainers’ course that is co-created by three main stakeholders, namely academics - ERDIE and ENS - University Abdou Moumouni, refugee-learners, NGOs - mainly Yara lnc and AEDL-Espoir and InZone who coordinates action. The COS is worth 12 ECTS, represents 300 student working hours and will start in September 2023. This page centralises some resources and documents the design process.
The COS relies on Openness, Open Education and Open Science, using and producing Open Educational Resources.

Overall framework

  • Refugee-learners’ local languages are mainly Haussa, Zarma, Fulfulde and Kanuri and they should be free to produce assignments in those languages.
  • Education in emergencies and Open Education represent the overall context. They can enter in tension at some points and in case this happens, the safety of refugee-learners guides actions.
  • Open Educational Resources (OER), Open platforms and open smartphone applications are recommended with regard to infrastructure, e.g. Graasp. Resources and material produced within and for the COS should be OER, i.e. enabling the 5 R, Retain Reuse Revise Remix Redistribute, mainly with CC licences.
  • The training shall be designed foregrounding technology that is available in the target audience, i.e. smartphones.

Overall design

The COS design, in its first edition, is starting this month of February. It is conceived as a design-based research, with the intent of starting with a first edition that is progressively fine-tuned.

Timeline COS 1st edition design

Basics for course designers’ start: Key pedagogical concepts

Empowering learners

In the Middle Ages, when European universities started, especially in the Bologna model (and we are in the Bologna reform since 1998), learners decided what they wanted to learn and which courses teachers should teach them. In the COS, course designers are invited to take into account participants’ conceptions, interests, knowledge and real needs with regard to a module content. To do so, strategies to prompt participants about their reality, their expectations from this COS, assignments in the form of autobiographic narratives, etc. are to be used regularly. Ideally, and in the longer term, participants should be free to choose a customised path according to their interests. Within this first edition, participants should already be free to use the language of their choice to complete assignments, especially those oriented towards autobiographic narratives.

E. Wenger, during his conference on 15.02.2023, showed why learning theories matter and foregrounded two approaches: the "cognitive view" which considers "learning as the transmission of certainty" and the "social view" which considers "learning as the mutual engagement of uncertainty". In the COS, we are certainly more into the second one, which also echoes Freire's educating towards liberation.

Oral pedagogies

Indigenous / endegenous learning strategies are starting to emerge. To get some insights with regard to Africa, you can refer to:

  • Moussa Mohamed Sagayar's (chap 7) and Nana-Aicha Goza's (chap 4) insights with regard to what matters in traditional education in Africa, i.e. "L’éducation traditionnelle africaine est caractérisée par quatre aspects spécifiques (Moumouni/Caille, 2019) qui situent bien une démarche communautaire et sociale avec ses spécificités cohérentes.
    • Le premier aspect met en lumière la dimension sociale et collective, une valeur qui tient lieu de référence dans toute relation humaine qui se veut pérenne.
    • Le second aspect considère l’éducation sociale traditionnelle comme un repère qui valorise les biens matériels et leur lien avec les croyances spirituelles. Les peuples indigènes honorent les esprits dans leur imaginaire et dans leur monde virtuel.
    • En ce qui concerne, le troisième aspect, il vient confirmer une pluralité des pratiques endogènes qui montre des compétences diverses et variées dans la vie sociale.
    • Le quatrième et dernier aspect porte sur le développement de l’enfant dans le cercle familial et social. L’enfant est considéré comme un individu au service de la communauté dans sa plénitude et son évolution aux plans psychique, physique et mental. La conscience collective est la référence pour son intégration dans la communauté et pour la communauté [...] (p. 163)."
    • "L’éducation traditionnelle liée au contexte économique et social visait à former des guerriers susceptibles de défendre la société, des paysans et des artisans capables de produire les divers biens et services nécessaires à la subsistance de la communauté. La théorie et la pratique vont de pair ; ainsi, instruction et éducation sont constamment et intimement liées (p. 102)".
    • "La pédagogie populaire africaine repose surtout sur la tradition orale où contes, légendes, devinettes, chants et proverbes visent à la formation de l’individu" (p. 103)".
  • Amadou Saibou Adamou's (chap 8) insights on how to use proverbs, i.e. Les proverbes "sont, en général, des phrases imagées véhiculant la sagesse populaire et qui servent à instruire les hommes. Ils se caractérisent donc par leur métaphoricité et leur didacticité, d’où leur intérêt à la fois pour les études linguistique et anthropologique" (p. 186). "En Afrique, en général, au Niger en particulier, les proverbes étaient (sont) utilisés par les adultes pour encadrer socialement les plus jeunes. Ils servaient presqu’à tout ; notamment, selon les circonstances, à : décrire, raconter, avertir, ordonner, éconduire, interpeller, conseiller, enseigner, interdire, etc. Ainsi, à l’instar des paroimia grecs, les proverbes en Afrique servaient d’outils didactiques pour éduquer et socialiser les jeunes" (p. 192). "Les pays africains sont presque tous composés de plusieurs communautés ethniques qui produisent chacune des proverbes correspondant à leurs expériences de vie et à leurs préoccupations et à leurs visions du monde. On pourrait exploiter ces divers proverbes pour y étudier par exemple :
    • comment chaque communauté se définit à travers les proverbes ;
    • comment chaque communauté parle des différents éléments et aspects de la vie ;
    • les préoccupations (morales, matérielles, spirituelles ; etc.) majeures de chaque communauté ;
    • les ressemblances et dissemblances (formelles, thématiques, idéologiques, etc.) des proverbes des différentes communautés ;
    • les possibilités d’une rencontre entre les valeurs communautaires;
    • etc." (pp. 204-205)
  • Abdou Moumouni Issoufou's (chap 5) insights on how to use epic narratives, i.e. "L’entreprise didactique de ce discours peut s’expliquer par les mobiles suivants:
    • d’abord, tout récit épique présente la condition humaine, ce récit est plein d’enseignements et de leçons ;
    • ensuite, sur le plan historique, le discours épique fait découvrir aux générations présentes leur passé, l’histoire, leurs ancêtres ;
    • puis, l’épopée reflète la culture africaine à travers les valeurs identitaires et communautaires ;
    • enfin, elle est un genre littéraire riche en ressources linguistiques et stylistiques pouvant améliorer significativement les compétences linguistiques et littéraires de jeunes apprenants" (p. 125).
    • "Dans cette perspective didactique, les objectifs visent à amener les jeunes apprenants africains à:
      • découvrir les valeurs humaines et culturelles prônées par les figures épiques du passé;
      • s’approprier les valeurs incarnées pour adopter un comportement nouveau" (p. 127).

A three step design process

Conceiving a learning design can be seen as a 3-steps process: the vision, the design, and making it sustainable. An excellent book is about to be published and some parts of it are already released to show the interdependency between i) key concepts of the course, ii) contextual elements, iii) learning outcomes, iv) content and activity design, v) teaching strategy, vi) assessment strategy and vii) overall scenario : https://designpedagogique.info/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Design_pediagogique_extrait50.pdf . Course designers are invited to go carefully through these 7 steps that relate to the 3-steps overall process and prepare some output for each step. The process is not linear but rather cyclical.

TPACK

Technological, pedagogical and content knowledge. Course designers are asked to watch this 5 minutes video to get introduced to the TPACK framework https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yMQiHJsePOM and then read this article by Koehler et al. (2013), What Is Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK)? The Journal of Education, 193(3), 13-19. http://www.jstor.org/stable/24636917 . Course designers are then invited to reflect, for their module, which CK, PK, TK and intersecting knowledge is needed. The output can take the form, for example, of a concept map (see p. 71 of https://doi.org/10.3917/raised.021.0061 ).

Didactical double-decker

This is a concept I have discovered at PHZH, during LECU and SINAN projects. It relates to using material, i.e. Lehrplan 21 in the case of PHZH training, in teacher training that learners will use in the classroom when they are teachers. This "link" provides a context for how to use a resource both in the position of the learner (at PHZH) and in the position of the teacher (in classroom). In the COS, the double-decker concept is rather about using pedagogical strategies and digital technologies that refugee-learners will seamlessly be able to use in their role as community educators (e.g. using proverbs as a didactical mean). Course designers are invited to explore this double-decker concept in their course design.

Cultures and pedagogies as a mindset

The variety of cultures and pedagogies and what they can leverage is the background framework in terms of values of the COS design. Course designers are invited to make sure that they fully understand the following resources: MOOC Cultures et Pédagogies ; Repenser l’éducation : alternatives pédagogiques du Sud (Akkari & Fuentes, 2021) ; Repenser l’éducation et la pédagogie dans une perspective africaine. Akkari, A., Gandolfi, S., & Sagayar, M. (2022). Globethics.net.

Oral education

Course designers need to be well informed of pedagogies of the Souths and read at least Freire’s Pedagogy of the Oppressed and the resources mentioned above, in the Cultures and pedagogies as a mindset section.

Connected learning

This concept refers to several connections, well beyond the internet. Basically, it foregrounds a personal interest and multiple connections and supports spreading from this interest to make it grow. Course designers are invited to watch this 18 mn video (specifically from minute 8 onwards) and read some of this resource by Ito, M., & Colleagues. (2020). The Connected Learning Research Network: Reflections on a Decade of Engaged Scholarship .

Physical places, connected learning hubs, will be available for refugee-learners to meet, to make connections, to develop a project, to interact and exchange ideas and of course to learn and complete COS activities. Connected learning hubs will be operated by NGOs, mainly Yara Lnc and AEDL-Espoir.

Micro-credentials

According to the European commission, "‘Micro-credential’ means the record of the learning outcomes that a learner has acquired following a small volume of learning. These learning outcomes will have been assessed against transparent and clearly defined criteria. Learning experiences leading to micro-credentials are designed to provide the learner with specific knowledge, skills and competences that respond to societal, personal, cultural or labour market needs. Micro-credentials are owned by the learner, can be shared and are portable. They may be stand-alone or combined into larger credentials. They are underpinned by quality assurance following agreed standards in the relevant sector or area of activity." According to the same source, mandatory elements to describe a micro-credential are: i) identification of the learner ii) title of the micro-credential iii) country(ies)/region(s) of the issuer iv) awarding body(ies) v) date of issuing vi) learning outcomes vii) notional workload needed to achieve the learning outcomes (in European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System – ECTS, wherever possible) viii) level (and cycle, if applicable) of the learning experience leading to the micro-credential (European Qualifications Framework, Qualifications Frameworks in the European Higher Education Area), if applicable ix) type of assessment x) form of participation in the learning activity xi) type of quality assurance used to underpin the micro-credential When desiging evaluation for your module, try to keep these elements in mind.

Toolbox

  • Identify your learning outcomes. They must be SMART (Specific, Measurable, Attractive, Realistic, Time-bound). Learning outcomes are action-oriented and student-centred and use active verbs to describe the expected competences. They shoud be formulated in the form of achievements, i.e. at the end of the module, learners will be able to... They are usually defined with the backdrop of the Bloom taxonomy - remembering, understanding, applying, analysing, evaluating, and creating. Example of verbs in French for each category:
    • Remember: associer, citer, décrire, définir, dupliquer, enregistrer, énumérer, étiqueter, identifier, indiquer, lister, localiser, mémoriser, nommer, ordonner, rappeler, reconnaître,
    • répéter, reproduire, résumer, sélectionner
    • Understand: classer, comparer, convertir, démontrer, différencier, dire dans ses mots, illustrer (à l’aide d’exemples), expliquer, exprimer, faire une analogie, généraliser, interpréter, paraphraser, prédire, reformuler, représenter, résumer
    • Apply: administrer, appliquer, assembler, calculer, catégoriser, colliger, construire, contrôler, découvrir, démontrer, dessiner, déterminer, employer, établir, formuler, fournir, manipuler, mesurer, mettre en pratique, modifier, montrer, opérer, participer, préparer, produire, résoudre, traiter, trouver, utiliser
    • Analyse: analyser, cibler, comparer, contraster, critiquer, découper, déduire, délimiter, différencier, discriminer, disséquer, distinguer, examiner, faire corréler, faire ressortir, inférer, limiter, mettre en priorité, mettre en relation, morceler, organiser, opposer, questionner, séparer, subdiviser
    • Evaluate: apprécier, argumenter, attaquer, choisir, conclure, critiquer, défendre, déterminer, estimer, évaluer, juger, justifier, soutenir
    • Créer: adapter, agencer, anticiper, arranger, assembler, combiner, commenter, composer, concevoir, connecter, construire, créer, développer, écrire, exposer, incorporer, intégrer, mettre en place, organiser, planifier, préparer, produire, proposer, rédiger, structurer, synthétiser.
  • Conceptualise your course with a concept map: https://enseigner.unil.ch/ressources/wp-content/uploads/UNIL-CSE_cartes_conceptuelles.pdf . Upfront, this allows course designers to identify key concepts of the course on which for instance they will be making a video or podcast; it also enables them to plan an aligned evaluation - which learning to evaluate, how to get a testimony of this learning, how to interpret this output - see for example https://enseigner.unil.ch/ressources/document/choisir-ses-strategies-devaluation/ .
  • Write your script for your video or audio recording: basically this entails two types of narratives: the verbal one and the audio / vidéo one. I would encourage you first to focus on the verbal narrative, i.e. your message, to keep it focused, clear, engage the audience with direct addresses, examples, case studies, anecdotes, etc. Watch for example this 5mn video explaining how to write a script before the recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-1DDroLsDSQ . Watch also this 7 mn video on Mayer's 12 principles to produce educative multimedia - cohérence, signalement / signalisation, redondance, contiguité spatiale, contiguité temporelle, segmentation, entrainement, modalité, multimédia, personnalisation, voix, humain/image: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4JHf9wZOh88. With regard to recording time, try to make 5 to 8 mn videos and try to anticipate the potential obsolesence of the recorded content by focusing on processes. For additional similar videos by the same author: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLMn8MvVsX6LP2y7U2tjYaVDJ6E3cbPQpt
  • Examples of interesting vidéos: cartoon like.
  • For the script itself, you may want to use this template: doc.
  • To make videos inclusive, i.e. accessible to people with hearing or visual impairment, it would be good to take into account W3C recommendations and also apply these basic guidelines. Add subtitles which benefit many more people than just people with a hearing disability; Add a transcript, especially in an educational setting because it makes it easier to revisit the content => Use the script of the video as a transcript can be a good idea; Prefer a video with a voice that explains the content of the video to make it accessible to people with visual impairments; Choose colours and a font size that are clearly visible (as a reminder, to test the contrast ratio, there is the Contrast Checker from WebAIM or the colour contrast analyser from TPGi).
  • To address an other type of inclusiveness, e.g. representation, here are some practical guidelines: with regard to gender issues select from the checklist what is appropriate, specifically language, e.g. "les étudiantes et les étudiants" instead of using "les étudiants", FOSTWOM Toolkit checklist and Unige guide; in the subtitles, if possible translate into local languages of participants (Haussa, Zarma, Fulfulde, Kanuri).
  • When publishing the video, publish it on youtube (wide audience) and on peertube (open source) adding the right licence; publish raw files on Zenodo for example (one video per file + add metadata for the collection) or, better check if Mediaserver supports raw files.
  • To help you with learning theories, but only Global North-centred, this map gives a good overview: http://blog.richardmillwood.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/Learning-Theory.pdf ; for more academic reading on the topic: Illeris, K. (Ed.). (2018). Contemporary theories of learning. Learning theorists... In their own words (2nd ed.). Routledge. First edition available in pdf.
  • To help you with pedagogical strategies and learning activities, there is the ABC method based on Laurillard's conversational framework. You can download the toolkit in several languages > select in the ble menu bar "Toolkit 2020 Downloads" - French version download. You may also consult pp. 30-31 of Lanarès et al. guide.
  • To help you with the overal pedagogical scenario of your module and its activities, you can download this work in progress template, doc, pdf.
  • During Covid, the Tecfa team created several tutorials in French, including how to record audio on a ppt presentation: https://edutechwiki.unige.ch/fr/Cat%C3%A9gorie:Enseigner_%C3%A0_distance_dans_l%27urgence. To produce ppt slides, here are some suggestions: UniLaval.

Resources

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