Within the EUMOSCHOOL project, the original Didactics of Emotions methodology has been transferred to an openly accessible e-learning platform in order to spread it as widely as possible. In this chapter you can read about how the methodology was adapted to this e-learning approach, and what we have done to test it and adapt it at local level.
Output 2 – EUMOSCHOOL Open Education Resource (OER) is a self-learning platform adapted from the DoE for teachers and placed in Moodle. The online course is divided in 4 modules with specific objectives:
- To give an overview on the current context of schools, family & education, the challenges for children and young people and pragmatic perspectives on the principles of emotional education.
- To learn the main theories and research supporting the development of the DoE.
- To learn the DoE techniques to be used in the classroom with pupils.
- To learn how to plan & manage interventions of DoE in the classroom.
What is an Open Educational Resource?
Open Educational Resources (OERs) are any type of educational materials that are in the public domain or introduced with an open license. The nature of these open materials means that anyone can legally and freely copy, use, adapt and re-share them. OERs range from textbooks to curricula, syllabi, lecture notes, assignments, tests, projects, audio, video and animation.
(Source: UNESCO, http://www.unesco.org/new/en/communication-and-information/access-to-knowledge/open-educational-resources/what-are-open-educational-resources-oers/).
From October 2016 to January 2017 45 teachers from 5 countries (Italy, Austria, Romania, Hungary and Turkey) have learned about the theoretical basis of the DoE, its techniques and how to manage and implement them in their schools and during their lessons.
Teachers have participated in a pilot phase – called Pilot I – which has been useful to evaluate the course and collect feedback, providing improvements for the final version of the output, which can be found at the following link: https://eumoschool.eu/oer/
The course is available in 6 languages (Italian, English, Romanian, Turkish, German, Hungarian), hosted by the Moodle platform.
What is Moodle?
The name Moodle is an acronym for Modular Object-Oriented Dynamic Learning Environment and it is a e-learning platform. It is the most used e-learning platform in the world due to its being versatile, flexible and open source. The platform gives a wide range of plug-in to be used, allowing teachers or other educational institutions to create their course, tailored to specific learning needs of their users. It allows to assess the learning of the students and create a specific learning environment, adaptable for every topic. For further information, check the following website: www.moodle.com .
Why e-Learning?
EU promotes e-learning since the beginning of the new Millennium. The improvements of new technologies and the accessibility of online learning environment have facilitated to spread these new learning paths and tools, allowing a multiplication of this new educational offer in the last decade. There are a lot of benefits connected to e-learning: it is
- adaptable to your learning need;
- affordable, since it has a good balance of quality – cost, and it is often free (as in this case);
- flexible, since it allows you to attend it when you’re available and according to your personal rhythm;
- attractive, thanks to the usage of new technologies;
- open to innovation and change;
- finally, it is a chance to exchange expertise and good practices with your colleagues – also coming from different countries – and enlarge your professional network.
Thanks to e-learning, “teachers have a more positive attitude toward their work and are able to provide more personalized learning”
(Source: UNESCO, The positive Impact of Learning).
The course has been designed as a modular one: it has been divided into 4 modules, with a total duration of 40 hours of learning (to include: the complete reading of all the resources, the exercises and responses to tasks ).
The table below, provides an overview of the whole course, highlighting its main and specific objectives, topics, contents, expected learning outcomes and the assessment tools used:
The structure
Each module has been structured in the following way:
- Overview/Introduction: an introduction for each module, showing the main contents, the objective and the expected learning outcomes teachers would reach on completion of the module.
- Resources: resources are included, aimed at providing the theoretical knowledge on the topic of the specific module. These are the basis of the activities of the next module’s sections.
- Tasks: in this section, teachers will be assessed and reflect on their understanding of the module’s main contents, through questions, quizzes and exercises. This is an important part of the course in order to evaluate understanding key learning objectives related to the topic.
- Collaboration: this is a forum that teachers can use to open a discussion on the topic of the module and discuss with the other colleagues, exchanging feedback and opinions relating to the contents presented in the module as well as sharing good practice.
- Self – assessment: Opportunity for individuals to reflect on their learning outcomes applied to their specific contexts.
- All the sections are presented in consecutive order. Teachers need to complete all the tasks in order to pass from one module to another, guaranteeing completion of the training.
The Monitoring & Evaluation
During Pilot I, monitoring and evaluation has been structured around the online course, allowing feedback from users in order to improve the experience in the final version of the EUMOSCHOOL OER.
The following table shows the monitoring and evaluation system which has been used during Pilot I:
| Activity to be monitored | Type of activity | Method | What has been monitored / Measured |
|
Pilot I |
Online course | online questionnaire at the end of each module with open answers, likert scale, ratings. |
|
| Learning Experience |
|
Self-assessment on:
|
These monitoring and evaluation activities have been carried out by a tutor, who has been in touch with the teachers during the period of Pilot I. The tutor has provided support to the teachers, both for the organization and planning of the DoE implementation in the classrooms and to respond to any questions or theoretical uncertainty during the use of DoE techniques with students. The tutor has organized online and face-to-face meetings with each teacher as necessary, in order to understand specific needs and give support for the interventions in the classroom.
The final OER
Teachers provided feedback during the meetings with the tutors and through the online course: generally, the majority of teachers enjoyed the online course; though, they suggested some developmentsto be taken into account in order to improve the learning experience. The level of success in the final assessment suggests that there is clear implementation within schools. The E-Learning experience – as specified is flexible and can be adapted to the learning needs of the target audience. Pilot I has allowed the partnership to further develop the contents of the online course, enhanced with support tools.
Following the feedback provided by teachers, some changes have been made. The final version of the online course now includes a glossary of the most specific terms used in the theoretical resources, as well as infographics and new activities to facilitate and enrich the learning experience of the teachers. The structure already presented in the previous overview has been developed in order to make it self-sufficient for the future (quizzes with automatic corrections have been added, together with exercises supporting peer learning). These developments provide greater sustainability for the course, enabling teachers to increase their knowledge of the DoE.
Some suggestions for your e-learning experience
Are you a new comer in the e-learning? E-learning is accessible; once you register and log in, download the userguide for the course and follow the instructions. Here are a few tips relating to your e-learning experience:
- Always follow the structured order of the sections in the modules: Overview >>> Resources >>> Tasks >>> Collaboration >>> Self-assessment. Each section is preparatory for the following one, so don’t skip any part of it.
- Exploit the infographics at the end of each “book resources”: they will help you to have an overview on the topic you have read about.
- If it is hard for you to read on the screen: download the text on pdf format at the end of each module. This will help you to focus on topics andsources of information as necessary. There are also some Powerpoint (PPT) resources available to be downloaded.
- If you find some terms hard to understand, click on the highlight word on the text: an explanation or definition of the term you have clicked on will appear.
- Access to our e-Twinning group in order to compare your experiences with the one of your colleagues.
- For any other questions or queries, contact your national contact point (see the list of contacts at the end of this handbook).
Enjoy your e-learning!