Innovation in Language Learning
LangMOOC project: exploring & evaluating the latest Language MOOCs initiatives at a global level
Maria Perifanou, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (Greece)
Abstract
In the age of globalization the need for language learning is greater than ever before. Globalization is a process by which the people of the world are unified into a single society and functioning together [1]. As global citizens we need to be able to work in settings characterized by linguistic and cultural diversity and that means that language competencies and intercultural skills are more than ever a part of the key qualifications needed to successfully work and live in this new reality. But how easy is to achieve this goal?
Easy access to open data, open educational resources (OER) and Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) have changed dramatically the educational landscape, paving the way to a different mode of learning a foreign language. Over 370,000 students have enrolled in #FLEnglishIELTS course that prepared them for the English language proficiency test IELTS. This course was offered by the FutureLearn MOOC provider making it the biggest MOOC so far in the world [2]. These findings show that there is a really growing interest for MOOCs connected to Foreign Language Learning (FLL).
Even though many prestigious universities offer open language courses at large scale choosing well known MOOC providers such as Coursera, EdX and others, the body of research on exploration and evaluation of the existing Language Learning MOOC initiatives at a global level is really poor. This paper aims to fill this research gap presenting the research contribution of the Erasmus+ KA2 project entitled LangMOOC project (www.langmooc.com).
More specifically, the paper will first present the findings of the background research [3], [4] of the LangMOOC project that has explored the first Language Learning MOOC initiatives and evaluated them based on the Massive Open Online Interactive Language Learning Environment (MOILLE) framework. Next, the paper will analyze the overall aims of the LangMOOC project and in the end, it will discuss its first research findings as well as its future research steps.
