What does cultural diversity & multilingualism mean in a time of digital platforms?

EMMA will soon be heading to EDULEARN16, the 8th annual International Conference on Education and New Learning Technologies, to be held in Barcelona on 4 – 6 July. EDULEARN is one of the largest international education conferences for lecturers, researchers, technologists and professionals from the educational sector, and is expecting over 700 delegates from 80 countries this year.

Keynote speakers include Anne-Marie Imafidon, the cofounder of Stemettes – an award-winning social enterprise inspiring the next generation of females into STEM roles and Cliff Schmidt, who founded Literacy Bridge, inventing devices to make knowledge accessible to people without literacy skills in remote rural areas.

EMMA is heading a workshop session at the conference entitled What does cultural diversity and multilingualism mean in a time of digital platforms.The session will open with four presentations related to Massive Online Open Courses (MOOCs) and contextualised within the EMMA project.

  • The EMMA 5d’s MOOC framework
    This presentation introduces the EMMA 5D’s MOOC framework intended to inform about the different aspects of MOOC creation and delivery. By identifying 5 stages for MOOC implementation (Decide; Design; Develop; Deliver; and Document), the framework introduces a set of questions organised according to three complementary perspectives: institutional, pedagogical and technical.

  • Are learning analytics good enough to monitor student learning? Learn how the EMMA Project copes with the triangulation of approaches.
    The introduction of various educational software systems dramatically changed the process of educational delivery for both distance and on-campus instruction. Learning tracking systems are growing in popularity as they seem to give face-validity to learning outcomes in the digital world. But the H Factor still needs to be considered very carefully. Learn more about the EMMA experience: a monitoring approach based on triangulation of methods.

  • Representing cultural diversity in a massive environment. A mission impossible?
    Bridging the need for multilingualism with the need for respecting cultural diversity in a digital platform, which, by its very nature, tends towards standardisation is very challenging. With this presentation we will explore how the features and services on a MOOC platform evolved to meet and encompass such an objective.

  • Is Google translation the best translation machine for your MOOC translation? We know the answer.
    Multilingual and cultural diversity skills are viewed as a communicative proficiency that is necessary for people to fully function in 21st century learning. The EMMA project is responding to this challenge through provision of an Automatic Transcription Translation System thanks to the expertise of the Universitat Politècnica of Valencia.
  • The session will continue with a round table, which will involve the audience in a discussion and debate around the workshop theme. Participants will also be introduced to the EMMA practice-oriented framework for MOOC design and delivery to help them implement new MOOC initiatives.

    If you are in Barcelona for EDULearn, please come and join EMMA!

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