New learners and new learning through a language MOOC: the Frisian case Marit Bijlsma and Cornelis van der Meer

1. This project was financed with the support of the European Commission. This publication is the sole responsibility of the author and
the Commission is not responsible for any use that may be made of the information contained therein.
New learners and new learning through a language MOOC: The
Frisian case
Marit Bijlsma - Fryske Akademy / Mercator (Netherlands)
Cor van der Meer - Fryske Akademy / Mercator ( Netherlands)
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26thth of September 2016, Crowne Plaza - Brussels

2. The team: A MOOC for Frisian

3. This project was financed with the support of the European Commission. This publication is the sole responsibility of the author and
the Commission is not responsible for any use that may be made of the information contained therein.
Main goal of the project “A MOOC for Frisian”:
Create a truly open online course and learning space for learning the Frisian
Language.
Why?: Be an example for other small languages and inspire other language
communities, empower the Frisian language and raise awareness of the
language (internationally)

4. The Project: A MOOC for Frisian
•In June 2015 a first prototype has been produced;
•A target group study has been finalized in 2015;
•2016 -2017 : finalizing the MOOC with support from the
Provincial Government in Fryslân
•2017: Release (just before Leeuwarden Cultural Capital City of
Europe 2018)

5. The Project: A MOOC for Frisian
Target group:
- Students (Germanic) languages from abroad;
- Students living in Fryslân
- Expats
- Toerists
- Polyglots
- Roots Seekers
- Immigrants

6. The Platform: eduFrysk
•The platform is part of the Institute for Frisian Language and
Culture
•Allows for materials to be truly ‘Open”
•Can be integrated with traditional Frisian Language Learning
courses of the Institute for Frisian Language and Culture
Difference with large platforms such as: Coursera, Futurelearn:
• The learning materials on these platforms are usually not
‘open”
• The platforms are not “fit”for language learning (no
integrated language learning tools)
http://mooc.edufrysk.nl

7. This project was financed with the support of the European Commission. This publication is the sole responsibility of the author and
the Commission is not responsible for any use that may be made of the information contained therein.
Questions:
- If we want to mak the MOOC transferable to other
languages, what should we take into account in the
further development?
- What other concrete actions could we take?