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Abstract :
[en] 1. Introduction
Continuing education poses a challenge to the university: the objective is to allow professionals on the job market to enhance their competences through curricula adapted to their needs, both in terms of schedule and contents as well as teaching approaches applied. In its MOOCs policy, the University of Liège has identified this priority axis precisely to meet this requirement of schedule, contents and teaching approach. Already taught at the ULg, children's literature offered a perfect option for its pilot project. Popular culture studies are already one of the specificities of the Arts faculty program, and the University thought important to allow for a wider access to this teaching, responding to a growing interest from the civil society.
2. Problem description / challenges
Up to now, there were, in French-speaking Belgium, only very few training opportunities on children's literature, based on cutting-edge scientific research, aimed at future or already established teachers. Although children's literature is one of the subject areas taught in secondary schools in French-speaking Belgium, it is not compulsory in the curriculum of aspiring French teachers at higher education institutions (whether universities or hautes écoles). Teaching children's literature thus depends on the teacher's good will: hence the importance of finding a way to train teachers in a subject area they have to teach to secondary school students by putting forward a large-scale but cost controlled solution, open to anyone looking for this specific training, and offering a certificate with a professional value. It was also important for the university to propose an innovative teaching format distinct from the practices generally in force and especially adapted to the adult-learning in terms of pedagogical approach (Thorpe,Edwards,Hanson, 1993).
3. MOOC Format
Choosing the MOOC format was an important challenge: on the production level, above all, given the relative inexperience of the teaching staff, supported by a team of instructional designers and a production staff with experience in the creation of online contents for the University's online education platform; but also on the reception level, given that the expected audience is not particularly in line with digital technologies: MOOCs on literature are not the most common ones, and bookish readers are not known to be new technology buffs.
The MOOC offers a selection of topics related to the field of children's literature, each under the responsibility of one team member, generally supported by experts. The MOOC tackles two main genres, the novel and the album, presents the publishing market, elaborates on digital literature and explores fictions beyond the book; it includes videos, quizzes, integrative activities, and feedback through forums. Each chapter of our MOOC adopts a modular and autonomous approach. These two characteristics allow learners to follow the MOOC according to their own needs or simply their interests.
4. Initial success
The first session, in early March 2017, was a success, with more than 10000 subscribers, quite above the average for MOOCs in French. This is, for many subscribers, their first MOOC experience. Moreover, the motivation and investment of the community is remarkable: the forums are very active, the learners an-swer to and help each other. The feedback is extremely positive, showing a general willingness to partici-pate in the construction of collective knowledge useful for everyone. The information collected from participants is also an early success indicator in terms of population target.
5. Shaping Up for the Future
Given this initial success, and in order to enhance this in-depth continued training, the teaching staff is envisioning for next year to develop a summer school linked to the MOOC and implement a blended learning element to our MOOC. The participants would first have to follow the MOOC and complete the required activities, in order to be granted certification. Afterwards, a limited number of these participants (probably around fifty) will be selected based on applications to participate in person to a course that would expand on the introduction to the subject offered by the MOOC. This training would highly benefit from the exceptional resources that the city of Liège holds for children's literature: the Michel Defourny archive, holding more than 30000 pieces, is indeed a unique site in Europe which deserves a better valorization from the University.