Supporting Erasmus+ mobility with the use of Open Educational Resources

Thematic Workshop

The Open Educational Resources (OERs) movement is growing rapidly over the last 20 years, as many institutions adopt the idea of openness and universal access to educational content. Indeed, this movement was originally inspired by the open-source community, with a focus on broadening access to information through the use of free, open content. The purpose of this workshop is to get researchers involved in the adoption, creation, use, and share of OERs, by introducing them to the concept of OERs and the benefits or challenges of using them. We are going to use the OpenLang Platform, designed by the OPENLang Network European Project (2018-1-EL01-KA203-047967), as an example of an ongoing OER initiative in Higher Education in the context of language learning and supporting Erasmus+ mobility across Europe. The OPENLangNET project is addressing the needs of Erasmus+ KA1 mobility participants that need to boost their language skills and cultural awareness. The project is also targeting volunteer language teachers who will support Erasmus+ KA1 mobility participants while receiving professional certified training on the creation, sharing and use of language OERs. The OpenLang platform is connecting these 2 groups within an interactive collaborative environment that supports their effort to raise language awareness of the target mobility EU languages and to develop European intercultural knowledge covering all EU cultures. During the workshop, participants will be involved in group activities in order to create, use and share open content for specific purposes and based on specific criteria. The focus of this workshop is on providing guidelines containing all the main aspects for the creation, use, and sharing of OER material for language learning and teaching.