In July-August 2020 an online specialisation course was offered at two Caribbean universities, namely the University of the West Indies, Jamaica, and Universidad Central de Las Villas, in Cuba.
Both universities are members of AUF, the Agence Universitaire de la Francophonie, which was the client for this training through its regional board in the Caribbean. Katerina Zourou was recommended to the AUF by Mr. Patrick Chardenet, Directeur Expertise & Conseil, at Forum Mondial Heracles, a consulting group to which Katerina belongs.
The overall theme of the specialisation course was “Initiation to Distance Learning” and it comprised 6 modules:
| A | Gamification |
| B | Flipped classroom |
| C | Project-based teaching |
| D | Scenario-based teaching |
| E | Online student assignments and wikis |
| F | Mobile learning |
Inspired by the flipped classroom approach, the course was structured along pre-course materials (resources and quizzes), one 3h video conference for each module, and a series of small-group work, with team collaboration possibilities in relation to each module.
AUF granted access to their Moodle Learning Management System that hosted all materials by module:
From a survey distributed at the end of the course, participants were able to assess their learning gains and express their positive views about the course:
- “I enjoyed the class; working in groups with my colleagues on different aspects, getting prompt feedback from you, and I appreciate the fact that you have allowed us to use your material (giving due credit) and to contact you in future if we have any questions. The course was intensive but enjoyable. I learned a lot. Thank you. (Teacher at University of the West Indies)
- Katerina has been an outstanding teacher, her time management is fantastic, she clarifies all doubts with absolute knowledge of what she is talking about. This course is designed to multiply in different cultural contexts. It is of great value to educators. (Teacher at Universidad Central de Las Villas, Cuba).
- I really appreciate the time and effort that Katerina put into preparing this workshop. I have been exposed to a lot of new material and will take the time to learn it in detail. (Teacher at University of the West Indies, Jamaica).
The course was designed and delivered by Katerina Zourou. Full access to content in a CC BY 4.0 licence is given to all course participants. The entire process was supported by Ania Skowron, a Web2Learn associate.
The two Caribbean universities will now move to the next step of implementation of knowledge gained in each learning/teaching context and Web2Learn will further assist this
