EDUCATING GLOBAL CITIZENS WITH THE HELP OF A MOOC

The purpose of BRIGHTS project is to promote Global Citizenship Education (GCE) in formal and non-formal Educational contexts in Europe, with the help of Digital Storytelling (DS) techniques.

GCE employs concepts, methodologies and theories already implemented in different fields and subjects, including human rights education, peace education, education, to achieve sustainable development and education for intercultural understanding. Addressing subjects through GCE can contribute to promote social inclusion, democratic values and fundamental rights awareness by giving young people opportunities to challenge the injustice of racism, value cultural diversity and develop positive attitudes and behaviours towards people who are different from them.

DS is a powerful and effective learning tool in stimulating creativity, digital literacy and critical thinking. The act of publishing one’s story, trying to influence peers to do the same and not to remain silent about the issues of radicalization and social exclusion will become an important factor in this process. Learners will be transformed to empowered actors who choose to put their stories out in order to raise awareness and help others.

The project has developed a MOOC called "Addressing Global Citizenship Education through Digital Storytelling". The course addresses the needs of individuals having diverse educational backgrounds who share the enthusiasm for implementing Global Citizenship Education using Digital Storytelling with young people both in formal and non-formal educational contexts. During the project, the course is specifically targeted to secondary school teachers and trainers working with young people aged 13-19 coming from the project countries.

The MOOC covers the following topics:
- Theoretical and policy framework of GCE
- Background information on the main GCE goals
- How to support GCE through DS in formal and non-formal educational settings with young people
- How to facilitate the development of 21st century skills using DS
- The Story Circle Methodology (SCM)
- How to produce a digital story to achieve GCE goals
- How to effectively share the digital stories about GCE goals

The duration of the MOOC is 4 weeks and requires in total 20 hours of learning. Each week provides training on a specific module and requires approximately 5 hours of study. At the completion of the course participants will receive a certificate of attendance. The MOOC is offered in 5 languages and is free of charge.

The MOOC has been used by more than 300 educational staff and youth workers, who were trained in the principles of GCE and the application of DS; subsequently, they involved young people in the collaborative production and online publishing of digital stories related to GCE topics, using online material, after careful selection and filtering. Through the production of digital stories, students are empowered to combat radicalization and social exclusion and develop social, civic, and intercultural competences as well as critical thinking, media literacy, creativity and digital skills.

Eventually, the project resulted in the establishment of the first European Community on Global Citizenship Education; members of this community are the teachers and trainers who have completed the MOOC, national tutors, researchers, stakeholders and of course students who produce digital stories on the topics of Global Citizenship.