Proxecto MARMOOC

Apprentissage Hybride Mutualisé et Ouvert dans les Universités Marocaines (MarMOOC)

Project number: 573583-EPP-1-2016-1-ES-EPPKA2-CBHE-SP
Grant Agreement: 2016-2558/001-001
European call: ERASMUS+ Capacity Building in Higher Education, EAC/A04/2015
Duration: from 15 October 2016 to 14 October 2019
Total budget: 999.043,00 €

Partners

University of Vigo (Spain)
Universidad de León (Spain)
University of Chemical Technology and Metallurgy (Bulgaria)
Vrije Universiteit Brussel (Belgium)
Sorbonne Université (France)
Royal Institute of Technology (KTH) (Sweden)
Université Abdelmalek Essaadi (Morocco)
Université Ibn Zohr (Morocco)
Université Privée de Marrakech (Morocco)
Université Ibn Tofail (Morocco)
Université Moulay Ismail (Morocco)
Université Internationale de Rabat (Morocco)
Ministère de l’Enseignement Supérieur, de la Recherche Scientifique et de la Formation des Cadres (Morocco)

UVigo team

María Isabel Doval Ruíz
Vice-rector of Social Responsability, Equality and Cooperation

Ángel Manuel Sánchez
Project coordinator

Domingo Docampo Amoedo
Academic staff

Óscar Rubiños López
Academic staff

Fernando Cerdeira Pérez
Academic staff

Eva Garea Oya
Project technical coordinator

Jose Luis Salgueiro Fernández
Researcher

Project Description

The MarMOOC (Mutualized and Open Hybrid Learning in Moroccan Universities) project is part of the “Capacity Building” project in the field of Higher Education (CBHE), funded by the Erasmus+ Programme. The project, involving Moroccan and European stakeholders, has as its main objective the creation of the first Moroccan MOOC free e-learning platform, which is expected to be launched in 2019.

MarMOOC project brings together 13 Moroccan and European partners in a consortium. The six Moroccan institutions taking part are Abdelmalek Essaadi University (Tétouan), Ibn Tofail University (Kenitra), Moulay Ismail University (Meknes), Ibn Zohr University (Agadir), Rabat International University and the Private University of Marrakech. Morocco’s Ministry of Higher Education also involved in the educational project. The project is supported by the “Online Digital Campus of the University of Vigo”, which is part of the “Campus of the Sea”: Knowledge in Depth” (Campus of International Excellence). The project has the participation of the following European universities. These universities are the Universidade de Vigo (Spain), the Universidad de León (Spain), the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (Belgium), the Sorbonne Université (France), the Royal Institute of Technology of Stockholm (Sweden) and the University of Chemical Technology and Metallurgy (Bulgaria).

The MarMOOC Project has been articulated around a shared and unifying platform of open and massive online courses (MOOC), which is at the centre of pedagogical innovation, knowledge exchange and dissemination with the aim of benefiting all Moroccan educational institutions.

MarMOOC is a very innovate project that will also five great visibility to Moroccan universities with the creation of the first MOOC and SPOC platform in Morocco with the offer of 12 MOOC courses (with certificates of achievement and ECTS credits) and 6 SPOC of academic excellence in 6 priority areas for Morocco: business and business administration, law, physical and life sciences, engineering, agriculture and fishing, health, etc.

The MarMOOC project is of crucial importance for Moroccan universities, as it represents an effective alternative for addressing, on the one hand, the increasing number of students and the dispersal of university sites.

Objective

In this way, the project is developed around three main axes:

Support Moroccan partner universities in the design and production of innovative educational content, taking into account their academic fields of excellence:
- UAE: law, engineering, fishing
- UIT: business and corporate administration
- UMI: law, science and technology, mechanical engineering
- UIZ: life sciences, geography, economics and phonetics
- UIR: mathematics, physics, computer science, architecture
- UPM: management, engineering
Provide Moroccan partner universities with a shared platform of online courses (SPOC and MOOC courses), providing them with an innovative, open and accessible environment, which will also contribute to increasing cooperation between Moroccan universities and their visibility internationally.
The approach followed for the implementation of this project in the field is carried out through the implementation of a series of measures, the most important of which are the following:
- To establish a framework of approach and mutualisation between Moroccan universities to promote a new synergy in the field of distance education
- Sensitize teachers to adhere to the project of hybridization of training and the benefits that this project will bring
- To help teachers to facilitate the effective use and integration of information and communication technologies (ICT) in the learning process
- To provide quality content to students who are at the centre of the learning process
- Increase the accessibility of students to undergraduate studies
- Improve students’ living conditions

The implementation of a federative and shared platform has as its essential objective to provide the necessary support to teachers to produce, share and publish innovative educational content online using new technologies, MOOC and SPOC. To this end, the teaching and technical staff of the partner universities participate in refresher courses organised by the European partners.

The aim of these MOOC and SPOC courses is to make quality content available to students, especially to the most disadvantaged. The aim is to improve student access to the platform, promoting learning and improving student participation and success rates through personalised and recognised training programmes, allowing students from all disciplines to access innovative and interactive educational content.

In this way, this project contributes to the resolution of multiple problems associated with the massification of demand, the diversity of training supply and the accessibility of higher education in Morocco.

Project Activities and Methodology

The consecution of the previously mentioned project objectives now requires, as a first step, a careful analysis of the current situation of the integration of ICT in higher education at the level of Moroccan universities (WP1).
The European universities of the consortium were then asked to organise an information campaign on MOOCs (WP2). They also provided training and further education for teachers and technical staff (WP3), who will be responsible for the design and production of content (SPOC/MOCC) as well as the establishment of the technical base (WP4).
Quality control and project monitoring are guaranteed throughout the life of the project, including the production of reports (WP7). Dissemination and sustainability activities of the project are also carried out (WP8).

Project management is divided into 24 activities grouped into 9 work packages according to the following organization:

WP1: Inventory and analysis of the current ICT situation

The elaboration of a survey on the state of the equipment
The elaboration of a report presenting a detailed analysis of the results of the survey
The organisation of an international working seminar in Kenitra, Morocco (Université IBN Tofail) where the survey report was presented

WP2: Sensitization on the contribution of SPOCs and MOOCs to higher education

An international MOOC awareness seminar
A communication campaign that visited all the Moroccan universities of the consortium, called the MOOC caravan

WP3: Capacity building

Identification of the technical team of the project
Training of the academic team of teachers
Training of the technical team

WP4: Implemetation of the MarMOOC shared platform

Preparation of the platform architecture dossier
Acquisition and installation of equipment
Implementation of the authentication service and identity federation
Installation and personalization of the platform

WP5: Integration, design and development of a minimum of 6 private courses (SPOC) and 12 open courses (MOOC)

Selection of innovative courses
SPOC course design and scripting workshops
Implementation and launch of SPOC courses on the platform: effective implementation of SPOC courses designed, programmed and developed during activity 5.2
Selection, adaptation and implementation of MOOC courses

WP6: Evaluation and development of the online assistance framework for the creation of an SPOC/MOOC course