LOCKDOWN LEARNING
@Linguist_CIOL
APRIL/MAY The Linguist 13
to Intercultural Studies: Language and culture' (University
of Leeds).
When UCML asked FutureLearn whether these MOOCs
could be offered exclusively to the UK's year abroad
students, they recognised the unique challenges our
community faced and agreed to facilitate the project at a
substantial discount. All four institutions involved (the three
universities and the British Council) generously covered
the costs of staff facilitation, which enabled us to provide
a more substantive learning experience for students.
Throughout this crisis the resilience and creativity of
our modern languages undergraduates have been
astounding. That is not to say that we didn't already
know our students were resilient and creative, but their
ability to handle what we have been repeatedly told is
an unprecedented situation has been commendable.
In August 2020, UCML organised three focus groups
with returning and outgoing year abroad students from
over 20 institutions. They discussed their concerns and
we asked what UCML and the Year Abroad Group could
practically do to assist them. Despite the challenges
before them, students were not pessimistic or resigned
to a year of disruption and uncertainty, but determined
to help each other and us make the best of the difficult
circumstances. These discussions fed directly into the
MOOC programme and resulted in a student-facing
'Guide to Virtual Mobility', produced with Dr Nicola
Bermingham (University of Liverpool).
Preparing for new terrain
In the midst of the disruption generated by Covid-19,
the UK withdrew from the EU. It is difficult to overstate
the impact this has had on our year abroad students.
Those who had managed to travel despite the
restrictions (education was, in many cases, deemed
'essential travel') now faced administrative obstacles that
represented very real financial challenges, as new visa
requirements came into effect across Europe. UCML has
been liaising closely with UUK and the British Council on
these issues, seeking clarity on what students need to do
to comply with the new rules.
The UCML Year Abroad Group was originally
conceived as a way of addressing the immediate
concerns posed by the March 2020 lockdown and
ensuing travel restrictions, seeking to consider how we
might best assist our year abroad students caught up in
the crisis. It has evolved as the challenges facing the year
abroad have developed.
As we look to the future, the open question of what
the UK Government's new Turing Scheme will offer the
modern languages community, following our withdrawal
from the Erasmus+ programme, means there are further
challenges down the road. But these challenges also
bring opportunities, and if we have learnt anything over
the course of the past year it is the importance and value
of collaborative, cross-sector working. It is in this spirit of
community that we will traverse this new terrain.
VIRTUAL MOBILITY
Intercultural
experiences are being
delivered via MOOCs
©
IMAGES:
SHUTTERSTOCK
