Promoting the NEXUS of migrants through active citizenship: A MOOC on civic education targeting students with a migrant background

On the 4th of May 2021, the 'Civics 4.0: active citizenship and participation in the digital age' course, was launched on the UNED Abierta MOOC platform with 260 registered participants.The Massive Online Open Course is in partnership with UNIMED - Mediterranean University Union, Italy, the European Citizen Action Service,Belgium , the Institute for the Development of Education, Croatia, the Knowledge Innovation Center, Malta, the Malmo University, Sweden and Zavod Za Avtorsko Produkcijo Izobrazevanje Inovativnost in Sodelovanje, Slovenia.

The free and open-source online course has been developed within the context of the Erasmus + project ' NEXUS - Promoting the Nexus of Migrants through active citizenship' and focuses on the skills and digital tools needed to be an active digital citizen. Based on a collection of relevant concepts, sources, initiatives, and resources on digital civic engagement and participation following a practical approach, it aims to help learners develop creative thinking skills through a combination of short lecture videos, multiple-choice questions, online and offline communication, and interactive learning activities.

The MOOC is intended for anyone, especially students from diverse backgrounds, who are interested in digital civic education and digital participation and will last for 6 weeks.

The civic education MOOC teaches the principles, types, and techniques of creative thinking through mini-lectures in an interactive manner that allows the learners to immediately put what they learn into practice, intending to empower students (with a special emphasis on migrant students) to enjoy their rights, uphold human rights values, and contribute positively to their society and the global community. It includes 4 main pillars: Civic education micro-learning units Community engagement (learning) and service-learning guidelines for Universities, Re-wiring Civics to 4.0: connecting students to institutions in the digital age and #DIYCivics - campaigning for effective citizenship. At the end of the learning journey, these pillars shall be resulting in increased participation of students in the social life of their communities and the production of a podcast on civic education and documentaries featuring migrant student activists.

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