In the Humanities, there is an urgent need for innovative digital learning material that internationalises the curricula of HEI. Material that introduces students to the latest research in their fields, to new methods and to didactic concepts without the need of physical international mobility. In Classics/Classical Archaeology there are only isolated applications of e-learning elements so far. Their use is restricted to students of the respective universities. The existing e-learning material is mono-lingual. For the topic of ancient cities as an important part of the shared European cultural heritage there is no learning material at all. The strategic partnership (SP) “Ancient Cities. Creating a Digital Learning Environment on Cultural Heritage“ brings together six European Universities to create an innovative pan-European digital learning module for higher education institutions (HEI) as well as MOOC for a broader audience on an important part of the shared European heritage: Cities of the Greeks and Romans. On the one hand, the network brings together young leading experts in the field of ancient urbanism, enabling them to produce both a digital learning module and a MOOC, based on latest research and state-of-the-art information on the topic far beyond handbook knowledge. On the other hand, the SP brings together local centres of e-learning at different partner universities for testing and producing digital learning material for different audiences on a sound didactic and technical basis. The objectives of the SP are twofold: 1.) To produce a pan-European learning module on ancient cities and to implement it into the curricula of the partner universities. This learning module will enhance the students’ knowledge on the subject and methodology of ancient cities on a pan-European level, also their language skills, media literacy and critical thinking. As the students are participating in the development of the digital module and the MOOC the project fosters their didactic skills, their knowledge in project management and in the production of multimedia content, improving their employability. 2.) The objectives of the MOOC are to enhance the knowledge of and the awareness for ancient cities as shared European heritage in the broader public. On the one hand, it strengthens the European idea and on the other hand it promotes acquiring and developing key competences such as foreign languages and digital skills. The digital learning module will use the teaching method of inverted classroom with phases of self-learning and virtual attendance. In a self-learning phase the students acquire knowledge on the methodology, content and important research questions on ancient cities through video lectures. For their motivation, they will attend automatically evaluable tests that use elements of gamification (high-score systems). The phase of attendance will take place as an online seminar led by a tutor. During the seminar, the students work on specific projects (researched based learning) in small internationally mixed groups. Their results will be documented in e-portfolios/group-portfolios. The tutor will guide and advise the students through tele-tutoring (e-mails, skype, video conferences). The students will present and discuss their results online with the audience of the seminar and the tutor (online seminar). The MOOC is addressing a broad audience with a general interest and basic knowledge about Ancient Cities and Classical Archaeology. The participants should learn the research history and methodology, the layout and history of the most important ancient cities and about the impact of ancient architecture and urbanism on modern city design. The course is intended to be an eight weeks’ course (each week approx. 1 h of video lectures) with automatically evaluable tests to support the process of self-learning. As results of the project, the partner institution’s curricula in Humanities in general and in Classics/Classical Archaeology in particular will be internationalised and digitalised. Without the need of physical international mobility, the students of all participating organisations benefit from the digital learning module. The students participating in the activities of the SP will improve their employability. The SP develops the quality of e-learning and implements a best practice example of how to use digital technics and didactic methods to improve teaching at HEI. It illustrates how smaller academic fields in the Humanities can design and enhance their respective teaching environments in the digital age in a pan-European collaboration. In sum, the project will demonstrate the strength of HEI in Europe, the benefits of collaboration on a trans-national level and the possibilities and benefits of the ERASMUS+ programme in the Humanities.
The humanities in general and Classics or Classical Archaeology in particular are in need for testing, promoting and implementing high quality digital learning material in their respective fields both for teaching at university and school level as well as for reaching out to a broader audience. The SP "Ancient Cities" aimed at creating digital learning materials for different audiences. The project focused on the ancient city, as this topic is a central subject in the education of students of archaeology, history and art history. The partners developed learning materials for a pan-European digital learning module for use at universities and have created the freely available Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) "Discovering Greek & Roman Cities" for a broad audience. The guiding question was: How can digital teaching be implemented in the historical humanities and how can digitization appeal to different target groups? The learning material comprises 34 educational videos (on the topics of "Basics", "Life in the Ancient City", "Religion and the Ancient City", "Politics and the Ancient City", "Death and the Ancient City", "Infrastructure and the Ancient City", "Economy and the Ancient City" and "The Heritage of the Ancient City") of up to 10 minutes in length as well as extensive digital learning material in the form of texts, maps, assignments, quizzes and bibliographies. The learning material is available in English, German and French; the literature lists are tailored to the respective languages. The teaching videos have English, German, French, Greek and Turkish (25 videos) subtitles. The production of the textual learning material was based on the scholarship of dialogue-based learning, a theory with strong historical roots in scholarship on learning and dissemination. Dialogue-based learning is increasingly being used in Scandinavian educational institutions, but also in museums of art and archaeology. It is based on the theory that meaning and learning is developed through dialogue between both students and teachers The videos were either shot on-site or in modern cities depending on the video’s topic, learning goals as well as general financial and administrative possibilities and restrictions. On the one side we wanted to give viewers first-hand information on archaeological sites and interview specialists. On the other side we aimed at connecting ancient and modern cities by recording the videos in a contemporary environment. The MOOC "Discovering Greek & Roman Cities" was aimed at a broad audience: people interested in archaeology, art and cultural history, architecture and history. The participation did not require any previous knowledge. The course was accessible online free of charge and had two runs: in fall 2019 and in spring 2020 during the COVID lockdown. Course materials were multilingual and available in German, English and French. The course started with a welcome section to familiarise the learners with the platform so that they can make better use of this form of online learning they might not be accustomed to. The course was divided into eight modules, each of which centres on a key aspect of ancient urbanism. The modules were released consecutively every week. After an introduction, life, religion, politics, death, infrastructure and the economy of ancient cities were discussed. The final module focused on the legacy of ancient cities and the role of ancient heritage in our cities today. The topics were chosen so as to provide an overview of the multivalent character of ancient Greek and Roman cities and the ways in which we study them today. As the project partners wanted students to get exposure to first-hand knowledge of the subject matter, the expertise of the MOOC's partners was a defining factor in planning the modules. However, important topics - such as race and gender - were not addressed in depth. Such topics were tackled in synchronous meetings and online discussions when the modules were implemented in University courses. The aim of the MOOC "Discovering Greek & Roman Cities" was not only to communicate knowledge about the layout and function of ancient cities and their historical development, but also to spark interest in and to stimulate the discussion of the (ancient) cultural heritage in one's own city.