Language Centre Introduction to Dutch MOOC wins LES trophy

On Saturday 7 October, the Language Centre won the LES trophy with its ‘Introduction to Dutch’ MOOC! The trophy is awarded once every five years by the journal LES, the leading didactic journal for teaching Dutch as a second language (NT2). According to the assessment of the independent jury, the UG Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) is the most innovative advance in NT2 teaching in the Netherlands in the past five years.

According to the jury, the choice this year was easy because on all fronts the UG MOOC satisfies the criteria: innovative, quality, prestige and results, satisfaction of participants and chances of employment. The other candidates for the LES trophy were the projects Nedbox (Dutch Language Union et al.) and Okans op het web (Centre for Language and Education, KU Leuven).

Anje Dijk, Director of the Language Centre:

‘We are extremely proud of this prize. Introduction to Dutch is our first MOOC and we poured 30 years of language teaching experience into it. The prize is confirmation that we have done a good job! The course reflects the passion of the UG to support people, wherever they are, and give them the confidence to do well in their international studies and careers. The Language Centre is keen to keep breaking new ground in innovative language teaching and e-learning is really taking off. Worldwide, over 140,000 participants have already followed the MOOC, more than justifying its existence. This prize is a wonderful recognition of that fact and we are very pleased indeed.’

If you are interested in taking the MOOC, you’re in luck: the course will be starting again on 20 November. Register for free via FutureLearn.