Facilitation of information literacy through a multilingual MOOC considering cultural aspects

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate the rationale, technical framework, content creation workflow and evaluation for a multilingual massive open online course (MOOC) to facilitate information literacy (IL) considering cultural aspects. Design/methodology/approach A good practice analysis built the basis for the technical and content framework. The evaluation approach consisted of three phases: first, the students were asked to fill out a short self-assessment questionnaire and a shortened adapted version of a standardized IL test. Second, they completed the full version of the IL MOOC. Third, they were asked to fill out the full version of a standardized IL test and a user experience questionnaire. Findings The results show that first the designed workflow was suitable in practice and led to the implementation of a full-grown MOOC. Second, the implementation itself provides implications for future projects developing multilingual educational resources. Third, the evaluation results show that participants achieved significantly higher results in a standardized IL test after attending the MOOC as mandatory coursework. Variations between the different student groups in the participating countries were observed. Fourth, self-motivation to complete the MOOC showed to be a challenge for students asked to attend the MOOC as nonmandatory out-of-classroom task. It seems that multilingual facilitation alone is not sufficient to increase active MOOC participation. Originality/value This paper presents an innovative approach of developing multilingual IL teaching resources and is one of the first works to evaluate the impact of an IL MOOC on learners' experience and learning outcomes in an international evaluation study

Apple production and apple value chains in Europe

This paper presents an overview of the apple sector in nine major apple producing countries in Europe, in order to assess factors for the competitiveness of the national apple value chains and identify challenges for the future development of the sector. Based on international and national statistical data and expert assessment, key characteristics of apple production and value chains are analyzed. For each country, a brief description of the development of apple production and acreage over the past ten years, farm size distribution, level of production technology and main market channels is presented, followed by a discussion of differences and similarities. Results show a diverse picture of the apple sectors in Europe. Similarities are observed in the existence of regional production clusters and a generally small farm size. Differences are found in the technology level, with a broad range of very traditional extensive production systems up to highly intensified orchards with high tree density. All countries experienced high fluctuation in apple production quantities over the past years, mainly due to weather events, particularly spring frost and drought, and climate risks are expected to increase in the future, leading to increasing costs for mitigation measure