Moodlers Monday! Philippe Neyt shares what to look forward to at MoodleMoot Francophone 2018

July 2, 2018 By Júlia Verdaguer

MoodleMoot Francophone is the big MoodleMoot that has taken place in French-speaking countries for over ten years.

This year for the first time, the 3-day conference MootFR is taking place in Belgium, at the University of Louvain in Brussels.

More than 500 Moodlers have registered to attend the sold-out event!

2018 is a special year for University of Louvain, as they are celebrating L’année des mondes numériques (the year of digital words). As part of this important occasion, University of Louvain is also awarding our CEO and Moodle Founder Martin Dougiamas with the Doctor Honoris Causa title in a ceremony that will take place on July 5th.

To know more about the upcoming Moot and about what is going on in the French-speaking Moodle community, we have talked to Philippe Neyt, head of Institut des langues vivantes or School of modern languages at University of Louvain, who is organizing MoodleMoot Francophone on site this year.

Moodle HQ: Philippe, it is great news that MoodleMoot Francophone is happening again soon, this time in Brussels from July 4th to 6th! So that our Community can get to know you a little better, could you please tell us a little about yourself and how you are involved in the MootFR18?

Philippe: It’s a long story! I’ll try to cut it short. I’m the head of the University of Louvain (the French-speaking one)’s language school. Back in 2005, we started to develop an e-learning project and came to the conclusion that Moodle was the most suitable platform for what we wanted to do. At that time, our university’s institutional platform was based on another LMS, so we were the only ones using Moodle and were considered as mavericks. From 2010, we started attending MoodleMoots (to keep our spirits up!). In 2015 Moodle became the only institutional platform at our university. That same year at the MoodleMoot in Tours, we first thought about hosting the conference (one day…), and here we are now! Of course, we’re very proud that this is the 1st time a French-speaking MoodleMoot is taking place in Belgium!

Moodle HQ: What are the goals of MoodleMoot FR regarding the Francophone Moodle community?

Philippe: The goals are very similar to those of English-speaking MoodleMoots: to share best practices, encourage collaborations, build a community of Moodlers and… have fun!

Moodle HQ: Is there a theme for #MootFR18 or a focus on any particular topics?

Philippe: Actually, there are three. First, how does Moodle transform the learner/teacher’s relationship to time and space, how does it affect when and where we learn/teach? Then, how can Moodle develop the learners’ creativity, critical thinking and engagement as citizens? And finally, Moodle in “open” mode, as a tool to share knowledge and skills. 2018 at the University of Louvain is celebrated as “L’année des mondes numériques”, the year of digital words, and the MoodleMoot is one of many events organised for the occasion.

Moodle HQ: What are some of the highlights of the Moot that we can look forward to?

Philippe: Certainly the ceremony when we award an Honorary Doctorate to Martin Dougiamas, on Thursday, July 5 in the late afternoon. Also, on a smaller scale, we’ve tried to build more interaction into the programme with more round tables and fewer presentations than in previous years. We tried to take on board participants’ comments from previous years.

Moodle HQ: And finally, how can Moodlers follow everything that’s going on with the Moot?

Philippe: They should come to Brussels and follow the Moot live, of course! In the meantime, they should log on to the conference’s website, and follow the Twitter feed. And for those who really can’t make it, there will be podcasts of most of the presentations… after the conference.

Moodle HQ: That’s fantastic to know, Philippe! Thank you for talking to us today!

Moodlers, remember you can follow everything that’s going on about MoodleMoot Francophone through their website (in French), their MoodleMoot website (English), their twitter account @moodlemootfr18 and in the hashtag #MootFR18! And…. A bientôt à Bruxelles!