Hugin and Munin

Magisk Kunnskap

Hugin and Munin – a digital learning platform with a resource perspective on multilingualism and knowledge

In today’s diverse educational landscape, ensuring equal access to quality education for all learners remains a pressing challenge. Language plays an important role in effective teaching and learning, and students’ ability to comprehend and express themselves in their entire linguistic repertoire is crucial for academic success.

However, a significant number of individuals around the world lack access to education in a language they speak or understand. Addressing this global challenge requires innovative solutions in which linguistic diversity is seen as a resource to help create inclusive learning opportunities.

Hugin and Munin

Every morning, Odin’s two ravens flew out into the world. Every evening, they came home and described what they had seen and heard so that Odin knew about everything that happened. Thats one of the reasons Odin was considered the wisest of all the gods.

‘Hugin’ means ‘thought’ and Munin’ means ‘memory’. According to Odin, you cannot get by with just one of them. You need both memories and new thoughts. Odin understood what researchers have since proven. We learn from both previous experiences and thoughts about new concepts, and if we manage students’ resources well, we will all be as wise as Odin. Given the mythical origin, Hugin and Munin is a good name for a digital learning tool to support emergent multilingual learners.

Magic © Knowledge – a social entrepreneur

Magic © Knowledge is a social entrepreneur with a desire to contribute to immigrant students’ school success and completion of upper secondary school education. With financial support from the Norwegian Directorate for Education and Training, we have developed the innovative digital platform Hugin and Munin, where students can draw on their existing linguistic and cultural resources when learning a new language and school subjects at the same time.

Our mission is to give emergent multilingual learners an equal education with increased inclusion, mastery and motivation.

Through our work, we aim to:

Foster youth’s voice so that they feel empowered and become equal participants in society and
Give teachers tools that enable them to support students in multilingual classrooms.

The Magic © lies in Multilingualism, Adaption, Growth, Inclusion, Collaboration and Creativity.

Diversity requieres flexibility

Immigrant students are a diverse group. They have different linguistic and cultural experiences and school backgrounds and different reasons for immigrating to Norway. This diversity requires a digital learning platform that is flexible enough to meet students’ individual needs. It is crucial that students have access to teaching materials tailored to their proficiency levels and abilities in the target language, alongside ample opportunities to utilize their multilingual skills as valuable resources. The ability to draw upon their entire multilingual repertoire is among the most critical factors for these students to excel in upper secondary education (García & Li Wei, 2014).

Promoting Linguistic Inclusion

Language is the key to knowledge acquisition and expression.

The Hugin and Munin platform recognizes and values students’ linguistic backgrounds, providing a supportive environment in which multiple languages are used as a resource. With its translanguaging features, Hugin and Munin breaks down language barriers and transforms them into bridges for learning.

Flexible and adaptive education

Hugin and Munin’s learning paths are designed with flexibility and adaptability in mind, which are beneficial for both teachers and students. Moreover, the platform acknowledges the significance of social learning and actively promotes collaboration in pairs, groups and whole-class environments. This approach fosters active participation, builds confidence and nurtures a sense of inclusivity and shared learning among students.

Translanguaging as a Catalyst for Learning

One of the standout features of Hugin and Munin is that it is built on a translanguaging stance.Translanguaging allows students to utilize their full language repertoire as a valuable resource in the learning process. By incorporating their multilingual abilities, students can bridge the gap between their existing language skills and the acquisition of new ones. Translanguaging goes beyond mere language acquisition; specifically, it involves acknowledging students’ prior experiences and knowledge. This pedagogical approach not only enhances linguistic proficiency but also strengthens overall cognitive development and critical thinking abilities (García & Li Wei, 2014).

Enhancing Learning Experiences

Hugin and Munin offers a rich learning experience for emergent multilingual youth, as well as other individuals who lack instruction in a language they understand. The platform’s modules are designed to match the core elements of the Norwegian curriculum and ensure a solid foundation for academic growth. Each module consists of engaging learning pathways that include text, audio, exercises and video materials, giving students access to educational resources in a way that suits their preferred learning style.

Encouraging creativity increases overall engagement and motivation. Hugin and Munin reinforces this by offering various creative tasks. Drawing, music, writing and role-playing allow students to be creative and invest their identity in their work without necessarily worrying about correct Norwegian (Dewilde, 2018).

Innovative and resarch-based

Hugin and Munin is developed in close collaboration with esteemed research institutions based on research in the fields of multilingualism, education, second language acquisition and sociolinguistics. We are still optimizing and developing a platform to meet the needs of this highly diverse group of immigrant students and their teachers in light of the most recent research in the field of multilingualism.

We want to make sure that every student perceives the way Hugin and Munin supports and facilitates the multilingual resource perspective. In addition, we will further develop instruction for teachers to give them confidence and support when using multilingual pedagogies.