How to participate
Announcements
We will use announcements (at the top of the page) to communicate important information about the course.
How much time do I need?
The time you spend is up to you, but we suggest that you may need a minimum of 2 hours a week to view materials, contribute to the discussion and undertake tasks. You don't have to read everything on this site. We are encouraging you to contribute resources that relate to your geographical area so that as a participant, you can connect locally and globally on the issues covered. We also aim for most of your time to be actively engaged in activities and tasks rather than just reading.
How do I get started?
A new module will be released each week. You can choose to complete tasks individually, or use the forums or social media to join with a partner or group to tackle the challenges.
Tasks include watching short videos, posting in discussion forums, active research tasks and creating and sharing resources. We encourage you to create, remix or share resources outside of this site.
Suggested approach:
- as they become available, start working through modules
- contribute to discussion forums and reply to comments
- share resources on social media (more information below)
- undertake tasks
- submit evidence to earn a completion badge
Social media
Part of the intention of this course is to share what you learn, beyond this course platform, into other online communities. You can do this by using social media sites attached to the course:
Like our Facebook page
You can also use your won own social networks and establish your own groups with people you might connect with on this course.
Other tools
Discussion forum
Disqus is the forum tool used on the course site which lets you follow contributors and vote posts up to highlight them. It's used on a lot of websites but if you get stuck you can have a look at the user support guide or ask on the general discussion forum.
Journal/blog reflections
As this online course relies heavily on self-motivation, we encourage you to create a blog (or use your existing blog) to record your goals and reflect on your progress or issues that you find interesting as you learn. Of course you can keep a handwritten journal or art journal – whatever feels right for you – but we encourage the use of a blog so that you can share your responses easily. Try Blogger or Wordpress or any other blog platform that you are familiar with.
Collecting and curating resources
There are quite a few tools for curating online resources and we encourage you to use those already familiar to you. Some suggestions are Facebook, Google+, del.icio.us, flickr, pinterest and scoop.it.
Help and support
This is an open free course and there is no dedicated technical support. We encourage peer support. If you get stuck or need ideas, you can use the general discussion forum at the top of the page to ask other participants for ideas (e.g. specific instructions on how to use third party social media tools).