January 3, 2014, by Lindsay Brooke
Make a New Year resolution to improve the world around you
A new online course introducing learners of any age to the key issues surrounding sustainability starts next week and you can still sign up because it is free and open to everyone. This is the first free online course run by The University of Nottingham as part of a new venture with FutureLearn. The eight week course will explore the small steps we can take to make a real impact on the world around us.
Sustainability, society and you is available through FutureLearn – an online platform offering free course content from the UK’s top universities. The course is led by Dr Sarah Speight, an archaeologist, educator and The University of Nottingham’s academic lead on sustainability.
Equipping us to make a difference
The course will provide an introduction to the values and principles associated with sustainability and will equip students with some of the knowledge and understanding required to make sustainable decision in their personal and professional lives.
Through videos, readings and online discussions students will explore sustainability through multiple lenses: economic, political, social and cultural, historical, arts, engineering, scientific, business, geography,education and personal perspectives.
Dr Speight said: “Over five hours a week for eight weeks students will also be encouraged to look at their own behaviours and undertake activities such as blogging, sourcing images, and carrying out a waste audit. We will be encouraging participants to find, produce, share and discuss resources on sustainability.”
More free online courses to come
Sustainability, Society and You is the first of a number of courses that Nottingham will run through the FutureLearn platform. The second course ‘How to read…a mind’ starts on March 17th.
‘How to read…a mind’ incorporates our best current knowledge of how our minds and language work to take learners through key questions of literature and reading: why do we feel anything for fictional characters? Why do we get angry, annoyed or sentimental about imaginary people in imagined worlds? Why do the lives of imaginary minds living in fictional bodies seem to matter so much to readers? The answers to these questions are surprising and empowering. Registration for How to read…a mind is also open now.
The pro of online lessons is that you can take the course at anytime anywhere you want.