Learning sustainably and about sustainability
February 17, 2014
In week 6 of the Sustainability, Society and You course (which runs again later in the year) we looked at sustainable learning and learning for sustainability. There is evidence to suggest that online learning is sustainable in the sense of its environmental footprint (less travel, less printing out of learning materials, and fewer resources in …
Greening the Academy through E-learning
January 28, 2014
Sarah Speight writes: Nottingham’s first foray into the world of MOOCs, ‘Sustainability, Society and You’ foregrounds three elements of the university’s teaching and learning strategy. The first is Sustainability itself – Nottingham is committed to integrating sustainability values and knowledge into the experience of its own students and staff. We do this via our courses, …
Scooping Sustainability
January 9, 2014
In order to try to curate some of the blog posts, tweets, etc. coming out of our current FutureLearn MOOC, I’ve set up a Scoop.it page for Sustainability, Society & You and am attempting to add to it posts, pages and RSS feeds of relevance. Let me know if you have written about the course …
MOOCs are themselves sustainable
January 6, 2014
As we launch our ‘Sustainability, Society and You’ MOOC today through FutureLearn, it is heartening to think that the course itself is sustainable! Online learning, such as in MOOCs, is itself eco-friendly as evidenced in recent studies conducted by the Open University in the UK. Researchers found that distance learning courses consume 90% less energy than …
Blog posts about Sustainability, Society and You
January 2, 2014
There are already discussions and reflections appearing about the ‘Sustainability Society and You’ MOOC starting on January 6th through FutureLearn. You can join us using the hashtag #flsustain on Twitter and in other social media: we also have a Facebook page. Course leader Dr Sarah Speight has written about the approach the course takes in …
The difference between self-directed learning and a MOOC
January 1, 2014
Happy New Year! And if your resolution is to learn something new – may I suggest learning online? The Web is a huge repository of information and resources, and it can fairly be said that you can learn anything on the Web from calligraphy to sewing, from PHP to coding games, from fundamentals of anatomy …
Countdown #28: a conversation about sustainability
December 28, 2013
Sustainability, of course, isn’t just for Christmas – we can make sustainable choices in every aspect of our daily lives. This Christmas in my family we have mostly managed recycling, and all my gift wrapping was re-used from last year! But the final one of the 3Rs is more of a struggle: reduce. I’d love …
Advent calendar #25: Using your Christmas leftovers
December 25, 2013
Sarah Speight writes: we have just finished running the ‘NOOC’ – the Nottingham Open Online Course, ‘Perspectives on Sustainability’. This is an internal University of Nottingham version of the Futurelearn MOOC, ‘Sustainability, Society and You’ that starts on January 6th. Our students have been carrying out audits of their domestic waste. While most of them …
Advent calendar #24: Are you an eco-tourist?
December 24, 2013
At least according to the adverts on TV, Christmas must be the time when people start planning their next holiday. So are you an eco-tourist or plan an eco-holiday this year? Eco-tourism involves being visiting areas of the planet that are more undisturbed, while trying to be low-impact and socially responsible. These holidays often have …
Advent calendar #23: My Sustainable [and early] Christmas
December 23, 2013
Sarah Speight writes: I think I get more and more concerned about consumer excess every Christmas. I’ve always been someone who prefers ‘useful’ presents myself and now I’ve extended this to my friends and family. If I am buying rather than making or growing (I’m not as advanced down this path as Mike Clifford, Advent …
