188
A. Walsh et al.
personal development planner and the online element of Bristol Futures. The group
is a diverse community of students who are passionate about education and unafraid
to voice their opinion on the various areas of Bristol Futures they have co-designed.
Other areas of the project invite students’ participation through regular workshops,
in addition to the core advisory group. This aspect of co-creation has been a unique
element, that makes this initiative very different from similar initiatives in other
universities.
6 The Sustainable Futures Online Open Course
A study by MIT shows that online courses can teach at least as effectively as traditional classroom courses, additionally, they found that this is true regardless of how
much preparation and knowledge students start out with (http://hdl.handle.net/1721.
1/90300). Evidence shows that the students of the University of Bristol are engaged.
A recent University of Bristol Students’ Union (Bristol SU) survey in 2017 of c.
1000 students showed that 17% of students volunteer on Bristol SU projects and
33% volunteered outside of the University on community-led social or environmental justice projects (unpublished internal data provided by Students Union, 2017).
This section will focus on the Sustainable Futures online open course (one of three
themed courses offered by the University of Bristol from 2018). The course runs over
four weeks, with three hours of interactive and self-directed content per week. This
course introduces learners to sets of challenges where several sustainable development goals are grouped. The learner can then fully understand and experience the
purpose of sustainable development, and how the sustainable development goals can
contribute towards the improvement of the quality of life of humanity, while preserving and improving the earth itself. The learner is not expected to have a previous
comprehensive understanding of such challenges and the different approaches to
engage with them. They are given the chance to explore several case studies of individuals and organisations which have engaged with some of these challenges. The
course was designed by an interdisciplinary team at the University of Bristol: Chris
Preist, Professor of Sustainability and Computer Systems; Eleni Michalopoulou, a
PhD Student in Atmospheric Chemistry; Dr Aisling Tierney, ESD research associate
and archaeologist; and Hannah O’Brien, online and blended learning designer. The
diversity of the team’s expertise ensured a balanced design that speaks to learners
from different subject backgrounds. Case studies formed the core of on which text
the learning design framework on which text-based and interactive elements were
developed upon.
As discussed above, for the living lab approach to have a long term, and applicable—in a ‘real world situation’- impact, the stakeholders need to understand each
other’s context to work together and promote knowledge and research and offer solutions. Co-creation and co-production were both key ethical and design principles.
As such, the design team invited the participation and contribution from beyond
academia. The results of this approach achieve the following ambitions:
A. Walsh et al.
personal development planner and the online element of Bristol Futures. The group
is a diverse community of students who are passionate about education and unafraid
to voice their opinion on the various areas of Bristol Futures they have co-designed.
Other areas of the project invite students’ participation through regular workshops,
in addition to the core advisory group. This aspect of co-creation has been a unique
element, that makes this initiative very different from similar initiatives in other
universities.
6 The Sustainable Futures Online Open Course
A study by MIT shows that online courses can teach at least as effectively as traditional classroom courses, additionally, they found that this is true regardless of how
much preparation and knowledge students start out with (http://hdl.handle.net/1721.
1/90300). Evidence shows that the students of the University of Bristol are engaged.
A recent University of Bristol Students’ Union (Bristol SU) survey in 2017 of c.
1000 students showed that 17% of students volunteer on Bristol SU projects and
33% volunteered outside of the University on community-led social or environmental justice projects (unpublished internal data provided by Students Union, 2017).
This section will focus on the Sustainable Futures online open course (one of three
themed courses offered by the University of Bristol from 2018). The course runs over
four weeks, with three hours of interactive and self-directed content per week. This
course introduces learners to sets of challenges where several sustainable development goals are grouped. The learner can then fully understand and experience the
purpose of sustainable development, and how the sustainable development goals can
contribute towards the improvement of the quality of life of humanity, while preserving and improving the earth itself. The learner is not expected to have a previous
comprehensive understanding of such challenges and the different approaches to
engage with them. They are given the chance to explore several case studies of individuals and organisations which have engaged with some of these challenges. The
course was designed by an interdisciplinary team at the University of Bristol: Chris
Preist, Professor of Sustainability and Computer Systems; Eleni Michalopoulou, a
PhD Student in Atmospheric Chemistry; Dr Aisling Tierney, ESD research associate
and archaeologist; and Hannah O’Brien, online and blended learning designer. The
diversity of the team’s expertise ensured a balanced design that speaks to learners
from different subject backgrounds. Case studies formed the core of on which text
the learning design framework on which text-based and interactive elements were
developed upon.
As discussed above, for the living lab approach to have a long term, and applicable—in a ‘real world situation’- impact, the stakeholders need to understand each
other’s context to work together and promote knowledge and research and offer solutions. Co-creation and co-production were both key ethical and design principles.
As such, the design team invited the participation and contribution from beyond
academia. The results of this approach achieve the following ambitions: