ICTESD5012 - Intercultural Communication and Sustainable Leadership
This course explores an interesting confluence of two current topics: intercultural communication and sustainable leadership. Students in this course engage in a critical assessment of intercultural communication theories and applications with the explicit goal of addressing issues of sustainable leadership. The course examines key factors in green and distributed leadership models and strategies and draws attention to the importance of transformational sustainable leadership in connection to inter/cross-cultural communication competence. Emphasis is given on issues of culture and power, the relationship of language (both verbal and non-verbal) and culture, the relationship between culture and strategies of negotiation, as well as differing perspectives of conflict and ways of managing intercultural conflict.Through experience, action and critical reflection, students are to collaboratively explore: 1) social entrepreneurship as leadership that facilitates societal transformation; 2) the role of ICT in facilitating leadership and transformational ESD; 3) the attributes of effective sustainable leadership and 4) the choice of communication strategies needed within different cultural contexts and how intercultural communication affects transformational leadership. The overriding goal of this course is to equip participants with the skills and knowledge to function as transformative educators and ESD leaders.
ICTESD511 - Teaching to Live Sustainably through the Earth Charter
Learning to live sustainably is a condition to sustain our planet for the present and future generations. The Earth Charter challenges us to examine our values and learn to live sustainably. The course will examine the links between Education for Sustainability and values and moral education and support students to think more clearly about their attitudes, values and ethical approaches towards the human and non-human world. Through an exploration of the ethics of nature, the environment, ethical frameworks as represented in political belief systems and ideologies, the course will provide students with the tools to construct and support rational and just approaches to sustainability in their professional and private lives. The course will also focus on the design, development and assessment of ICT- enabled instructional materials and programmes which can foster the formation of positive values, attitudes and ethical behaviour towards sustainable human development in the classroom/training environment. The course outcomes are reflected in the organization of the learning modules, which are presented sequentially to allow for a full study of the aims and objectives of the Earth Charter. These include a study of values and how they relate to the Earth Charter and Education for Sustainability, the promotion of dialogue on values for sustainable living, ethical development and the application of values in the construction of sound ethical choices in relation to sustainability. It will also focus on the design, development and assessment of ICT enabled instructional learning to provide opportunities for “learning to live sustainably”.The overriding goal of this course is to explore the links between Education for Sustainability and the Earth Charter and to develop the requisite knowledge, skills and attitudes to enable course participants to effectively use the Earth Charter as an educational tool.
ICTESD509 - Biocultural Diversity for Sustainable Development
The course explores the links between cultural, linguistic and biological diversity, which are increasingly viewed as key elements in achieving sustainable development. Recognizing that diversity is an important prerequisite for ensuring sustainable development, this course explores conceptual and methodological issues and provides some examples of the linkages between biological, cultural and linguistic diversity at global, regional and local scales. The interactions between cultural and biological factors in human adaptation and variation are emphasized throughout the course. The course is organized into several sections, each with subsidiary activities that involve students in constructing knowledge on biocultural diversity issues. Several important questions form the core of this course, such as: What notions of culture and nature does the concept of biocultural diversity imply? What models of biocultural diversity exist? What political and legal measures need to be taken at the national and international levels so as to improve efforts to promote biocultural diversity? Is globalization a threat to or an opportunity for promoting cultural, linguistic and biological diversity for sustainable development? How can we make consumption and production patterns consistent with the promotion of cultural and biological diversity? Which measures should be taken to promote biocultural diversity so as to reinforce sustainable development? The overriding aim of the course is to help students understand and appreciate the interconnection of culture and biology. The specific objectives are: To explore conceptual/theoretical and methodological issues related to the links between biological, linguistic and cultural diversity. To involve students in the collection, evaluation and synthesis of relevant to biocultural diversity information that is available in the Web. To identify and document good practices that may support educational policy, management and decision/policy making processes. To explore how people culturally conceptualize, manipulate, transform, and humanize their natural environments over time.
ICTESD510 - e-Learning, Virtual Worlds and Education for Sustainable Development Course description
e-Learning and Virtual World (VW) platforms provide affordances that may facilitate teaching and learning for sustainability. This course applies instructional design principles for designing virtually-based interactive learning courses and professional development courses addressing ESD-related thematic areas. Based on the instructional models of cognitive apprenticeship, situated cognition and problem-based learning, the course discusses the steps to be taken to design, create and assess virtual learning environments using tools such as Second Life®. Second Life is a virtual world in which individuals create a persona, or avatar, which is used to operate in the highly interactive virtual environment. The course also uses SLOODLE, an open-source Moodle® module for bridging communication between objects in Second Life® and assignments in Moodle® to enable authentic problem solving and processes, referring to ESD issues.The overarching goal of this course is to provide learners with an overview of theories and strategies related to the design, development and evaluation of online learning and courses.
ICTESD508 - ICT, Climate Change & Geo-Spatial Tools
Education systems worldwide need to include a focus on the causes, consequences and solutions to climate change, if the necessary changes are to be addressed in time. Addressing the causes (mitigation) and the consequences (adaptability) of climate change requires education systems to integrate content and methodologies that will help transform human-induced unsustainable behaviours and actions (transformability).This course provides a cross/multi-disciplinary approach of climate change education through the support of open source GIS software and related spatial tools, ICTs, databases, datasets designed for educators who are interested in using such technologies to explore global climate change issues. Learners will focus on key aspects of climate change for their particular local environments and develop cross-thematic and inquiry and problem-based climate change lesson plans applicable to both formal and nonformal education settings. The overriding goal of this course is to strengthen the capacity of educators and trainers to provide quality climate change education for sustainable development at primary and secondary school settings enabled through GIS and other ICTs. In particular: how to use problem-based learning as a methodology for integrating climate change education in formal and non-formal education environments.
