Time to get started

Understanding earth shaping (ETHS101) is an open online micro-course which forms part of the OERu’s Humans_Earth_Shapers course. The learning materials for this micro-course are hosted on this web site. Learners participate and interact using a range of technologies which make up your personal learning environment. You will be shown how to set these up during the orientation session.

3 things you need to do before starting the course

1. Register on this course site by clicking on the user icon () in the site menu above. This will enable you to submit WEnotes (microblog posts) and register your blog URL. (Note: As an open course, registration is not mandatory and we will post copies of the announcements on the course site.)
2. Familiarise yourself with the website navigation to find out where the:
   • course syllabus,
   • learning materials (see learning pathways link above), and
   • course feed are located.
     Note: For help on navigating this course, consult the OERu support site.
3. Review the:
   • Course outcomes and learning objectives and
   • Syllabus

Steps for new OERu learners

If this is your first course with OERu:

1. Please complete the OERu new participant survey.
2. Work through the orientation session before the course starts to create the website accounts you will need to participate in the course.

Need help?

• Visit the OERu support site
• Read the instructions for getting help.

Study tips

There are a few things you should know about the Understanding earth shaping micro-course:

1. Course tag: The course tag is: #ETHS101. Write this down because you will use this tag for your blog posts and social media posts for inclusion in the course feed.
2. Course feed: The course hosts a live feed where you can read posts from WEnotes, participant blog posts and social media posts using the “ETHS101” tag or label.
   • WEnotes is the locally-hosted microblog technology for posting comments to the course feed.
3. Suggested study time: The course is divided into a number of sessions. You should aim to spend approximately 2 hours per day at times which suit your own schedule. However, as an open course you can ‘sip and dip’, participating in the topics or activities you find interesting. The time you will need to successfully complete the learning challenges will vary according to your own experience in using social media and digital technologies. We estimate you will need about 20 – 30 hours of study time to complete the learning pathways. Learners participating in this course for formal academic credit will need to allocate an additional 10 – 20 hours required for preparing the final assignment.
4. International time zones: OERu courses typically register students across 24 time zones. You should study this course in your own time zone. For example, carry out the instructions for Tuesday on your Tuesday, not the time zone of your facilitators.
5. Using social media technologies: If you are new to using social media technologies, we provide detailed tutorials and instructions to help you set up your own personal learning environment during the orientation session. We recommend that you establish your personal learning environment before the course commences. Blogs provide a good way of interacting with course participants while maintaining control over your own content. You can create a new personal course blog or use an existing blog.
6. Information overload: At times, the aggregated feed can generate a large number of posts. You are not expected to read everything. Read what is current when you log in and follow the links which you find interesting. After a few days, you will identify participants with similar interests and you can then choose to follow these people in the course feed.
7. Learn by doing and sharing: Most of all, have fun! We are changing the world for the better by returning to the core value of sharing knowledge freely in education.