What is the Global Challenges Course?
Global Challenges is an exciting national blended learning course made possible by the collaborative efforts of the American Association of State Colleges and Universities’ (AASCU) American Democracy Project (ADP), The New York Times Knowledge Network. The seven global challenges (population, resources, technology, information, economic integration, security, and governance) addressed in the course are based on the Center for Strategic and International Studies’ 7 Revolutions framework. This hybrid online and in-person course is intended to help educate globally competent citizens.
Why Teach Global Challenges at Your University?
There are many reasons to add a Global Challenges course to your campus curriculum or as a unit in an existing course you teach:
For Your University
- Energize your campus’ commitment to global citizenship and internationalization
- Enhance your first-year experience, capstone or honors program
For Your Faculty
- Experience the stimulating collaborative environment of working with colleagues across campuses and disciplines toward common interdisciplinary learning objective
- Teach an exciting curriculum that is framed by the research of one of the world’s leading non-partisan public policy think tanks and supported by one of the world’s premier newspapers
- Experiment with cutting edge models for blended learning environments
For Your Students
- Encourage your students to think more deeply and critically about international and public policy issues.
- Challenge students to consider the current and future implications of the course's seven Global Challenges in their personal and professional lives.
How does Global Challenges work?
This course uses a variety of teaching methods to deliver and facilitate the classroom materials and activities.
The Global Challenges course is delivered through the Epsilen eLearning Environment, a powerful resource for sharing course content and networking. Epsilen is a comprehensive environment that allows for course administration and professional and social networking. It is a web-based application that allows students to access course materials, The New York Times Digital Content Repository, CSIS content and much more.
As a faculty member, you can use the system to upload your own syllabi; use discussion forums, wikis and blog features, assign students into work groups, access stunning content and much more.
Faculty Support
As the Global Challenges course instructor, you will have access to a readymade course shell in the Epsilen course management system, complete with:
- Sample syllabus
- Learning objectives
- Lesson modules
- Quizzes/exams
- Assignments
- Service learning activities
- Assessment tools
- Faculty/teaching toolkit
- Fact sheets
- Student guide
- Current and archived New York Times resources
- A powerful course introduction video
- Videos of content experts introducing each revolution
You will have the freedom to then customize the course shell and alter materials to best suit your particular course’s objectives and needs.
In addition, you will receive full access to a web collaborative designed especially for instructors. It will have additional features to help you prepare for this exciting course and get help along the way, such as:
- Webinars
- Shared resources
- Discussion boards
- Opportunity to consult with ADP/AASCU's Global Engagement Scholars
Global Challenges Online Resources
Global Challenges Sample Course Shell (in the Epsilen eLearning Environment)
Please note: To access
the sample shell, you must create a free profile in Epsilen atwww.epsilen.com.
Once
you have a free profile, follow these simple steps:
- Then choose “Courses”
- Then select “Search Courses”
- Check the box for “Show Advanced
Search” and then click on “Search”
- In the Title Box, type “GC:
Sample Shell”. Be sure the Institution
line is set for “All Institutions”, if not, use the “Change” button to change
it to All Institutions. Then click on
“Search”.
- Click on the course title.
- Then click on “Join this Course”
- You will be asked to Log in, and
then click to join.
- Click on “Learning” in your
Epsilen toolbar
Cost
- Instead of a required text, students have access to the course multimedia resources on Epsilen for an introductory $50 fee.
- Once a faculty member registers to teach the course, he or she will have access to the student and faculty toolkits and other course materials, as well as the web collaborative.
Course Launch
During spring 2012, six institutions piloted the course. Their feedback helped us make the course even better. The course is available to any two- or four-year college or university beginning fall 2012. There is no institutional cost for the course; students enrolled in the course pay a course fee of $50 in lieu of a textbook for access to the online repository of course materials.
The Global Challenges Course Partners
As a partnership between AASCU's American Democracy Project, the Global Engagement Initiative and its Scholars and The New York Times, this initiative provides participating institutions a fully developed course that can be taught face-to-face or online, including ample faculty resource materials. Ground work for this course was developed in collaboration with staff at the Center for Strategic and International Studies and its Seven Revolutions project.
What are the seven Global Challenges?
The Global Challenges course emerged out of a five-year partnership with the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). CSIS created their Seven Revolutions framework in 1992 as a research and education effort to study the most important trends likely to impact the world over the next 30 years, embodying both opportunities and risks ahead and transforming the way we live and interact with others. The seven Global Challenges address in this course emerge from the Seven Revolutions and include:
Population
What effects will population growth/decline, aging, migration and urbanization have on our future world?
Resource management and climate change
What changes will we see in food, water and energy consumption/production?
Technological innovation and diffusion
What changes are we going to see in computation, robotics, biotechnology and nanotechnology?
The development and dissemination of information and knowledge
How does the vast amount of data change how we learn and govern in the future?
Economic integration
How is our economic landscape changing?
The nature and mode of security
How do we cope with a post-9/11 world? Is there a new paradigm?
The challenge of governance
What is the role of leaders, corporations and NGO’s in this new environment?
Contact Us
Shala Mills, Global Challenges National Course Coordinator
Fort Hays State University
Email: GlobalChallenges@fhsu.edu