MOOC Resources for Educators: Get started

The evolution of design has seen it become a discipline no longer limited to the concerns of a singular, specific domain and develop to become a pathway for solving complex, nonlinear problems. Design is becoming a capability-enhancing skill, equipping people with the ability to deal with uncertainty, complexity and failure.

In this course, we demonstrate how you can use design as a way of thinking to provide strategic and innovative advantage within your profession. Suitable for anyone who is curious about design and translating the processes and tools of design thinking into innovative opportunities, over 5 weeks we explore, apply and practice the design process: think, make, break and repeat.

Through introducing theoretical concepts and examining industry case studies with leading Australian design firms, we investigate design as learning about the context (the thinking part), building prototypes as tangible representations (the making part) and testing potential solutions (the breaking part). We build on this by showing the productive value of moving through the process quickly and often (the repeating part), to improve ideas and develop new insights.

Throughout the course, you will follow us through three of Australia’s most exciting design offices and learn from practicing designers and leaders in design. This insight into industry will enable you to develop a comprehensive understanding of design and the role it can and does play within the innovation landscape. You will leave this course with a set of practical tools and techniques to apply to situations within your own professional context, to translate problems into opportunities and solutions, and ultimately to innovate through design.

Applicable to a range of organizations from small-medium sized enterprises through to corporates, and across a range of industrial segments.The problem this course helps address is the constant pressure managers face to be innovative and introduce novel products and services for their customers. However, many creative ideas get ‘stuck’ in the boardroom or are subject to intra-organizational tensions or group think. This course provides methodologies to break through these challenges.

We build on the widely known concept of design thinking but update it and apply it to advance business strategy and entrepreneurship. Over five weeks you will learn what ‘design strategy’ is, how it differs from traditional design thinking and business strategy, and how it can be used to improve existing products or services in your business, or introduce breakthrough ideas.

We will also provide an exclusive, deep-dive into the practical application and impact of these strategies in one of Australia’s newest, most innovative financial institutions, UBank, and the global re-insurance giant, Swiss Re. Through conversations with their Senior Executive Leadership Teams, including UBank’s CEO, we will explore how they have embedded innovation through design thinking. By the end of this course, you will have a set of tools to inform product design and development for your own start-up, or to extend the product roadmap of an established organization.

The course will feature a large number of Australian experts in psychiatry, psychology and mental health research, and we will also hear from “lived experience experts”, people who have lived with mental illness, and share their personal stories of recovery.

“This course is very much about learning from Aboriginal perspectives. In each video we hear from people who share diverse worldviews, experiences and perceptions of Sydney,” explained Dr Gabrielle Russell-Mundine, Academic Leader - Cultural Change. “Each week a different theme is addressed that draws on aspects of Sydney from Aboriginal perspectives. The videos feature University of Sydney academics, such as Professor Jakelin Troy, who is Director of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Research, and Matt Poll, who is Assistant Curator of Indigenous Heritage at the Macleay Museum,” said Dr Russell-Mundine.

“We also hear from a wide range of community members such as activists, artists, entrepreneurs and language experts. Importantly we hear from Elders as well as young people.” The MOOC will appeal to people who are interested in Aboriginal cultures, sociology, history, anthropology, linguistics, political philosophy, cultural competence or just want to know more about Sydney. It will also appeal to people who want to learn more about themselves and their culture and context

The five-week MOOC was developed by the Department of Media and Communications. “Good social media citizens show leader-ship in public spaces by encouraging and enabling rigorous debate around public issues,” said Dr Jonathon Hutchinson, a University expert in online and social media, who teaches the new open course.

The 5 MOOCs include:
Information & Digital Literacy for University Success
Problem-Solving Skills for University Success
Critical Thinking Skills for University Success
Communication Skills for University Success
Academic Skills for University Success: Capstone

What do children need from education now, and in the future? How is technology best used in teaching and learning? How can innovative approaches to education be reconciled with established, traditional ones? What does student-centred learning really mean? More about this MOOC at http://music.sydney.edu.au/study/mooc-music-education-in-the-21st-century/

It explores the breadth of technology application, current and emerging trends, and showcases both local and international eHealth practice and research. The entire eHealth Course consists of 5 modules and takes about 5 weeks to complete. Completion certificates are issued on the basis of participation in all 5 modules.