Global Issues and Perspectives

What will be taught? What topics will you cover?

- Learners will learn about a variety of issues facing the world from extreme world poverty, the lack of available freshwater, decreasing natural resources, the standard of living around the globe, the pollution crisis, etc. Every four weeks will be a different topic with each week presenting a different problem facing the world that is related to that topic. Learners will be presented with data about the issue, and have a discussion about how these problems could potentially snowball, and also how they impact everyone on a global level. Learners will work collaboratively to discuss the impact of the problem and brainstorm potential solutions. 



How is your class structured?

Learners can expect the first five minutes of class to be icebreakers and conversations about how they are feeling, how their weekend was, or anything else that they want to share. The next twenty minutes of class will be the teacher presenting the problem and data to the class and providing learners with the information needed to fully understand the issue. The remaining twenty-five minutes of class will be learners discussing the problem utilizing the discussion guide provided by the teacher and collaborating on potential solutions to the issue. The teacher will be acting as a facilitator of the discussion as this part of the class is completely student-led and student-centered. Learner participation in the discussions is critical in this course.



Does my learner need any background knowledge to enroll in this course?

Learners will not need any background knowledge to be successful in this course. Learners can join in the middle of a topic and can still be successful in class because each issue will be covered in that week's class. The same format will be used as learners collaboratively work to identify the impact of the issue and generate various potential solutions. However, there is certainly value in learners who are regularly enrolled because all of the issues covered in the course are related, so learners will have a clearer vision of "the bigger picture" of the state of the world the longer they are enrolled. 



Planned Topics: World Population and the Global Perspective (June 15th - July 5th)

- July 13th: Understanding the world population and its significance (what issues might a quickly growing population cause?)

- July 27th: Understanding global diversity (looking at how life is different depending on where you live)