Nova Southeastern University's Oceanographic Center invites you to join us at a distance, at your convenience, in an on-line web-based distance education course. Water issues and concerns are in the headlines and at the forefront of national and international discussion. Your tour will be interdisciplinary incorporating physical, social, cultural, economic, legal and institutional perspectives. Through the on-line course website and forum discussions, you'll be able to join with others worldwide and link to up-to-date information as it happens, wherever you are.

Despite the broad format and global reach, the emphasis of this course will be on relating the impact of these issues and perspectives to you, and the place where you live. The discussions are asynchronous (anytime, anyplace), meaning you can read the weekly course materials and post messages at a time that is convenient to you. Our classroom is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Arguably, on-line learning is particularly appropriate to an environmental issues course. The different perspectives you and others may have on these issues, depending on where you are based, helps to build a dynamic learning pool. The place where you live - its ecological and built environment - and the different perspectives on our life on a water planet form a critical part of the shared learning that takes place.

Course Goals:

Life on a Water Planet has four broad aims:

1. To provide a holistic and current perspective on key water issues that includes ecological, socioeconomic, historical and cultural perspectives, together with consideration of the water needs of other species.

2. To provide a forum for sharing understandings and perspectives.

3. To help you to shift your perception of our planet from "the earth" to "water".

4. To encourage you to take information and knowledge about water issues from a broad base and apply it to your own community or individual situation.

Course Structure and Unit Topics:

The course is organized into ten units. Most units run from Monday to Monday and involve the following:

	Readings available as direct links within the course homepage
	Online activities and discussion
	Optional web resources for further exploration and study

Unit Topics

One of the advantages of an online course is that there is room for a certain amount of flexibility with regard to course contents. Unlike a print-based text, this course content outline is not "fixed" but can be adapted to respond to recent events or particular interests or concerns of the course participants.

Unit 1: Introduction: Taking the plunge Unit 2: The place where you live Unit 3: Introduction to the future: Challenges and opportunities Unit 4: The places people live: urbanization and population Unit 5: Shaping perceptions: our water history and culture Unit 6: Water fit to drink: Focus on freshwater and water security Unit 7: Looking out to sea: The oceans Unit 8: Not us alone: impact on biodiversity Unit 9: In whose hands? Governance and legislation Unit 10: Where do we go from here? Where do you fit in?

Time Commitment

The estimated time commitment is five to ten hours per unit, on average, to complete the readings and participate in course activities and discussion.

Course requirements and grading procedure

Life on a Water Planet is offered via a web-based educational program called WebCT. If you have a browser such as Netscape (version 2.0 or higher) or Microsoft Internet Explorer (version 4.0 or higher) and have access to the world-wide web, you can access the course materials without downloading or installing any additional software. A WebCT student tutorial is included with the course materials, and the first unit of the course is devoted largely to helping you to feel comfortable with this learning environment. If you have never taken an on-line course before, don't worry! We'll give you the time and information you need to feel comfortable.

To complete the course, you will need to do the following:

1. Submit two written assignments on a water-related topic of your choice, approved by the instructor (20% and 30% of final grade)

2. Participate in weekly online "Bulletin Board" forums (30% of final mark).

3. Participate in the formation of a collective course Bioregional Learning Journal (10% of final grade).

4. Give feedback and participate in the major assignment focus of your colleagues in the course (10% of final grade).

Registration Form

Do join us! If you would like any further information about the course, please don't hesitate to send us an information request to

"Life on a Water Planet" <de-lowp_1 barney mail fred ocean fred nova fred edu>