Online Courses

The Ushahidi platform is one of the best-known ICT4D application for data aggregation and processing. This four week, online course provides participants with a well-rounded introduction to the Ushahidi platform, both technical and analytical. Guest experts will lead discussions on best practices on topics such as online and offline security, report validation, and utilizing the new Ushahidi toolkits to ensure their work provides value beyond putting dots on the map. We'll be hands-on with the platform itself, with screencasts and instruction on how to receive, process, and publish reports as well as basic configurations. Graduates are not only prepared to be valuable contributors but leaders in this space.

The mobile phone is rapidly bringing communication to the most remote areas of the world. NGOs, governments and companies alike are beginning to realize the potential of this ubiquitous tool to address social challenges. This four week course will explore successful applications that facilitate economic transactions, support public health campaigns and connect learners to educational content. It will also critically engage with issues of equity, privacy and access.

During this four week certificate course, participants will learn how mapping, social media, and mobile telephones help conflict prevention practitioners and analysts create better programming and policy.  The course will draw on conflict prevention and resolution theory to analyze the relevant tools for conflict prevention, address cultural and analytic issues, and explore practices for using technology in conflict-affected settings.  Using case studies from Kenya, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Libya, among others, this course will introduce participants to relevant technological tools in detail.  Activities include hands-on simulations and live expert chats, providing students with practical skills and knowledge for putting technology to use in their work.

During this four week certificate course, participants will learn about social media, mobile phone applications and crowdsourcing tools for policy, advocacy and academic research.  The course will focus on how emerging social media, mobile telephone and information management technology can enhance traditional qualitative and quantitative research methodology.  Participants will be introduced to technology tools, focusing on how they work, what makes them valuable in different settings, and how to use them most effectively for different types of research.  The course will also look at cases and examples of organizations and practitioners using technology tools in their research to define and explore best practices.  Participants can expect a dynamic and interactive learning environment with a variety of discussions and practical exercises, expert talks, and activities aimed at making emerging technology part of each person’s research skill set.

This four week online certificate course will explore how new communication and mapping technologies are being used to respond to disasters, create early warning mechanisms, improve coordination efforts and much more. It will also consider some of the key challenges related to access, implementation, scale, and verification that working with new platforms present. The course is designed to assist professionals in developing concrete strategies and technological skills to work amid this rapidly evolving landscape. Participants can expect a dynamic and interactive learning environment with a variety of real world examples from organizations working in the field including those involved in the humanitarian response to the Haitian earthquake.

New platforms of communication are revolutionizing social dynamics by democratizing access to and production of media. From Barack Obama’s youth mobilization efforts to the ongoing uprisings across the Middle East and North Africa, this course will examine how new channels of communication are being utilized and to what extent these efforts and techniques are successful or unsuccessful in a given context. It will also provide participants with strategies for maximizing the impact of new media and train them in the effective use of a range of security and privacy tools.

In the last decade a number of new technologies have been developed which will dramatically reshape the classroom space. A handful of teachers and educational professionals are beginning to use social media, mobile devices, video games and other innovations to enrich the learning process, but these practices are far from mainstream. This four week online certificate course is designed for classroom teachers and educational professionals alike and aims to provide them with exposure to a variety of tools and platforms that deepen dialogue and enhance curricula for face-to-face learning environments.