The Online Course Experience

The NCAR online courses, instructed by science education specialists, incorporate information about state-of-the-art research and modeling efforts of nationally renowned climate scientists with classroom tested science inquiry activities. The online course experience features a high level of interactivity, tools for assessment , and effective community-building interactive technologies. We encourage teachers to tailor design and immediately apply their learning to the task of enriching their standards-aligned science curriculum for the benefit of all levels of students.

Success with NCAR Online Courses

As with all online learning environments, you must meet a set of basic requirements in order to access the course materials. Please follow this link to view a list of minimum hardware and software requirements. The list provides the minimum requirements—your experience will be smoother and more enjoyable if your system exceeds the requirements listed.

As educators, you know that just having hardware and software isn't enough to guarantee a successful learning—you also need interested, motivated students. We've put together a short self-assessment, made up of 25 short statements that should help you decide if online learning is for you. We highly encourage prospective participants to take the assessment before applying.

Sample Interactions

Our online courses are delivered using the Moodle courseware system, which provides a rich learning environment with a wide variety of interactions. Here's a sneak peek at just some of the interactions from an earlier course:

     
             Course Welcome Page                             Sample Content Page

     
              Discussion Forums                            Video Clips of NCAR Scientists

     
             Flash Interactions                                    Polls and Surveys

Climate Discovery, a series of six-week courses for middle and high school educators. The course offerings include:

• Introduction to Earth's Climate
• Earth System Science: A Climate Change Perspective
• Understanding Climate Change Today

Still have questions about NCAR Online Education courses?

View our Frequently Asked Questions page.