The Values Exchange is great fun and people use it creatively - but it is not yet used to help students think really hard and improve their skills. So we are setting up an Institute of Practical Ethics - a specially designed VX - which will offer supported learning for students who want to learn about ethics, get a certificate, improve their thinking skills, and maybe enhance their cvs in the process.
This is part of what we are saying to schools:
The Institute of Practical Ethics: First announcement
An innovative online thinking skills community will launch on February 1st. Further announcements and prospectus will follow.
Do you have students who just love to engage with big ideas?
Do you have students who debate endlessly?
Do you have students who want and need to be challenged by problematic questions and ethical issues?
Do you have students who are naturally deep thinkers but need to learn more about how to reason logically, ethically, empathetically, creatively and critically?
Do you find it hard to offer programmes to extend and challenge these students?
The Institute of Practical Ethics offers a simple, online, student-centred way to support students' intellectual and social growth; complementing curriculum-based learning in a powerful digital environment using 21st century pedagogies.
The Institute uses Values Exchange technology, offering supported, carefully constructed courses for school students interested in stretching their thinking skills.
The cost of enrolling for one term in the Institute is $195 per school student, reflecting the high quality of the materials, technology and tuition. However, for VX owning schools, enrolment is free for any number of students.
The ten week foundation programme includes:
What does it mean 'to be ethical'?
What are my values and where do they come from?
How can I solve ethical problems?
How can I offer justified solutions?
Can you be 'right' in ethics?
Basic ethical theory
Encouragement to post and solve original ethical dilemmas
Thinking within a community - learning about oneself and others where cultures and values differ and sometimes conflict
The first school programme will commence at the start of Term 2, to give time for students to be selected. Students will be expected to spend between one and two hours study and participation time per week. The Institute of Practical Ethics will award certificates of completion and merit.
Further information will be released next week.
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We'd love to know what you think about this!