Green ICT Masters course: learn to save the planet and make money

The marketing people at the Australian National University asked me for some material to explain the Green ICT Strategies masters course offered globally from July 2009. This is a difficult task as the course available to anyone who wants to do just this one course on its own, where you just register and pay online, as well as part of ANU masters courses and to students at other universities in Australia and around the world:

The Australian National University

COMP7310 Green ICT Strategies is a new masters course in second semester at the Australian National University, College of Engineering and Computer Science. This course is offered globally, and places are limited, so apply now: <http://cs.anu.edu.au/students/comp7310/>

TOPIC: Reduce carbon emissions and increase organisation efficiency with computers.

Solving climate change has become one of the world's greatest challenges. Computers are both part of the problem and part of the solution to climate change. This course teaches students how they can reduce carbon emissions from computers and improve organisational efficiency at the same time. Save your company money and save the planet.

Delivery Method: Via the web with optional seminars on campus.

COMP7310 is the first of ANU's new flexible courses. Students can undertake the course entirely online via the web from anywhere in the world. Optional weekly seminars are offered, but not compulsory.

Assessment: Weekly online tutorial and two assignments. No examinations.

Students are assessed on their contributions to the course weekly online discussion forum. One mid-semester and end of semester written assignment require the student to estimate the carbon emissions of ICT at a real organisation and recommend how to reduce it. Students can opt to present their results at the weekly seminar to an audience from government, industry and academia. There are no examinations for the course.

Designer: Tom Worthington FACS HLM, Green ICT consultant to government and industry.

The Green ICT course is designed by Tom Worthington, a past President, Fellow and Honorary Life Member of the Australian Computer Society. Tom has been a consultant on computer energy use to the federal Environment Department and founded the ACS Green ICT Group. Tom was commissioned by the ACS to write the world's first globally certified green ICT course, which the ANU course is a development of.

Green ICT Frequently Asked Questions

• Do I Have To Come to the Campus To Do The Course? No, the course is delivered via the web. There are weekly seminars for those at the Australian National University in Canberra, but these are no compulsory.
• How Many Lectures Are There? None: this is an online course using the latest e-leaning techniques.
• So I Don't Need To Study Hard? You need to complete the set weekly readings and other activities to do well, as with any course. You are required to participate in the weekly online forums to pass the course.
• I Am Doing A Masters In Computing, It/Engineering At Anu. Can I Do This Subject? Yes.
• I Am Doing A Masters at ANU But Not in Science. Can I Do This Subject? Yes, the course is open to postgraduate students across the campus, in business and the humanities as well as science, provided your supervisor approves it.
• Will I Learn How to Design Low Power Computers? No, this is a course for people who supervise those who do the technical work.
• I Have Seen a Three Day Course Offering Green Certification, How Come Your Course Takes Weeks? This is a full university level course. You can't do that in three days.
• I Have Seen Three Day Courses Which Cost More Than Your Course, How Can You Do It So Cheap? You don't get a free lunch with this course, just content.
• Will This Be Of Use In My Work? Yes. The course is designed to answer questions relevant to many government, commercial and non-profit organisations, including how do we measure our carbon emissions, conform to government requirements and reduce our carbon emissions?
• Can I Have More Time For The Assignments? No. The course requires students to participate in weekly online forums and submit two written assignments. These are an essential part of learning and have fixed deadlines. Extensions will be allowed only for medical and other genuine emergencies.
• Do I Have To Sit An Exam? No. All assessment is by weekly forum discussion and assignments.
• Do I Have To Write Essays? Yes. The major part of the assessment is two written assignments. However, the weekly forums are designed to help the students be ready to write their assignments.
• I Am Studying At Another University Can I Do This Subject? Yes, provided your supervisor at your university approves it.
• Do I Need A Degree In Computer Science? No, the course assumes no technical knowledge of computing. If you can work a word processor and browse the web, that will do.
• Do I Have To Be Doing A Masters at ANU? No, the course may be taken independently, with a certificate of completion will be awarded. You can register and pay online.
• Do I Have To Have a Degree in Anything? No. There are no formal qualifications required to do the subject. But students will be expected to be able to read and write to a level suitable for a postgraduate course. Reading and writing business reports would be a suitable background for a student.

For more details see COMP7310 Green ICT Strategies: <http://cs.anu.edu.au/students/comp7310/>