Permaculture Design Certification (PDC) Courses require a minimum of 72-hours of actual instruction and training. With the use of the Internet's webinar capabilities, combined with guided self-study and reading assignments, students begin one of our Midwest Permaculture PDC courses from their own home, weeks prior to their on-site permaculture intensive.
This means that our students are able to receive an excellent certification
training in 8-Days rather than two weeks.
a "Thanks so much for the webinars.
I could find the money but no way could I take off two weeks
for a training. This course was perfect." Jody Luna - 30 - Architect
Webinar Delivery - Live and Recorded Student can access the webinars from any computer that is hooked to the internet, from anywhere in the world.
Recorded
There were 6-live webinars before our May-2009 Permaculture Design Certification (PDC) course that were fully recorded.
All lasted approximately 2-hours and explored the topics listed below.
They are the foundational work that begin all of our 2010 PDC Courses. All students receive these candid recordings just as they occurred.
Topics Explored in Recorded Webinars:
Permaculture Ethics & Principles
Methods of Design
Patterns in Nature
Observation & Understanding
Bio-mimicry - Designing with Nature Hydrological Cycles
Carbon Cycles
Water & Aquaculture
Water Harvesting
Climatic Factors
Soil, Plants, & Trees
Agriculture - Past and Present
Designing for the Future
Designing for the Tropics and Drylands
More...
Live Webinar Features
There will be at least 2-live webinars for each of our 2010 PDC Courses. See each upcoming course description as they are posted to learn more about the live webinar dates and times.
For a live webinar, students access the Midwest Permaculture webinar room (a Skype platform) on their computer and listen to the live instruction while viewing any accompanying photos, graphs, or illustrations made available ahead of time.
In these live webinars, students are able to ask questions verbally by “requesting the mic,” and everyone will hear their question along with the instructors answer. Students may also ask questions or make comments by typing into a “text-chat” feature . Everyone is able to view the chat portion of the screen while the presentation progresses.
Easily half of our students have never been in a webinar before. The technology is pretty simple to understand and to get used to, so once started almost all students really enjoy their webinar experience. It is a fun and easy way to learn from home while also getting to know the instructors and ones fellow classmates.
Need to Miss a Live Webinar? No Problem. All are Recorded:
For some students, accessing the recordings is the only way they are able to participate in the course due to their work schedule or other conflicts. This typically works just fine. The recordings are typically posted the next day (sometimes within hours) and can be reviewed once or over and over again. Actually, some students prefer listening to the recordings rather than joining in the live webinars for they are able to listen whenever or wherever they like and can start and stop the recording as they please.
Additional Networking Feature added to Each PDC
Each course will also have an internet 'home room' where all registered students can post their personal bios, share ideas, work on homework together and/or arrange transportation to and from the course. It is similar to FaceBook (if you are familiar with that) but private. It is for you and your classmates only. This is an optional feature of each course and is not essential or required of any student. It is simply an added way to network with your fellow classmates before a course begins and a place to stay connected afterwards as well.
Can't Take a PDC This Year but are Interested in the Webinars?
Benefit from the Self-Study and Webinars...
(...and Receive Full Credit Towards Future PDC...)
If one is seriously interested in learning about permaculture but cannot commit to a certification course, the webinars and self-study features of our design courses can be enjoyed as stand alone experiences.
Students learn an amazing amount about permaculture just by participating in this self-study program.
Connection High-speed connections are great, but students with just a 56K dial-up modem are able to participate. For those access the recorded webinars, these do not stream but are downloaded ahead of time and accessed from ones computer. With slow modems the recordings can be downloaded over night and enjoyed the next day.
For the live webinars, the slides used for each webinars are posted ahead of time so can be downloaded well before the webinars begins. Even the audio portion of the webinars can be accessed via ones cell-phone or telephone so all that once is accessing in real time over the internet is the text-chat feature which requires very little speed or band width.
Once again, we give students easy step-by-step instructions and even have have an experienced 'tech' person who can help individual students diagnose most challenges.
Windows, Mac & Linux? - No Problem
The webinar tool we are now using is a business version of the internet phone and chat service called Skype. It is well known, well used, cross platform (works on Windows, Mac & Linux) and free to download & use. Skype will allow all of us not only to be able to talk live over the internet for free, but it also includes that text-chat feature that allows students to communicate during the live webinars by typing messages to each other and our instructors.
Using Skype does require the downloading of new software on to your computer, and a bit of time becoming familiar with it, but most of us who have gone through the learning curve really enjoy it and find it easy to use. We think you will find it worth the effort to join us in this way as well, and once it is loaded, you can continue to use Skype to talk to friends for free, all over the world, if they have loaded Skype too. You can also use Skype simply as a telephone and make long distance calls to any regular phone or cell-phone for as low as 2.1 cents/minute. It's pretty neat.
Webinars Also Accessible by Phone
However, it is not a requirement to use Skype. You may skip this learning curve and simply call in on your own phone (cell or land line) to our conference room. Students download the visual presentation (the slides) on to their own computers ahead of time and follow along, advancing the slides themselves, while they listen to the instruction and dialog over the phone. It's very simple.
Microphone (optional)
If you would like to be able to verbally ask questions through the webinar portal, you will need to have a computer microphone (mic).
A mic come as part of many headsets so you can hear the webinar in private.
Headset & Mic
You can also find them as individual units and you use your computer speakers to listen to the instruction. Most students simply end up using the chat section and type their questions in. That's just fine. The microphones are optional but are inexpensive and typically available in all computer stores if you choose this route.
