We’re excited that you’re interested in taking our course! Here are some of the answers to the questions you may have!
IF YOU’RE INTERESTED IN THE COURSE
1. Who is this course for?
Climate Tracker’s Train-the-Trainer course is most suitable for journalists and editors who have no or very little experience in delivering environmental journalism workshops and would like to be certified to do so.
If you’ve attended a Climate Tracker event before and want to replicate it on your own, this is a great opportunity for you to try, too.
2. What will I get from this course?
Guidance on how to effectively deliver a climate communications training, free access to Climate Tracker’s workshop materials (slides, graphics, proposal templates), a certificate of completion.
3. What are the topics covered?
If you haven’t done so already, see our course launching page for a list of the topics offered in the lectures.
4. Is this course completely free?
Yes, the course is completely free from A to Z! No hidden fees here.
Climate Tracker staff has devoted many months’ work into creating this quality online course that you can take without a fee. Thus, we would greatly appreciate it if you could leave a review on Udemy if you find the course useful.
5. How do I access this course?
Create an account on Udemy after clicking onto our course link. In our experience, it’s easier to link your Udemy to your Google account than to manually type in an email address.
6. How much time should I set aside for this course?
The total lecture video time is 2 hours. If you want to spend time reading through the external resources, analyzing the model articles and trying your hand at the data visualization tools, plan for 4-5 hours total.
The course is divided into 4 sections so we would recommend that you do it in at least 4 separate sittings.
First, spend 30 minutes to read the course landing page, watch the intro video, and read the section intro lectures to see which lectures best match your interest and level.
Second, spend 2 hours on the skills training section. You might find the first 4 lectures easy if you’ve had a lot of journalism experience. Skip through those to go to the last two lectures, which would take more time to think about and work through the exercises.
Third, spend 1 hour on the content training section if the specific contents presented are of interest to you. If not, spend 30 minutes just to see how a content training workshop session can be set up.
Fourth, spend 1 hour to finish the logistics section and start planning for your own workshop! Each of the lecture in this section will be more or less useful for you depending on the type of workshop or webinar you plan to organize and the type of support you will need.
7. Are there any expectations for trainers who have completed the course?
We hope that you will organize a workshop or online webinar of your own after completing the course to put your newly-learned skills to use!
As part of our program, we’re aiming to collect data on 15 workshops organized by Train-the-Trainer graduates by June 15th, 2020; if you plan on organizing a workshop or webinar before this date, please reach out to Mai (mai@climatetracker.org) or Dizzanne (dizzanne@climatetracker.org). They can provide you with more support and coordination.
IF YOU’VE ALREADY SIGNED UP AND ARE TAKING THE COURSE
1. I can’t create an account on Udemy—is there any other way to access this course?
Yes, we have compiled all the material in the course in a zip file that’s available for potential trainers. Please contact Mai (mai@climatetracker.org) to request for this file. Your experience won’t be the same as taking the Udemy course, but you will still have access to the same video lectures and materials.
2. I can’t hear the audio clearly—are there transcripts available for the video lectures?
Yes! See the lower right corner of each video lecture on Udemy for the “Transcript” button or the “Caption” button.
If you are watching the course on a zipped file, ask Mai for the transcript if needed.
3. Why are all the downloaded files from Udemy labeled as “Original”?
Udemy automatically labelled all the uploaded Resources files as “Original.” If you’d like to have the files with their proper names, contact Mai (mai@climatetracker.org).
4. I’m close to finishing the course; how can I get my certificate?
Climate Tracker regularly checks the Students tab on Udemy to see who has completed the course; if we already have your email address, we will reach out to you with your certificate.
If you haven’t heard from us a week after finishing the course, please contact Mai (mai@climatetracker.org). We may not have your contact information to send the certificate.
IF YOU’RE PLANNING A WORKSHOP
1. Should I include the entire course content in my workshop?
It will not fit! Don’t be stressed out trying to plan for an extensive course that includes all the topics mentioned. Our online course is meant to include more information than you can reasonably deliver in one sitting so you have a diversity of modules to pick from. Each of the lectures in the course can be stretched out into a 1-hour webinar/workshop section; you can also combine 2-3 lectures, such as the Framing, Searching and Interviewing ones.
If you need more support with content design, feel free to reach out.
2. Am I representing Climate Tracker if I organize a workshop or webinar?
No. Your workshop or webinar will be an independent project, as you are not working for or on behalf of Climate Tracker. We are more than happy to provide you with support in doing this, though. Reach out to Mai (mai@climatetracker.org) or Dizzanne (dizzanne@climatetracker.org) for more information.
You are also free to mention that you have been certified by Climate Tracker to be a climate journalism trainer via our TtT course.
3. Can I use Climate Tracker’s slides in my workshop?
Yes, you are free to use any of the downloaded slides provided in the course, as long as you credit Climate Tracker by keeping our logo on the slides. We can also send you the links to editable files on Canva so you can customize them according to your needs. Please contact Mai (mai@climatetracker.org) for this.
4. What if I want to deliver the workshop in a different language?
Depending on the language, we might be able to help you with translation. We’ve translated our slides into Spanish in the past, but we have plenty of multilinguists in our network!
5. Can Climate Tracker help with graphics/designs to promote the workshop?
Yes! We can provide you with a template for your workshop graphics on Canva.
6. Can Climate Tracker promote my workshop on their social media?
We will not be promoting all the workshops conducted by Train-the-Trainer graduates on our social media. However, we do have some open slots—reach out to advocate for your workshop and communicate your needs with Mai (mai@climatetracker.org) and Dizzanne (dizzanne@climatetracker.org).
7. Will my workshop participants get a certificate for attending?
We can provide you with a certificate template if you wish
8. Will I be compensated for organizing the workshop?
Unfortunately, as the course is free and you are not representing Climate Tracker, we will not be able to provide compensation for your work organizing the workshop or webinar.
Other Inquiries?
Join our Slack community (search #train-the-trainer channel), or reach out to the course instructor via email (mai@climatetracker.org) or Whatsapp (+1 603 395 1401).