4th Edition of the Silica School Online Course, with the title “Silica: from stardust to the living world”

by Jill Sutton (posted by Young ISDR) |

[copied from e-mail]

The 4th edition of the Silica School online course, “Silica: from stardust to the living world”, will open this year on the 6th November 2023 and will be available until the 10th of December 2023. If any of you or your students/staff would like to take part in the Silica School, please email Jill Sutton prior to the 6th of November, 2023.

The Silica School is a Small Private Online Course (or SPOC, 32 hours of course time, 30 hours of personal time), focused on the study of the silica cycle on planet Earth (and beyond…).

The Silica School is created through a collaboration between several institutions and competent faculty members in order to offer the best and most up-to-date e-learning experience on the subject of “Silica: from stardust to the living world” that will examine the role of silica under four major themes:

Silica in the Universe
Silica in the Ocean
Silica in the Living World
Silica in the Future

The objective of this SPOC is to offer students the tools and knowledge to help them better understand the importance of silica in the natural world, alongside the opportunity to interact with international experts studying silica in the fields of chemistry, biology, geology, and physics.

The Silica School will provide students access to the online lectures, course materials, and contact with available instructors via question and answer forums. The question and answer forums will be available for specific dates, encouraging effective and efficient communication between the students and the instructors of the Silica School that are available for interaction.

The course is divided into 4 modules and the instructors have produced 11 excellent individual courses covering a broad range of topics related to silica. Each class will be available online to allow students to acquire knowledge on each concept at their own pace. The total time to complete each course will vary depending on each student’s background and the topics covered. Online classes will include specific directions for the students to perform tasks (discussion board, individual assignments) and/or quizzes to both help the student practice and to assess comprehension. In addition, the course will offer the opportunity for face-to-face interactions with the class tutors.

If you have any questions about the Silica School course, please send an email Jill Sutton (in English or en francais).