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Learner Reviews & Feedback for Becoming a changemaker: Introduction to Social Innovation by University of Cape Town

4.8
stars
1,559 ratings

About the Course

This course is for anyone who wants to make a difference. Whether you are already familiar with the field of social innovation or social entrepreneurship, working for an organization that wants to increase its social impact, or just starting out, this course will take you on a journey of exploring the complex problems that surround us and how to start thinking about solutions. We will debunk common assumptions around what resources are needed to begin acting as a social innovator. We will learn from the numerous examples of social innovations happening all over the world. You will be challenged to get out of your comfort zone and start engaging with the diverse spaces around you. By the end of the course, you will have formed your own approach to social innovation, and you will have begun to develop the concepts, mindset, skills, and relationships that will enable you to start and evolve as a changemaker. The Bertha Centre for Social Innovation and Entrepreneurship co-created this course with RLabs, a social movement ‘born-and-bred’ in Bridgetown, Cape Town that is now active in 22 countries. The movement empowers youth through innovative and disruptive technology by teaching them vital skills and providing much needed support and a sense of community. Advocating and supporting initiatives such as RLabs forms part of the Bertha Centre’s mandate. The Centre is a specialised unit at University of Cape Town’s Graduate School of Business, and is the first academic centre in Africa dedicated to advancing social innovation and entrepreneurship....

Top reviews

SI

Feb 10, 2018

Highly recommended for the change agents who have no background in social entrepreneurship. This course will walk you through step by step into changing the system for the better of humanity habitats.

SA

Jul 2, 2020

This course was great! I learned a lot through discussion and project submissions. I have not only learned how to create change in my community but I have taken the first steps to make it a reality.

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1 - 25 of 600 Reviews for Becoming a changemaker: Introduction to Social Innovation

By Justine K

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Dec 6, 2019

In terms of content this course is 5 star. A mix of segmented videos with read along. You can cut to parts of the video by pressing its corresponding written sentence underneath.

The assignments are simplistic enough to do yet the idea behind it is challenging. I really enjoyed the assignments.

Its very easy to skip over research and assignments reflect this with some people.

The start is lost because this is a student based marking system. You mark 3 assignments and get marked by three students. This is floored. If not enough people come through you haven't got enough to mark and similarly enough students need to keep progressing in order to mark yours. This doubles down if you choose to do honours assignments. The very last assignment is basically marked by no one as I have marked well over 50 assignments and I'm heading into assignments over 2 years ago that are still sitting there. So this system needs some adjusting. Especially if you pay for the certificate.

By Leigh F

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Oct 4, 2016

Becoming a Changemaker Course was fun and I have learnt a lot as a result. The course met my expectations but I was expecting more - it is geared towards people who have an idea and aims to harness that idea into something tangible. I am a little further down the line and this would've been fantastic had I done it a few years back, although it was fantastic going back to basics.

I am hopeful that a "Part 2 - Social Business Incubator" could be developed in future which delves into more detail to lead people who've decided to become a changemaker through the process of putting together a business case and measuring the impact of what they have started so that they are prepared to scale the social innovation and be better prepared to raise the necessary finances to succeed.

By Neville P

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Dec 17, 2016

Even though it is only an introduction level course it really opened my eyes to hat is possible and exposed me to valuable tools in starting my project. I would definitely like to learn more. Thank you so much!

By Andrea H

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Sep 26, 2016

This course has changed my life and I hope I can do even just a tiny bit to change the world. Well worth it for anyone tired of seeing the need for change and not knowing how to take action.

By Savdar I

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Feb 11, 2018

Highly recommended for the change agents who have no background in social entrepreneurship. This course will walk you through step by step into changing the system for the better of humanity habitats.

By Julia M

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Jun 12, 2018

Excellent course, beyond expectations. It took me a big deal closer to where I want to go - create an organization to unleash digitalization in remote areas. It really gives you a great overview, great practical insights with the RLabs example, and it answered all my questions - the ones I had at the end of a module where always answered by the next module, amazing :) The instructors are great, high quality videos, and the practical examples, specially the inclusion of RLabs, extremely motivating. Even the assignments are a pleasure doing, and the exchange with my classmates as well. I got a lot of very valuable feedback. I highly recomment this course to anyone who feels an urge to do some action for a better world! THANK YOU FRANCOIS, WARREN, MARLON and TEAM!

By Teesta M

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Nov 30, 2017

Have only completed week 1 but the course materials and narrative is simply excellent. I have always been curious about how to actually make social innovations work in context to the problems around me. This course is only helping me to analyse problems betters and pursue an independent solution oriented discourse, while at the same time keeping an eye out for how serious global challenges like poverty, illiteracy and climate change are tackled by innovators.

By Lizaan M

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Mar 14, 2017

A excellent course-especially for professionals who want to add to their skills set. It also provides a good introduction to Social Innovation.

By Kimble P

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Jan 9, 2018

top notch. The resources alone allow the uninitiated to enter into a heretofore unknown world of both strategies AND people who CARE. Fellow course members are the life blood of the course, and we have access to the input of previous course members interaction. AMAZING ideas and aspirations lie awaiting or have been put into action somewhere someplace. Reading what other people aspire for their part in the world heartens jaded minds. I learned of an academic branch of study that I had had no idea of: Design Thinking. I am writing this review and I still have 2 weeks to go. What a roller coaster ride of thinking and doing, renewing and challenging oneself and keeping the respect of others. I would link this course to their critical thinking course to skill up for the work and thought process.

By Sarah H

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Feb 7, 2017

I found this course truly inspiring, particularly because I hail from the Cape Flats in South Africa and have knowlege of (although I don't completely pretend to understand) the manifestations discussed by Marlon and the Rlabs team.

I also understand that the problem is a transhistorical cultural-structural-psychological-physical one, and my interest is to understand these problems in its structure, so that it can be dealt with in its structure and not only in terms of individual manifestations, as this course attempts to do.

I do however find that dealing with our interconnected problems in its structure, is an uphill battle, and I am keen to try out the advice given in the course, to see at least if a dent can be made, however small.

Thanks, and all the best. Dr Sarah Henkeman

By Leslie M

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Apr 8, 2020

Doing this course has been great, being exposed to the new family through community chat group and being given a chance to review others work has open my mind on how the world is facing different situations and challenges. I am so grateful for the wisdom I have gained. I am much more aware now on how to tackle some situation on which my community has been facing for long. Looking forward to do more of the online courses and advance myself in a way that will benefit my community as well.

By Kim C

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Nov 1, 2019

This course has opened my mind to seeing opportunity in everything around me and it's helped me to realise that achieving big things does not always have to be complicated. It's taught me that being open to diverse input and critique from others is a lot more valuable than I've realised and that failing in business can bring us closer to success if we work through it step by step and if we work closely with all all staff and beneficiaries within the business.

By Pamela J

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Jun 5, 2020

This was an inspiring course. I enjoyed applying Design Theory to an idea I had been pondering for years. I was able to refine my idea in order to share it with others and explore its feasibility.

By Osmunda E M

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Jun 5, 2018

This is a very effective course for anyone who would like to be an innovator or an entrepreneur. It helps with the knowledge and foundation of the necessary skills needed for social innovation.

By Joan L F

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Mar 29, 2017

Worth following with practical tools to understand better the required thinking to design innovation. I strongly recommend

By Amarnath

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Jan 1, 2019

This is a very useful as well as interesting course. It must be undertaken by a social and development professional to reflect back on his experience and knowledge. It also helps consolidate and further explore the development and social sectors with a much organised way. The course tries to cover most parts of a social innovation ecosystem. It provides tools relevant, share examples and case studies from real life and puts you in practicing those competencies through assignments and peer reviews. I especially enjoyed the quiz and the assignments in the course, though assignment makes it little lengthy with respect to time but it is meaningful inventing that much time. Thanks, Amar, India

By Arthi P

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Mar 28, 2020

The course was an eye opener. The lectures were very interesting, very well explained with excellent examples. All the course instructors were very good in their job, especially, I loved Dr. Francois's classes. He was very clear and crisp in his teaching and provided very good and easy-to-understand examples. The case studies were also very good. R Labs stupendous growth was amazing.

This course helped me to come out of my comfort zone to a certain extent.

By Asante T

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Aug 14, 2020

Talk about game changer of a course! The stories were inspiring, the instructors enlightening, and the coursework motivating. I loved the connections made between what is really going on in the world and the course content- it really empowered us to believe we could make a difference! Now if you'll excuse me, I'm off to change the world...

By Jessica L F

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May 4, 2020

This course is great, it gives me such an incredible resources to know how to develop a social project and to be a social innovator. It help me to know that I have to go out of my comfot zone, change the way I think yo really understand others and their life circunstances, I LOVE THIS COURSE. THANK YOU SO MUCH

By Daiza V C

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Oct 9, 2016

Great job! Thanks for sharing your ideas and experiences. For me, it would be more helpful if the teachers or mentors, will give their own feedback in week 4's assignment- Prototyping. Their feedback is very much needed as it is their expertise. Thanks!

By Ajay K S

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May 2, 2020

This course is highly recommended for social entrepreneurs. Glad to complete my course. Thanks, University of Cape Town

By Olivier K R

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Apr 15, 2017

This was really an enriching journey. The way the course is structured makes it extremely easy to go through and the concepts are presented in a way to assimilate and adopt.

The topics that were covered touched on the exact questions I had been struggling with while trying to go through the exploration phase of my social innovation initiative; Furaha Education Support, which is a platform that helps asylum seeker and refugees to get access to tertiary education through funding.

Regards,

Olivier Rumb

By Adrian Z

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Dec 19, 2017

This is a fantastic course -- and I have many years of university and other studies under my belt. The information is very digestible and framed by the real-world example of the successful RLabs project. This course is also inspiring and has a real feeling of kinship and warmth. If you care about changing the world for the better, this course will benefit you whatever stage you are at. THANK YOU EVERYONE AT RLABS!!

By Shirley K

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Nov 2, 2019

This course has taught me much more than I expected. Good examples of social innovation. And very practical assignment to help create the impact I wish to make. I have broaden my vision and consciousness in how the many levels in society can aid to a problem and how to ask questions, delay solutions to get innovation. I advise this course to everybody who is ready for agency to be a change maker.

By Alejandra C V

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May 4, 2020

Extremely rich and enlightening! Would definitely recommend it to anyone who is entrepreneurial and interested in the social corporate world and non-profit organizations. It develops the mindset needed to be able to analyze organizations and their impact, and also useful tools when having to create your own. I am really grateful for this opportunity.