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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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51 - 75 of 600 Reviews for Becoming a changemaker: Introduction to Social Innovation

By Fezile M

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Sep 29, 2016

I thoroughly enjoyed the course and I will definitely be sharing my experiences with other people. It has helped me look at the social problem in my community in a different lens. I learnt a lot from reviewing other peers work and i quite liked the activities that we had to do. they were engaging, out of the box and enjoyable. The videos lessons are short an straight to the point an are jam packed with information. The extra reading material for each week was also helpful. All in all it was good. I highly recommend it.

By Bradley B

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Jan 26, 2023

As founder of The Kind Heart Bench Project - this is invaluable lessons learned, yet just scratching the surface. Really passionate about changing the narrative in our society, especially for our kids - our future leaders.

www.saferspaces.org.za

https://www.facebook.com/people/Kind-Heart-Bench-Project/100067467291219/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LKZnV0ktzVs

https://www.southernsuburbstatler.co.za/news/bench-lets-pupils-take-a-load-off-their-troubles-621a1dd1-21ef-454b-96ed-db043d1bf21c

By Julius M

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Sep 22, 2020

The course is a real change-maker starting with you as a learner. The Instructors are superb, I envy the students under their full-time tutorage.

Though fully packed with reading materials, the course structure design is evident in innovation in and of itself. It gives you no room to drop but continues like a roller coaster of learning adventure.

I hope the course is part of a full curriculum in the university to all students whether engineering or humanities.

By Sarah R

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Nov 14, 2019

This class was excellent. I began with an idea already in my head about a social innovation project, but I didn't think I was anywhere near ready to begin. This class showed me how to look for hidden resources, identify new ways in which my idea could be applied, and gave great tools to get started today. Even if you don't have a solution to a social challenge yet, but are able to identify a need in your community, I would highly recommend this Course.

By Benson M

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Mar 26, 2019

I really believe this course is one that all learners, irrespective of their chosen line of career development, must experience to gain some basic knowledge and skills necessary for them to become relevant to societal needs. The course has great potential to develop every individual, who desires to present themselves as a service or product provider, to a level where they can fully appreciate and understand community settings for a better impact.

By Lauren V

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Sep 1, 2021

I really enjoyed the course right through until the end. It was very interesting and I have learned so much doing the course. It also helped me a lot coming out of my comfort zone. From the lectures we got to the assignments was very exciting and I have learned from it. Everyday I was looking forward doing my work but was most looking forward in seeing what the next assignment would be all about. Overall I enjoyed everything about the course.

By Scott G

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Feb 23, 2018

Interesting, engaging, and genuinely inspiring.

This course will subtly alter your thinking, improving your problem-solving skills, creativity, and even your empathy.

I found the lectures on uncommon resource identification particularly insightful, and enjoyed the assignment in week 4 that combined everything we'd learnt up to that point.

Overall, I highly recommend this course to anyone and everyone, from business-people to students alike.

By Wongiwe L

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Aug 2, 2020

This course has been one of the most interesting. The content was delivered in a manner that is easy to understand and yet, prompted me to think about how to apply my learning in my environment. I appreciated the case studies on R-Labs and how communities are rich in resources and all we need to do is to identify these and use them fully. This course has sparked in me the desire to do more for my community and to pursue my purpose.

By Anne G

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Jul 2, 2020

This is a great course for anyone wanting to understand more about social innovation and how to apply it to your own ideas for becoming a change-maker. Good length and enough time to finish all assignments. Assignments are a mix of quizzes as well as projects. Feedback from peers is motivating and insights from professors are challenging you to give your best and dig deep into what changes you really want to make in this world.

By Julia L

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May 11, 2020

This was my favorite Coursera course so far. The material was well balanced between theory, industry examples and assignments. I especially enjoyed developing one's one idea and the continuous peer feedback as well as reading about all the other creative ideas from peers in the course. The various company examples underlying the different principles were invaluable making the learnings a journey of social innovation.

By Sharon E L

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Jun 1, 2020

I would recommend this course for anyone who works in the public domain. It really stretches the mind and allows you to think out of the proverbial box. The videos are short and interesting and the assignments permit the students to create engaging and socially innovative designs and strategies that could become a real project or small business with the potential to positively impact your community or society.

By Stephanie C

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Feb 15, 2021

This has been an inspiring and educational journey for me as I start down a new path of becoming a changemaker. I am so grateful to have had the opportunity to read my peers assignments from all over the world. It reminds you of how much we are all one and have the same hopes and desires to make this world a better place for all. A special thanks to our instructors and all of the wonderful guest educators.

By Mafi T

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Sep 5, 2021

The Social Innovation course taught me how to identity hidden resources, construct framework questions and document social disruptions that ultimately hinders public participation and corporate involvement.

I would highly recommend this course, to anybody wanting to redefine social normality's. This course simplifies business complexities and encourages normal people to think differently about the future.

By Bruna G

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Jul 1, 2020

This course was one of the best choices I've made in the past few months. It is so informative and fun to take. The facilitators did an outstanding job, bringing concepts in a clear way, showing how they work in real-life examples, and engaging us through enriching assignments and forum discussions. Thank you to everyone involved in this project: the teachers, the RLabs team, and ones behind the scenes.

By Christos P

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May 29, 2020

You have an incredible ability to draw people to take action. Your way of progressing with the lessons was purely inspirational. You did not need extravagant persuasion vocabulary, nor emotional emphasis, and yet you portrayed real life problems and actions in simple pragmatic interpretation which could be understood and signified easily. Thank you very much with full appreciation and genuinity

By Haneen E M

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Dec 24, 2019

Extremely Informative. It truly clarifies the structure behind social innovation, which lays the foundation for all social change or initiatives. This course also includes a lot of information on already existing organizations ad their success stories, which I found very motivating and inspiring. 10/10, would definitely recommend this course for any one knew to the world of social innovation!

By Philippine W

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Jan 17, 2018

Very meaningful course, well build and well balanced, interesting pairs submission and huge personal impact.

I feel hopefull and energetic about social entrepreneurship, and that is very valuable. We can all make a difference and there is so many model around us.

I will get out of my confort zone and make the world a better place, because we can. That is all that course made me feel like !

By Naira A

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Jul 21, 2020

The course helped to understand better what we want and how to develop our ideas more effectively. Before starting the course I was more concerned about my own problems. However, after finishing the course I have realized that I have forgot about my problems and started to concentrate more and generate ideas on how to help others so as they would not face the problems which I have had.

By Pamela D

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May 22, 2020

This course was well structured, very informative and engaging. The professors presented the information in a way that made it easily digestible and relatable to my own experience and interests. I loved the use of the RLabs case study throughout, it was very inspiring and helped me understand the theoretical concepts in practice. Would highly recommend this course to others!

By Shubhda G

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Nov 19, 2017

This course was truly a revelation to my passion for social development. Through this course, I managed to identify skills to market myself as a Freelance English Trainer at a Government run organisation. It also played a huge role in me getting an internship at an NGO and most importantly, has equipped me with skills that I never thought I would be capable of developing.

By Foad S

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May 10, 2020

Thanks to Francois, Warren, and Marlon, and team R-labs for such an elaborate and engaging socially impacting innovation course. I revived most of my work experience with my NGO, and also was able to put alot more on paper, for future impacting programs.

I would like to keep in touch with all of the course mentors for future discussions and networking.

Thankyou

Foad Shams

By John R

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Jul 15, 2019

I learned a lot from this course. This inspired me to be hopeful. This course makes me want to contribute to social change thru applying a social innovation with people/community I can partner with. I am excited to apply what I learned from this course to a real-world problem. After this course, I can definitely say that this is the start of me being a change maker. :)

By Chiara B

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Jun 18, 2020

This has been so educational for me, and this course is so well thought out. It has so many practical applications, and I love it. It made me a little sad that I'm already done with it. I can see the passion the lecturers have for social innovation, and it is very inspiring. I hope to someday work with them. This whole course is a game-changer. Would recommend. 10/10.

By Tena A

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Aug 3, 2020

The course is generally very well structured and it is very clear what are you asked to do in each assignment. The instructors are knowledgeable and they present the information in a very comprehensive manner. What they talk about is also not only theoretical, but give good ideas and examples to use if we decide to dive into social innovation field in real life.

By Barbara B

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Feb 19, 2021

It has been such a fabulous journey and gamechanging experience! This is such an inspiring course! Profs Bonnici and Nilsson, you are both amazing and you've done an incredible job! Learning how to question yourself, your assumptions as a first key step to dive deeply into the world of social entrepreneurship is just a real stimulus for changing the world.