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Help

Overview

Welcome to the Terraformation Academy Beta release! We've put together three courses for you:

  • Seed Collection: A beginner-level course that provides all the basic knowledge and skills needed to begin collecting seeds for restoration projects.
  • Foundations of Seed Banking: A beginner-level course that provides all the basic knowledge and skills needed to get a small restoration seed bank up and running.
  • Nursery Management: A course for plant growers that provides the knowledge and advice needed to help people grow quality plants and increase their nursery's capacity and output.


Each course is split into lessons that cover their own topic, like "Handling Seeds After Collection" or "Choosing a Land Use Model." The core part of every lesson is a video, which you can watch before taking a quiz to test your knowledge; some lessons also feature an "Additional Resources" section that includes online links to resources mentioned in the videos. At the end of every course is a Final Exam: you'll need 80% correct for a passing grade, but you can try as many times as you need.

How to start

Enrollment is free for all the courses in the Beta release, using the code BETA2021. Here's how to get started:

  1. Complete the pre-test survey: https://forms.gle/CcLqmKWvrq7n2GJv7.
  2. Open https://academy.terraformation.com/.
  3. Click the Sign up button and create your account.
  4. Scroll down on the Terraformation Academy home page until you see the titles of the courses.
  5. Click the title of the course you want to take.
  6. The Course Overview page opens.
  7. Click the Enroll $80 button.
  8. The Payment page opens.
  9. Do not enter any payment details. They're not necessary for the Beta!
  10. In the Add Beta Coupon Code field, enter BETA2021 and click Redeem.
  11. The code is case-sensitive, so be sure to enter it exactly as it appears here.
  12. Click Buy.

You're all set; the Course Overview page opens and you can start taking the course you selected.

What to do

We're proud of everything we've done thus far, but we're also aware it's still a work in progress, and we could use your guidance. Here's what we're hoping for your help with:

Take the courses. Watch the videos and do the quizzes.
  • Lessons must be completed in order, but you can stop and come back at any time.
  • Lesson quizzes aren't graded, so we encourage you to test yourself, then click on all the answers for further explanations on why each one is right or wrong.


Gather feedback. While you're taking the courses, write down anything you notice that could use improvement.
  • Is there material in a course that seems factually inaccurate?
  • Is there important material you wish had been covered that wasn't?
  • Is something in the interface broken?
  • Is there a misleading quiz question?

You can take any of the courses whenever you like at your own pace, but be aware we're closing access to the site on August 13, 2021.

How to get in touch

There are a few different ways to get in touch with us, depending on what you need:

Support
Do you need a login for the site? Does the site not load? Email training@terraformation.com or head to https://academy.terraformation.com/social and make a post there to see if anyone else has spotted the same issue.

Feedback
Have you spotted something that could use improvement? Usually this falls under two categories:

Defects: Something exists, but isn't right. Maybe the wrong video loads, or there's a link in a lesson's "Additional Materials" that isn't working, or we supply incorrect information in one of the lessons. That's a defect!


Suggestions: Something doesn't exist, but should. Maybe there's an important resource we forgot to mention, or a topic we forgot to cover. That's a suggestion!
  • To file a suggestion: Gather your feedback anyplace that makes sense to you and enter it into the course feedback form that you'll be able to fill out upon completing a course (it appears as the last lesson after the Final Exam).

We'll also get in touch sometime in the future with links to surveys or invitations to 1:1 calls to gather any other feedback, so be on the lookout for further communications from us!

Frequently asked questions

How much time should I set aside for this?

 Each course takes between 1.5-2.5 hours if you watch all the videos, take all the quizzes, and the Final Exam. However, you should probably plan for at least 3 hours for each course, just to give yourself time to pause and write down any feedback you might have.

Will I be able to take the courses at my own pace?

You're more than welcome to do this at your own pace! If you want to do a course in 30-minute or even 10-minute chunks, that's no problem at all. Just make sure you do everything before August 13, 2021, because we're closing access to the site after then.

The textbook for the course I'm taking just looks like a table of contents; what's happening?

See the Known Issues section for more details.

Can I invite other people from my organization to review these courses for the Beta release?

Yes! Please make sure to only invite people within your organization.

Can I invite people from outside my organization to review these courses for the Beta release?

Unfortunately, no, as our support capacity for the Beta release is limited; please make sure to only invite people within your organization.

Known issues

This Beta release is a work in progress, and we've already captured a few things we know we want to fix. You don't have to file any of the following as defects or suggestions:

Seed Collection
Course Contents Page (the course player along with the syllabus)
  • At present, there is no closed captioning for any of the videos in the course
  • At present, no transcripts exist for any of the videos in the course
  • Terraformation Best Practices in Seed Collection: This is a document we plan to provide with the course; however, it's not quite complete, so you'll only find the Table of Contents 

Seed Banking
Course Contents Page (the course player along with the syllabus)
  • At present, there is no closed captioning for any of the videos in the course
  • At present, no transcripts exist for any of the videos in the course
  • Terraformation Best Practices in Seed Banking: This is a document we plan to provide with the course; however, it's not quite complete, so you'll only find the Table of Contents
  • Typo in Seed Banking - Germination Testing video ("Stow" is shown instead of "Sow")

Nursery Management
Course Contents Page (the course player along with the syllabus)
  • At present, there is no closed captioning for any of the videos in the course
  • At present, no transcripts exist for any of the videos in the course
  • Virtual textbook: This is a document we plan to provide with the course; however, it's not quite complete, so you'll only find an outline
  • Typo in Nursery Management - Weeding, Spacing, and Acclimatization video ("Acclimitization")
Thank you!

We hope you find the courses informative and illuminating. We look forward to your feedback; you're not only helping to make Terraformation Academy the best it can be, you're gaining (or perhaps reinforcing) knowledge that can be put to use restoring native forests all over the world. Thank you for taking the time to help us change the course of the climate crisis.