What participants said about this course:
"It definitely met all my expectations since, I must admit, at the beginning I was quite skeptical since it's the first time I follow an on-line course."
"The course met my expectations very well."
"The course met my expectations completely as I got an idea of the work of human rights monitors and the concept that was some kind of vague to me before."
"I hoped to get a general overview of human rights monitoring, and help me think through whether I would like to go back to university to study international law. As such, it definitely met my expectations."
"The course generally suited my expectations. It was perfectly designed and went on as scheduled. The course content was excellent."
"The course met my expectations very well."
"It met most of my expectations in terms of gaining a better understanding of the concepts of human rights monitoring. "
"This is the first human rights course I have participated in, making it difficult to determine if the right number of topics, or even the progression of topics, could have been arranged more effectively. I had not difficulty following the sequence of the course."
"There are some topics I would have liked to go deeper in since I'm really interested in (specially refugee and IDP camps) but in general I think the topics discussed/studied during the course were very interesting."
"I found the reading material to be of particular benefit when I was developing my final project."
"I would have appreciated a few more readings on the theoretical background of monitoring meaning more clear references to the legal frameworks which establish the basis for monitoring, etc."
"The content of the course was quite broad and generally useful. Of course, as a result the depth is somewhat lacking but I gather the objective is more to introduce the main elements and this was well achieved."
"I really enjoyed reading the comments of other course members and sometimes was surprised that somebody did understand a question or discussion from a totally different perspective that enriched the discussions."
"While I enjoyed reading the contributions, I sometimes found that reading the long responses required much more time than I expected."
"This is an interesting method of learning. As mentioned I believe it may be more useful to encourage people to be more precise, sticking more directly to the issue at hand."
" I enjoyed the discussions and thought it to be a useful tool to help me start thinking about the topic myself. Even so, just reading the emails of the other participants sometimes consumed a lot of time."
"This was my first experience with an internet course, and I had some difficulty with the process. While it is a wonderful method of bringing together people/ideas from all over the globe, it was quite difficult for me to find time to read all of the responses folks sent in. I also had difficulty participating in the chat sessions, due to time conflicts. I much prefer interacting in a class setting as a learning method, and had to adjust to this new format. I will be much more prepared if I ever take an internet course again."
"I should admit that I did not always read the contributions simply because I was already so much struggling with managing all the commitments that I had this Autumn."
"Many ideas put into discussion by the participants were very interesting and I would have liked to discuss them further, but didn't have enough time. However, I don't think that within the design of the course, there would have been a solution to this."
"I think the system of the weekly discussion questions is a very helpful one; maybe it would be interesting to have a more direct/permanent exchange of opinions/ideas with the other participants and the facilitator instead of just sending "your" answer and waiting for the feed back from [the instructor]… but requires more time!"
"Having participants from all around the world, with different expertises was very enriching."
"The personal contributions highlighting the background and experiences of each participants are a very stimulating tool within an online course. It feels like a brainstorm of different perspectives and it adds very high value for the overall understanding of monitoring human rights in diverse (and complex) environments."
"Especially the weekly summary was useful."
"The feedback of the week´s discussions was a good opportunity to reflect on particular aspects and give conclusions to open questions."
"I really enjoyed working on the exercises that supported to transfer the readings into practical skills. I rather would prefer doing more exercises than questions on the discussions."
" I am a hands-on learner, so I must acknowledge that developing practical skills will occur for me after I have applied these concepts in work, as an advocate, etc."
"I generally found the assignments enjoyable. The instructions seemed sufficiently loose to allow for creative interpretation so that personal interests could determine the specifics, which is great."
"The only assignment I couldn't do because of a lack of time was the one linked to the monitoring of the administration of justice: it's quite complicated to find an interesting case at any court, attend it as an (informal) observer and later on write a report."
"The online chat offered the opportunity to get to know each other in a better way. I was surprised, however, that many course members did not participate in the chats although I suppose that everybody had good reasons to be absent."
"I liked the chat sessions, but did not always feel that it greatly contributed to my own learning."
"The chat sessions were genial, I liked that exercise very much. Not only that it provided direct possibility to ask and comment, but it had the effect of some, at least virtual, meeting of the group."
"I greatly appreciated [the instructor's] timely and thorough responses to my questions and concerns. I would very much like to participate in an actual class setting with him."
"Thanks a lot for [the instructor's] commitment; maybe I didn't ask to many questions but it was good to know he was 'there'."
"I am happy with the overall result of the course and very pleased with the work done by [the instructor], who has always been very open to discuss every subject as well as help with private enquiries."
"Everything [about the course technology] worked out smoothly."
"I didn't have technical questions and needs, but the whole course was very well prepared as regards tutorial etc."
"The whole [HREA] staff was extremely supportive and encouraging. Thanks a lot for this!"
"At present, we are mostly focused on policy and advocacy work. I'm hoping my participation will help nudge us into greater monitoring activities."
"It has helped me gain a good understanding of monitoring - especially the ethical standards involved that will always assist me in my work."
"I am hoping that I can use this knowledge to impact the lives of people with disabilities in West Virginia, and their support staff. I truly hope to be able to impact systems/policy change."
"I hope to use the material from the course to train other people in the same course in my country. I hope they will find the course as enriching and resourceful as I have found it."
""I believe the course content helped me to understand the role and functioning of human rights monitoring better and now I am able to implement some of the practical insights of the course also into my daily work."
"I have a better understanding of the context of PBI that does not conduct monitoring in this kind of way. That will help me in various areas of my job like advocacy, training activities, preparation of volunteers and public relations."
"The course has helped me to explore an area of human rights that I was not familiar with. Although there is a lot of common sense in monitoring human rights I believe the course is of high value to consolidate a well-structured and well-founded basis to develop such a work."
"Out of interest, I will watch what you offer and may take additional courses in the future, but my interests are more theoretical and I believe your programs are more practical oriented."
"In general, for the value of flexible and affordable learning options, this course is reasonably strong."
"The 12 weeks have passed very quickly and I'm quite happy with the results and learnings."
"I enjoyed participating in the course."
"I am sure I am now a better human rights monitor courtesy of the course."
"Thank you, I enjoyed the course very much."
"Just perfect!"
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