The P2PU offers scheduled "courses" that run for 6 weeks and cover university-level topics. Learning takes place in small groups of 8-14 students. Each course package contains the syllabus, study materials and a schedule. See this page for more detail on what it is like to learn in a P2PU course. Most materials are stored on other servers and linked to - the P2PU does not want to become a content repository. Once they have been designed, course packages can easily be duplicated. This way, one structured set of materials can spawn many learning communities.

Courses are designed by someone with expert knowledge, a "sense-maker", and facilitated by a "class tutors" who is familiar with the content, and can support the group of students. Sense-makers identify the key readings, pose the big questions, and structure the content. For sense-makers the P2PU offers an opportunity to do what they feel passionately about - share knowledge. Tutors could be graduate students or amateurs with expertise in a particular field. They seek out a sense-maker to develop a course, and do most of the preparation work. Once the course starts, the tutors act as guides, facilitate discussions, answer questions, and providing feedback.

If, you want to be a sense-maker or tutor, find out more about creating your own course.

The first 10 Courses

We are currently putting together the first 10 courses. We are working with some of the big names in their respective fields, and some of the up and coming ones, and will announce the course abstracts and details in December 2008. Courses will cover a broad spectrum of topics, including:

• Open Economics
• Media in Developing Countries
  
• Non-Fiction Writing
  
• Music Theory
  
• Data Visualiation
  
• Alternative Energy

If you want to add a course, find out how.