Institute for the Future
Futures Thinking Specialization
Institute for the Future

Futures Thinking Specialization

Ready Yourself for a Changing World. Learn the skills and mindsets of the world’s top futurists, so you can forecast what’s coming, imagine new possibilities, and seize control of your own future.

Jane McGonigal

Instructor: Jane McGonigal

Sponsored by BrightStar Care

27,921 already enrolled

Get in-depth knowledge of a subject
4.9

(1,515 reviews)

Beginner level

Recommended experience

2 months
at 10 hours a week
Flexible schedule
Learn at your own pace
Get in-depth knowledge of a subject
4.9

(1,515 reviews)

Beginner level

Recommended experience

2 months
at 10 hours a week
Flexible schedule
Learn at your own pace

What you'll learn

  • Build your future forecasting skills.

  • Learn how to use Institute for the Future’s most powerful foresight tools, designed to help you spot new opportunities for innovation and invention.

  • Gain insight into the most important new technologies, global events and big ideas that are already shaping the future.

  • Think more creatively and optimistically about what’s possible in the future.

Details to know

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Taught in English

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  • Learn in-demand skills from university and industry experts
  • Master a subject or tool with hands-on projects
  • Develop a deep understanding of key concepts
  • Earn a career certificate from Institute for the Future
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Specialization - 5 course series

Ready, Set, Future! Introduction to Futures Thinking

Course 111 hours4.8 (1,257 ratings)

What you'll learn

  • Define futures thinking and give examples of futures projects

  • Collect and analyze signals of change

  • Identify historical change in the past to predict new changes in the future

  • Learn how to avoid future shock - and help others avoid it, too!

Skills you'll gain

Category: Adaptability
Category: Creativity
Category: Critical Thinking
Category: Decision Making
Category: Innovation
Category: Strategy
Category: Human Learning
Category: Planning
Category: Problem Solving

Forecasting Skills: See the Future Before it Happens

Course 213 hours4.9 (486 ratings)

What you'll learn

  • Collect and Analyze SIGNALS OF CHANGE

  • Identify and Analyze GLOBAL DRIVERS OF CHANGE

  • Combine Signals and Drivers into FUTURE FORECASTS

  • Write SCENARIOS that tell a story about your FUTURE FORECAST

Skills you'll gain

Category: Adaptability
Category: Innovation
Category: Critical Thinking
Category: Creativity
Category: Human Learning
Category: Research and Design
Category: Experiment
Category: Planning
Category: Problem Solving

Simulation Skills: This is Your Brain on the Future

Course 313 hours4.8 (406 ratings)

What you'll learn

Skills you'll gain

Category: Adaptability
Category: Creativity
Category: Critical Thinking
Category: Human Learning
Category: Decision Making
Category: Innovation
Category: People Analysis
Category: Emotional Intelligence

Collaborative Foresight: How to Game the Future

Course 414 hours4.8 (273 ratings)

What you'll learn

  • Design and run a multiplayer forecasting game

  • Game out hard-to-predict consequences in any future scenario

  • Anticipate long-term harms of new technologies and how to prevent them

  • Create diverse, inclusive futures thinking communities

Skills you'll gain

Category: Collaboration
Category: Creativity
Category: Critical Thinking

Urgent Optimism: How to Turn Foresight into Action

Course 510 hours4.8 (257 ratings)

What you'll learn

  • Describe your preferred future

  • Create artifacts from the future

  • Build an action roadmap to change the future

  • Organize a community to change the future

Skills you'll gain

Category: Adaptability
Category: Creativity
Category: Communication
Category: Innovation
Category: Human Learning
Category: Problem Solving
Category: Strategy and Operations
Category: Collaboration
Category: Planning

Instructor

Jane McGonigal
Institute for the Future
6 Courses67,733 learners

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