What is CyberFaces?
Introduction
CyberFaces is a cyber-training platform for FAIR science in Climate and Environmental Sustainability. It brings together self-paced online courses, community spaces, a news/events feed, and a discussion forum into a single site, so that learners, instructors, and community organizers all work from one place.
This guide documents what you can actually do on the site today, written from the perspective of the person using it rather than the person building it. It does not cover server setup, deployment, or internal architecture.
Who this guide is for
CyberFaces has three main audiences, and this guide has a section for each:
- Learners — anyone taking courses, earning achievements, or participating in communities and discussions.
- Instructors — approved course authors who build and publish courses.
- Community Leaders — admins and moderators who run a community space.
Most people only ever need the Learner section. Instructor and Community Leader access is granted after an application is reviewed — see Getting Started.
Key concepts
A few terms are used consistently across this guide:
| Term | What it means |
|---|---|
| Module | A focused, self-paced learning unit built around a single topic or skill. Can be taken on its own or combined into a course. |
| Course | One or more modules combined into a complete, in-depth learning path, built by an instructor. |
| Achievement | A badge or certificate a learner unlocks by meeting criteria (e.g. completing a course). |
| Community | A public or invite-based group space with its own courses, announcements, and discussions. |
| Application | The request a user submits to become an instructor or a community admin. |
Note: "Communities" (public group spaces with courses, announcements, and discussions) are a different feature from internal research-group administration, which is a separate staff-only part of the site and is not covered by this guide.
Getting help
If something in this guide doesn't match what you see on the site, or a feature described here isn't behaving as expected, ask in the Forum or see the FAQ.