Open University launches British Mooc platform to rival US providers
The Open University has launched its own UK-based platform for massive open online courses (Moocs).
Called Futurelearn, it will carry courses from 12 UK institutions which will be available to students across the world free of charge. It operates asan independent company with the majority owned by The Open University.
This system is similar to those established in the US providers, such as Coursera, edX and Udacity – offering 230 Moocs from around 40 mostly US-based institutions to more than 3 million students.
One benefit of this is that although there has been a growth in open online courses until now UK universities have only had the option of working with US-based platforms. Futurelearn aims to bring together UK universities to create a combined and coherent offer for students in the UK and internationally.
Among the first institutions to sign up to Futurelearn is the University of Warwick, which already delivers a number of courses online including its distance learning MBA and the University of Bristol.
A spokeswoman for The Open University said details about which courses will be available on Futurelearn will be confirmed in the new year. She also said that additional universities had expressed a “strong interest” in the project, and new partners would be announced in due course.
Other Universities who have signed up for this platform include :
- University of Birmingham
- Cardiff University
- University of East Anglia
- University of Exeter
- King’s College, University of London
- Lancaster University
- University of Leeds
- The Open University
- University of Southampton
- University of St Andrews
Maybe the University of Brighton should be in that list?
Read the article in the THE here
Watch a video here
I have been working in the Educational Technology field within Higher Education for eleven years. A big part of my job is finding new and innovative ways of integrating technology into current teaching and learning methodology. This can include assisting academic staff with Virtual Learning Environments/Learning Management Systems (Blackboard), implementing specific software packages, maximising current technologies and championing new ones. I find this profession both riveting and rewarding. I really enjoy life on the cutting edge, but I also enjoy being able to help staff achieve small and meaningful efficiencies; sometimes that makes all the difference.