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Past the impressive foyer and at the very top of the main staircase sits the FutureLearn headquarters, the UK's fi rst Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) platform. “I love the story that there is an innovative online learning start-up at the heart of this traditional institution, and I think they are proud to have us here,” says Chief Executive Simon Nelson. Back in September 2013, FutureLearn
launched its BETA site and has since had more than 50,000 learners sign up for nearly 700,000 courses. “We know we are only at the start but we are very pleased with the product we have put out there,” adds Nelson. “We deliberately call it ‘BETA’ because
this is a phase where we are still developing important features. We think we need to enhance some existing features and we need to add some new ones. The BETA tag is an important signal to ourselves, our partners and our learners that what we think we have got out there is great, but it’s only the start.” The company has partnered with a
number of universities across the UK, and are wholly owned and funded by the Open University (OU). “I think we are the best of both worlds,” adds Nelson. “We are not a venture capital-backed MOOC provider that is potentially going to face some very challenging commercial decisions to pay back the return rates expected, but nor are we a pure not-for-profi t, which potentially runs a risk of losing some of that commercial dynamism that a search for sustainability can bring in.” Nelson came on board with the OU’s
MOOC vision in late 2012, just as the online courses were gathering momentum in the HE sector. He added: “A key trigger and deciding factor for us to step up was that some UK universities were starting to connect with US MOOC providers, so we saw real potential in providing UK-based institutions an alternative to signing up with an American platform.” By the end of January 2013, Nelson
and the team had joined forces with 20 universities in the UK, and had the fi rst prototype ready to launch in September 2013.
What’s in a MOOC? Traditional online courses charge tuition, carry credit and limit enrolment to a few dozen to ensure interaction with instructors. The MOOC, on the other hand, is usually free, credit-less and open to anyone. The US had initially led the way for MOOCs – run by companies including
FUTURELEARN
Coursera and edX – with hundreds of courses off ered from a range of top-fl ight institutions. Surprisingly though, Nelson isn’t a fan of
the term: “I am quite uncomfortable with the word MOOC, because, as a company, we are increasingly seeing ourselves as a social learning platform rather than just an online course provider or host.” So how do you create an online course?
Simon Nelson
According to Nelson, the process always starts with the university. Each institution develops its own course idea and MOOC providers create, schedule and monitor them. “Every day that goes by we learn more about what makes a great course,” explains Nelson. “We provide quite a high level of support and engagement to universities in building their courses. We will never dictate to a university what they have to do, but we increasingly infl uence decisions
through the provision of the data and expertise we’re developing.”
The social network Social learning is at the heart of FutureLearn as the company believes it “makes the learning experience more enjoyable and removes the isolation of distance learning”. Nelson believes this is what sets the company apart from other MOOC providers. “Firstly, we embed it very
strongly into the overall teaching experience. It promotes the theory that you learn bet er together. The OU’s leading academics have helped to train our partners and our team in some of the underlying pedagogical thinking. “Secondly, we have placed a very heavy
emphasis on a simple, intuitive user experience. We embed the ability to comment, discuss and ask questions right alongside the article you have just read, or the video you’ve just watched. “Finally, we are taking the principles
of social networking and embedding them in the platform – so you can create your own profi le page, follow other people, like their comments etc.”
Believe the hype? MOOCs have divided opinion throughout the education sector in recent years. Some say they are set to transform higher education and enhance learning on a global scale, while others have dismissed their value and labelled them as a fad. “It’s unbelievable how tiresome the arguments for and against MOOCs are, and just how polarised they are,” comments Nelson. “I think people are reacting against the
hype. I am very pleased to say that we have never come out with overblown claims to be curing the education ills of the world.” He adds: “But I strongly believe that in the
long term, developments in online social learning are critical to solving many of the
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