How it works

This may be the first course that you have undertaken on FutureLearn, or perhaps it is the first course you have taken online. Don’t worry: the course is designed to be easy to navigate.

The course modules will open each week for the next six weeks. You can learn whenever and wherever you like, on any desktop, mobile or tablet device. You will be learning by watching videos with international experts as well as reading teaching material, attempting quizzes or tests, and taking part in discussions.

Finding your way around

There are three icons at the top of each course step to help you make the most from your learning experience.

To Do

The first icon takes you to your To Do list for the course. As the course opens week-by-week you will be able to see all the steps for that week, however, if you don’t manage to complete all the steps in a week, you are always able to go back to previous weeks and catch up.

You are free to learn at your own pace, which means you can go in and out of the course in your own time, but we encourage you to join in discussions around the current week’s activities. If you still haven’t completed the course at the end of the final week, don’t worry! The course materials will remain open to you on the site for a month after the course has ended.

Activity

The second icon takes you to the Activity feed which shows the most recent comments posted by learners on this course.

Progress

The third icon takes you to your Progress page, where you’ll see what percentage of the course steps you’ve marked as complete. Your scores for any quizzes you have taken in the course are also reflected on your progress page.

Comments and discussions

Learning from conversations is an important part of the FutureLearn approach. You will learn from discussions with other people taking part in the course, by reading their comments and responding with your own thoughts, which you can do on nearly all steps. On some steps, there will be a more structured discussion. Although they will not be able to respond to every question, you may see comments and replies from the Lead Educator and Course Host throughout the course.

Anyone enrolled on the course can comment and discuss the course material. To see all the comments on a particular step click the pink speech bubble icon and the comments will be revealed. The number next to this icon tells you how many comments there are for this step. Found a comment which was useful or interesting? Click the Like button!

Don’t forget, whilst robust debate is encouraged, it’s important that you follow the FutureLearn Code of Conduct and are respectful of your fellow learners.

Follow others

If you want to keep track of another learner’s comments easily, click the Follow button next to their name (on their profile page). We recommend that you follow the Lead Educator and host on this course.

Filtering comments

You can click to filter the comments on a step to only see:

• Comments by people you are following;
• The most-liked comments;
• Your own comments.

You might like to read these tips and tools for social learning, to you help you get the most from FutureLearn’s features.

Mark as Complete

When you reach the end of a step and have understood everything, click the pink Mark as Complete button at the bottom. This will update your Progress page, and will help you to keep track of which steps you’ve done. Any steps you’ve completed will turn blue on your To Do list.

Get extra benefits, upgrade your course

You can now get extra benefits by upgrading this course, including:

Unlimited access to the course:

Go at your own pace with unlimited access to the course for as long as it exists on FutureLearn.

A Certificate of Achievement when you become eligible

To help you demonstrate your learning we’ll send you a Certificate of Achievement when you become eligible. Find out more and upgrade

Need more help?

If you still have a question about how the site works, have a look at the FutureLearn help pages. If your query hasn’t been answered, please don’t hesitate to click the grey Feedback button on the bottom right of each step to ask for help.