Getting ready to learn online

You’ve chosen to be part of the community of learners on this course and we want you to get the most out of the experience! This course will offer opportunities to share ideas, reflect on your current understanding and engage in social learning with other learners. Here are our top tips for learning online with FutureLearn.

Be considerate

FutureLearn courses attract learners from all over the world. They are from diverse backgrounds and are learning for a variety of reasons. It’s important to remember that different learners will approach problems and ideas about gender in different ways. Keeping an open mind and being considerate in discussions with others is a great way to deepen your understanding by exploring other perspectives.

We ask that you respect FutureLearn’s Code of Conduct, with specific reference to the following:

“You are respectful of others, and do not use words or share content that is offensive or inflammatory. This includes, but is not limited to, language, names or content that is sexist, racist, homophobic, transphobic, antisemitic, Islamophobic, sexually explicit, abusive, contains swearing or is otherwise likely to cause offence.”

Be communicative

We learn best when we learn together and FutureLearn is built on the concept of social learning. This course is your opportunity to communicate with people from all over the world!

Throughout the course, you’ll see prompts which will ask you to consider ideas or questions and share your thoughts with other learners. These can help you to respond to a step, but you should feel free to join the conversation in any way you wish. In addition to commenting, don’t forget that you can reply to other learners’ comments, as well as show your appreciation by liking or following other learners and educators.

Be in control

FutureLearn courses are designed to be worked through in a particular order, but sometimes you might wish to replay videos, skip to different parts of the course, or revisit the discussions. You are in control of when you finish a step and you can indicate this by clicking ‘Mark as complete’ at the bottom of the step. This will allow you to keep track of your progress on the course.

Don’t worry if you didn’t get everything done in one week. You can catch up later, and organise your learning in a way that suits you and your life.

Find a schedule that works for you

If you’re busy juggling work, life and study, see if you can put aside time each week to focus on online study. It might be first thing in the morning, before a meal or after the rest of the family have gone to bed. If your employer allows it, try to block out time for studying in your work calendar.

Take time to reflect

As well as working through the course steps, and completing the supplementary activities we will ask you to do later in the course, it’s good to spend time thinking about what you have achieved. You could reflect on how you might apply your learning and set goals for the future. You might like to keep a learning journal either in a notebook or on a device to record your achievements.

In the discussion below, share one idea about how you might reflect on your learning throughout this course. Do you like the idea of using a journal? Where would you most like to record your thoughts and learnings?