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 and unaccompanied and separated children on the move that have been filmed especially for this course in Scotland, Morocco, Italy, Ethiopia and Mexico.

You can watch the videos directly on the course page or you can download them by clicking on the ‘Download video: standard or HD’ at the bottom right hand corner of the video. We have also provided audio files of the videos which you can download, and transcripts in the four course languages to make this course as accessible as possible. You will also be reading teaching material, attempting quizzes or tests, and taking part in discussions.

Your Lead Educator Dr. Chrissie Gale will be leading us through the six weeks, and you will learn more about her shortly.

Sarah Hume-Anthony is the host for this course and will be keeping an eye on discussions and updating poll results, amongst other tasks. If you use social media you can use the hashtag #FLChildrenMovingAlone to follow any course related conversations.

Glynis Clacherty and Audrey Baete are Co-Facilitators and will be working alongside your Lead Educator to support you as you move through the course.

Translators

We are really pleased that this course is accessible in English, French, Spanish and Arabic. This is quite exceptional for a FutureLearn course. It means you can exchange ideas and information through the discussion boards in these four languages. However, it will mean there will be comments that you may not be able to read. Please do not be concerned, as there will still be many discussions and comments from other learners and course team members that you will find interesting and will be able to follow.

Translators will be working with us on the course to translate your comments and Chrissie’s replies, as well as poll results and emails. The translators are: Vanesa Sabala (Spanish), Joan Lefever (French), and Amer al-Seifi (Arabic).

The page translations, video subtitles and video transcript translations have been provided by FutureLearn Studio.

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 able to learn at your own pace, which means you can go in and out of the course in your own time and as many times as you wish. But we do encourage you to join in discussions during the week’s activities while they are happening.

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 each other is a very important part of the course. To do this, we really encourage you to join in discussions with other people taking part in this course. You can do this by reading their comments and responding with your own thoughts and ideas at the bottom of almost every course step. On some course steps there will be a more structured discussion where we might ask you some specific questions. Although they will not be able to respond to every question, you may also see comments and replies from the Lead Educator, Course Host and Co-Facilitators. If possible, please do remember to tell us which country you are writing about in your comments. The Lead Educator, Course Host and Co-Facilitators will be available to support you during this course until 27 October 2019. After that date you are very welcome to continue to work through the course for as long as you like but there will not be any course facilitation.

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 really useful or interesting? Click the Like button!

Don’t forget, while interesting 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, Host and Co-Facilitators on this course, and if you are completing this course in Spanish, French, or Arabic then you can follow the translator and see all comments made in your language.

Filtering comments

You can click to sort 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 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.

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.

Free upgrade and Course Certificate

This course is sponsored by the Caring for Children Moving Alone MOOC Taskforce. This means that if you complete the course you will receive a free Certificate. To be eligible for the Certificate as you finish a course page you must click the pink ‘Mark as Complete’ button at the bottom of each course page. You do not have to mark the quiz as complete as they are optional. Now that you have joined the course you will be able to access it for as long as it exists on the FutureLearn platform.