Learning with FutureLearn

How to use FutureLearn

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 platform is designed to be easy to navigate.

You can learn whenever and wherever you like, on any desktop, mobile or tablet device. You will learn by watching videos with leading academics, as well as reading teaching material, doing activities and games, and taking part in discussions.

Finding your way around

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

To do

The first icon takes you to your to do list for the course. This shows all the steps for that week. You can take a look ahead to see what’s coming up in the following weeks and if you don’t manage to complete all the steps in a week, you can always go back to previous weeks and catch up.

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 will see the percentage of the course steps you have marked as complete.

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. Within some steps, there will be a more structured discussion. Although we will not be able to respond to every question, you may see comments and replies from the lead educator and course facilitators throughout the course.

Anyone enrolled in the course can comment and discuss the course material. Select the pink speech bubble icon to see all the comments on a particular step. The number next to this icon tells you how many comments there are for the step. If you find a comment which is really useful or interesting, hit the Like button!

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

Mark as complete

When you reach the end of a step and have understood everything, select the pink ‘Mark as complete’ button. This will update your progress page, and will help you to keep track of your learning. Any steps you’ve completed will turn blue on your to do list.