FutureLearn urges greater collaboration in higher education through new offering

FutureLearn.com, the leading social learning platform, has launched a new version of FutureLearn Campus that allows all partners, which include 25% of the world’s top universities, to give their current students and staff free upgraded access to short courses across the platform until at least the end of September 2020. 

As universities continue to face uncertainty while they prepare for the coming semesters, greater levels of collaboration will be key to combating the crisis and keeping their virtual doors open to students and staff. 

The new version of FutureLearn Campus is the first step towards enabling this collaboration, as it allows universities to more easily share online learning materials via short courses on the platform. Over 40 partners have already agreed to open up their courses on FutureLearn Campus, meaning partners across the UK, Europe, the US and APAC will be able to give millions of their students and staff access to courses not just from their own university but from others on the platform, for free.

Justin Cooke, Chief Content & Partnerships Officer at FutureLearn said: “The higher education sector is facing one of the most challenging times in its history. The new academic year is fast approaching, and universities are having to ensure all degree courses are made fully available online. It is essential that online learning design is at the core of their digital offerings – building and sharing modules offers a viable solution and will maximise student learning and engagement across the UK. With the new FutureLearn Campus offering, we hope to encourage the sector to work closer together than ever before, by opening up valuable teaching and learning resources that will help them overcome the shared challenges they face.”

Professor Neil Morris, Dean of Digital Education at the University of Leeds said: “It’s very important to us that we provide extra opportunities for our students – and staff – to enrich their education. FutureLearn Campus remains an excellent example of just that. The wide variety of knowledge- and skills-based courses available can really help students broaden their horizons and gain new skills. In the current difficult locked-down climate, these online courses provide student-centred, interactive and flexible learning opportunities that are also inclusive. The University of Leeds remains committed to integrating online education as part of supporting students’ digital literacy and enhancing their employability.”

The new version of FutureLearn Campus still enables universities to deliver any open short course on the platform, allowing students to join a global community and learn together at a time when there is limited social contact, or to join private cohorts with additional features such as high-touch support. Students and staff can sign in using their university account and gain free access to short courses and digital certificates upon successful completion.

FutureLearn Campus was first launched in early March in response to the needs of its global community of partners, with the University of Michigan and the University of Leeds among the first partners to make FutureLearn Campus available to their students and staff.

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Notes to Editor

About FutureLearn

Here at FutureLearn, our purpose is to transform access to education. We do that by partnering with over a quarter of the world’s top universities to support over 10 million learners across the globe to develop skills and achieve their personal and professional goals. We’re a leading social learning platform founded in December 2012 by The Open University and are now jointly owned by The Open University and The SEEK Group. We use design, technology and partnerships to create enjoyable, credible and flexible short online courses and microcredentials, as well as undergraduate and postgraduate degrees. In addition to top universities, we also partner with leading organisations such as Accenture, the British Council, CIPD, Raspberry Pi and Health Education England (HEE), as well as being involved in government-backed initiatives to address skills gaps such as The Institute of Coding and the National Centre for Computing Education.