Today I wanted to talk about a website that I really really love and would like more people to know about. It's called Future Learn and it's a digital education platform owned by the Open University which aims to transform education by offering a huge range of MOOCs (massive open online courses) completely free.
The categories of course they offer are: Business & Management; Creative Arts & Media; Nature & Environment; Politics & the Modern World; Literature; Health & Psychology; Science, Engineering & Maths; Law; History; Tech & Coding; Teaching; Languages & Cultures; and Study Skills. As you can see there is a huge range of areas to choose from, with courses on anything from songwriting to a social history of English football, and from robotics to global food safety. The topics are often super specialist and niche, but there are also more broad introductions to different fields. There are also a range of levels, from those aimed at school leavers to those which recommend having completed some higher education.
Typically the courses are between 4-6 weeks long although some may be as short as 2 weeks or as long as 8. If you join at the start of the course the weeks will become available in real time, but if you come in later there is no obligation to do it week by week and you can go at your own pace. Most courses estimate between 2-4 hours of learning per week, but obviously it comes down to how interested you are and how much extra work or background reading you're willing to do.
Although the Open University offer a wide range of courses themselves, there are also many courses curated by their 139 partners, which are top universities and specialist organisations around the world. For example, my university (Durham) offers two business courses: 'Leading and Managing People-Centred Change' and 'Open Innovation'.
There is no cost to join the majority of courses, but often there is the possibility to upgrade (which typically costs about €50 - €70) to have unlimited access to the material and receive a certificate of achievement to prove participation. Like most people who follow the courses, I personally do it out of interest and enjoyment rather than because I have to or because I want to prove I've done it, but there are also some credit-bearing courses which can contribute to your professional development or even online postgraduate degrees.
I joined my first Future Learn course the summer after my first year of uni when I was back home for a couple of months with relatively little planned. I can't actually remember how I came across the site but I started two courses and completed them over a few weeks. Having an extra educational resource has been a help at various points in my career so far: when I applied for an internship in urban planning the following academic year I talked about how I had followed two related Future Learn courses in my own time, which of course showed a demonstrated interest and was a factor in getting me the internship. Earlier this year I took a course about remote warfare, which I mentioned in my Masters personal statement, and just this summer I joined one on international security as general prep for my MA.
So far I've only followed courses in the 'Politics & the Modern World' category as they tend to interest me most and relate to my field of study. The courses I've joined and completed are:
- 'The Lottery of Birth'
- 'Re-Enchanting the City'
- 'European Culture and Politics'
- 'Planetary Urbanisation'
- 'From State Control to Remote Control'
- 'Introduction to Emergency Planning and Preparedness'
- 'Cultures and Identities in Europe'
- 'Security, Terrorism and Counterterrorism'
- 'Understanding Violence Against Women'
There were a couple of others which I joined and then quit, either because they weren't what I'd expected, I didn't have enough time, or I didn't think they were at all well-structured or well-pitched. Although the courses tend to follow a rough standard format, the ratio of videos to articles to discussions varies a lot and I've now worked out the approach I prefer, so if I see that one format isn't working for me I usually abandon it. After all, there's no point forcing yourself to do something you don't want to do - in my view, if you're not super excited about a course and enjoying the process then you might as well not bother.
On the whole my Future Learn experience has been incredibly positive. I love being able to really follow my interests and delve deeper into topics which I might have touched on in uni courses or back at school, and really get to grips with the nuances of the material. Also, the interface is really stunning and easy to use, as each week consists of a number of steps you have to complete. The feeling of clicking 'Mark as Complete' at the end of a task or long article is incredibly satisfying, and you can track your progress really easily.
If you're someone who enjoys learning and feeling like you're achieving something at the same time, I would definitely recommend checking out Future Learn and browsing the range of courses on offer. I guarantee there really is something for everyone and it's such an amazing opportunity to add to your CV or academic record by just spending a few hours per week learning new things or expanding on existing knowledge.
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