In this article we will discuss how learning is delivered on FutureLearn, and what kind of devices you can use to access FutureLearn.
Table of contents:
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What is the learning style on FutureLearn?
- How is learning content delivered?
- How do learners record their progress on a course?
- What kind of records of completion do you offer?
- Can I try any courses for free to test out the learning experience?
- Can FutureLearn be accessed on mobile? Do you have an app?
What is the learning style on FutureLearn?
All of our courses are pre-recorded and take place exclusively online. There is no requirement to attend in person or be online at certain times of day. Some courses may include optional live sessions, and you will find information about these in the course materials if that's the case.
Is there any live teaching or other live-delivered content?
Some courses may include optional live sessions, and you will find information about these in the course materials if that's the case. The majority of content in our courses does not need to be accessed live or at certain times of day.
How is learning content delivered?
Content delivery style varies across our courses, depending on how the course creators have designed the course. Our courses are created by the educational institutions and other expert organisations that we partner with to deliver outstanding learning experiences on FutureLearn.
What might I find in a course step?
The light grey text next to the step title tells you what’s involved:
- A video step involves watching a video and discussing what you’ve seen.
- An audio step involves listening to a recording and discussing what you’ve heard.
- An article involves reading a piece of writing and discussing what you’ve read.
- A discussion shows you a prompt - usually a statement or question - and invites you to discuss it with your peers and the educators.
- An exercise takes you through a short exercise - often on another website - that’s designed to help you build your skills.
- A poll invites you to vote on something using the radio dial buttons and discuss the options and results.
- An assignment shows you an assignment brief and contains a plain-text box for you to copy and paste your work into.
- An assignment review is an opportunity to read work by other learners and give them your feedback.
- A quiz allows you to test your knowledge by selecting from a multiple-choice questionnaire, or entering words or short phrases into a text box.
- A test looks very similar to a quiz, but you get three tries at each question and you’re graded on the results. If your course has test steps, you’ll need to score an average of 70% or above to qualify for a certificate.
How do learners record their progress on a course?
On all steps apart from test, quiz, poll, and assignment related steps, learners record a step as completed by clicking on the ‘mark as complete’ button (or the tick button if browsing on mobile) which is shown at the bottom of the course page- between the previous and next step buttons.
Before you click on it, it will look like this:
(widescreen devices)
[Image descriptor: A pink box containing a large pink tick symbol and the words 'Mark as complete']
or (mobile and tablet devices)
[Image descriptor: a pink circle containing a pink tick symbol]
And once clicked, it will look like this:
(widescreen devices)
[Image descriptor: A blue box containing a large white tick symbol and the words 'Step completed']
or (mobile and tablet devices)
[Image descriptor: a blue circle containing a white tick symbol]
Clicking on Mark as complete is how the system knows how much overall progress you’ve made and which steps you haven’t looked at yet. You’ll need to mark at least 90% of the steps as complete to qualify for a certificate.
[Alt text: A grey bar containing three buttons. The left-hand button states 'Previous' in pink and has a < symbol next to it. The middle button is a blue box containing a large white tick symbol and the words 'Step completed'. The right-hand button states 'Next' in pink and has a > symbol next to it].
Progress on a course can be tracked via the ‘Progress’ view on each course, which can be accessed by clicking on the tab labelled progress at the top of the in-course view, as highlighted in the below screenshot.
[Alt text: screenshot of the in-course view, showing the three view tabs on top: To do, Conversations, Progress. Below, the progress level is shown at 41% and the learner is advised that 90% of the course steps will need to be completed]
For a more in-depth guide to how learners can record and track their progress on a course, please read our guide- Recording learning progress.
Do learners have to leave comments or participate in group discussions?
We do encourage learners to participate in the comments section of their course, as this fosters a more rich learning experience and usually means a learner is more likely to finish their course. However, leaving comments or replies on a course does not count towards the progress recorded on a course.
Some courses have a ‘groups’ feature where learners can discuss certain course topics in smaller numbers, but again participating in these groups does not count towards course progress.
What kind of proof of completion do you offer?
If you purchase courses for your staff they will be able to access a Certificate of Achievement on their courses once completed in full. You can read more about FutureLearn issued certificates here- proof of completion.
Completing a course in full means marking at least 90% of the course steps as complete, answering all test questions, and earning at least a 70% average score across all the tests on the course.
Can I try any courses for free to test out the learning experience?
Yes! Most of our short courses can be joined for free, but you will get a Limited Access experience on most courses when joining for free.
If you want to try one of our sponsored courses you can get a feel for the learning experience on a course which has already been upgraded. That means you can browse all of the course content as soon as you join the course, get long-term access to the course once joined, and get a digital certificate of achievement once you complete the course.
This is the same experience your learners will get if you purchase a course for them via one of our bulk purchase options - bulk purchase options and guides.
You can browse these courses here- sponsored courses list.
To join one of these courses you will need to have an account on FutureLearn, if you don’t have one already please register for an account as you join the course. You can get help on how to register for a FutureLearn account in this guide- How do my staff access FutureLearn?.
What does Limited Access mean?
Limited access is the default enrollment option on our non-sponsored short courses. It means a learner can join the course without paying, but they will have a restricted learning experience on that course:
- They will be restricted to browsing content from the course in line with the weekly content release schedule- meaning they have to wait for a calendar week to access each week in the course after week 1
- They will only have access to the course for its exact duration, e.g. 3 weeks’ access to a course with 3 weeks of content
- They will not be able to get a certificate of achievement once they complete the course, even if they complete it within the restricted access period.
Can FutureLearn be accessed on mobile? Do you have an app?
The FutureLearn App is not currently available - we’re sorry for the inconvenience. However, our platform is designed to work at all browser widths, including on mobile and tablet devices.
Will any learning be done off-platform?
Some courses will have links to external software or websites to host additional content.