In this article we will go over how a learner records their learning progress on a FutureLearn course, how they can keep track of their progress on each course, and how comments work on FutureLearn.
Table of contents:
- How do you measure course participation per learner?
- Do comments count towards course completion?
- Can we keep track of the learning progress made by learners at our organisation?
- Do educators participate in each course?
How do you measure course participation per learner?
Our courses are made up of weeks, in which content is delivered via different activities. Activities include articles to read, videos to watch, audio files to listen to, and polls/quizzes/tests to answer.
Each activity takes the form of a course step, and they each have their own page on a course.
Each step needs to be recorded as complete (see below) by the learner, and each step of the course marked as complete counts towards the percentage of the course which the learner has completed.
The idea is that learners mark each step of a course as complete once they feel they have read and understood everything on the step. If they are working towards a certificate on the course (see here) then they will need to record at least 90% of the course steps as complete in order to be eligible for a certificate at the end of a course.
This is why we suggest that each learner has their own individual learning account as we can't record the progress of more than one learner per account.
Marking a step as complete
Course steps are recorded as complete by the learner by clicking on the 'mark as complete' button which appears between the 'previous' and 'next' buttons for navigating between course steps. On a mobile browser, this would take the form of a tick button. See below for examples of how this looks.
Mark as complete button (wide-screen version)
[Alt text: A pink box with a tick on the left-hand side and the words 'Mark as complete']
Mark as complete button (mobile web browser version)
[Alt text: a pink circle containing a pink tick symbol]
The button will change from pink to blue once it has been clicked, and the step will be marked as complete in the learner's course progress record.
Below you can see the mark as complete button shown within the context of a course step, both before it has been clicked and then after it has been ticked.
Before and after the step is marked as complete.
[Alt text: we have two screenshots side-by-side both showing the same step of a course, which is a video step titled 'What's important to your learners?' We can see one of the course educators speaking in the video, with subtitles at the bottom of the video screen. At the bottom of the page view we see the 'mark as complete' button which is pink and white in the first screenshot, then blue and white in the second- indicating that it has been clicked on]
The progress tab
A learner can check their progress on each course by clicking on the 'progress' tab at the top of any page on the course, this will take them to a page showing them the overall % of courses they have marked as complete and show them if there are any tests on the course and their progress on those tests (e.g. how many questions need to be answered and what their scores are). For more information on tests please see our guide to tests and scored assessments here- Tests and other scored. assessments.
Below is a screenshot of the progress tab and the progress page.
[Alt text: a screenshot showing us the three tabs from the top of the view inside a course, namely the 'To do', 'conversations', and 'progress' tabs. Progress has been selected and we see below that 41% of the course steps have been completed, and a reminder that we need to mark at least 90% of steps as complete in order to earn a certificate on this course]
The To do tab
Under the To do tab, which can be accessed from any page in the course, the learner can view all the steps in each week of the course and get a visual guide to which steps have or have not yet been marked as complete.
[Alt text: A screenshot of the three top tabs of the in-course view, with the To do tab selected. Below we can see the two weeks in this example course, with week 1 being selected.]
Here is a guide to the colour-coding of course steps from within the To do view:
- a blue block around a step number means it has been completed
- a white block around a step number means it hasn't yet been completed
- a pink block around a step number means it's the next incomplete step in the course
[Alt text: The above image shows a view of course step titles with the first 3 steps coloured in blue to denote completion. The fourth step is coloured pink to denote that it's the next step to be completed. The final four steps are coloured in white to show they have not yet been marked as complete. A portrait image of Bonnie Prince Charlie floats on the top right of the image as the example course is on the Stuarts and Jacobites.]
Conversations tab
Learners can also use the Conversations tab to look at the comments being made by other learners and educators on the course. They can filter these comments per week, and per step of the course. They can further filter the comments under this view to show them the newest, oldest, and most liked comments along with filtering for their own comments and the comments made by learners/educators they are following on the course. They can also bookmark comments to save them for later, and filter under the Conversations view to view only those comments they have bookmarked.
[Alt text: A screenshot from within a course, with the Conversations tab selected. Below that we can see the Course conversations section where learners can view and reply to comments from across the course. Filters have been applied to show only comments from week 2, step 2.4. The comments are then being sorted by 'Most liked']
Are there any mandatory group sessions or live teaching which count towards course progress?
Some courses may include an online live learning session via video, but participation in such sessions is not mandatory and missing it will not count against a learner in earning their course certificate.
Do comments count towards course completion?
While we encourage learners to participate in the comments section of each course, comments do not count towards a learner's recorded course progress. It is not required that learners leave or reply to any comments on the course.
Are comments moderated?
Moderation of comments on FutureLearn is done retroactively. Learners and educators can flag any comment on the course that they believe violates our Code of Conduct. Once reported, our independent team of moderators will review the comment to confirm if it does violate the Code of Conduct and/or our Terms & Conditions, and remove it if needed.
When a comment is hidden, it is replaced with the message “This comment has been removed by a FutureLearn moderator”, and the author of the comment is sent an automated email to tell them it was hidden. They are not told who flagged the comment. They can then reply to that email to find out more about the decision. The learner who flags a comment also receives an email to let them know that the comment that they reported has been removed.
In the case of a comment being reviewed, and being found to have not broken our Code of Conduct our moderators will approve the comment. This means the comment will not be removed from the course step on which it was posted. The learner who flagged that comment will receive an email to let them know that the comment has been reviewed, but not removed.
Can we keep track of the learning progress made by learners at our organisation?
If you have purchased vouchers from us for your learners then you can ask your learners to share their certificates of achievement once they have completed a course, but you cannot otherwise track their learning progress.
If you have signed your organisation up for a Learning Manager account then you can track the recorded progress of each learner on each course to which they have been invited to under your organisation. You can get help on how this works in our Learning Manager walkthrough.
Do educators participate in each course?
Our courses are often taken by many thousands of students, spread across the globe. Because the educators have limited time, they can't reply to every comment or speak directly or privately with so many learners.
Some educators will have support from teaching assistants and PhD students who will also help to talk to and guide learners in the comments section. They will be labelled as a course 'mentor' when commenting or replying to comments on the course.
Some courses will have particular periods of time when educators are actively facilitating on the course, and this period will be detailed on the course description page and within the course.