On the 18th of June 2024, we (Ari Badlishah and Sarah Bruce) attended the FutureLearn Partner Forum in London. This event is something that comes round once a year so it was a great opportunity for us to engage with a platform we work closely with on the Online Course Production Team. 

The day was full of speakers from both FutureLearn and their partners. To start the day we heard from Lord David Blunkett, Kirstie Donnelly (MBE), Professor Julia Buckingham (CBE) and Lord Jo Johnson in a debate about what role digital platforms can play in bridging skills gaps in the workplace. This discussion was primarily focused on the (at the time) upcoming general election and the panel all agreed that all party manifestos were sorely lacking in policies in higher education but that we would see a big change in government. Looks like they predicted correctly! 

We heard from many of FutureLearn’s Directors for a strategic update and it was clear that the platform is planning to shift their focus to online degrees and increasing their portfolio of CPD accredited courses. There was a big emphasis of using FutureLearn’s platform to encourage more casual learners accessing MOOCs to move into the formal education route through the platform and their partners. This was brought to life more when we heard from Matt Cornock, Head of Online Learning, at the University of Leeds who went through a case study of how FutureLearn and the University worked together to convert learners into matriculated students.  

Overall, the speakers’ optimism for the future of online learning was inspiring. The conference was useful for us to learn more about FutureLearn’s strategic direction for the next couple of years so we can better optimise our MOOC offerings. Furthermore, it was great to discover their initiatives to convert MOOC learners into leads for online degrees as one of Edinburgh’s objectives of producing MOOCs is to get them to enrol as matriculated students.  

Being able to interact with other players in the online learning space was a valuable experience. We somehow ended up talking to more small organisations and nonprofits rather than university reps. We certainly learnt a lot from each other, exchanging our experiences of producing and publishing courses. A couple of attendees we conversed with were amazed to learn that we have over 100 MOOCs and that we have a comprehensive online course production team working hard to build these courses. 

Overall the FutureLearn Partner Forum was a great opportunity to learn more about one of the three global platforms we work with and to network with other partners and hear what their plans for their content were. We will definitely be keeping an eye on developments over the next year to see what we can utilise from the new FutureLearn strategy. Watch this space! 

Learnings from FutureLearn’s 2024 Partner Forum / Educational Design and Engagement by Ari Badlishah is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution CC BY 3.0

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