Five further international universities join FutureLearn
FutureLearn has attracted five new institutions (Complutense University of Madrid, UK's Durham University and University of Manchester, Keio University in Japan and the University of New South Wales in Australia) to join its MOOC platform. FutureLearn's popularity is thought to be linked to its particularly social environment for MOOC students, giving them the opportunity to &ldquo;follow&rdquo; preferred peers and interact over all course content.
Dive Brief:

Massive open online course platform FutureLearn has five new partners in universities from Spain, the United Kingdom, Japan, and Australia.

Australia’s University of South Wales will offer the first new course in math with Complutense University of Madrid, Durham University and the University of Manchester in the UK, and Japan’s Keio University adding courses in 2016.

FutureLearn offers a particularly social environment for MOOC students, giving them the opportunity to “follow” preferred peers and interact over all course content.

Dive Insight:

FutureLearn has reached nearly 2 million learners since it launched in the fall of 2013. It has 69 partners, primarily in universities, but also other organizations including cultural institutions, professional associations, and businesses.

Massive open online courses reach millions of students in the United States and, in many cases, provide opportunities for students to prove their new skills to employers with badges and other certificates that come with a cost. Yet as nontraditional course providers, they remain outside the mainstream of higher education. The Higher Education Act reauthorization has these types of institutions, along with coding bootcamps and competency-based courses, in mind when it comes to considering change.