UK universities to launch free degree-style online courses
By Andrew Marszal. Twelve top British universities have signed up to Futurelearn, a new programme offering free degree-style online courses to the public in direct competition with US-led rivals Coursera and edX.
Twelve top British universities including Bristol, St Andrews, Kings College London and the Open University will offer free online degree-level courses to students around the world, it was announced today. The new company, called Futurelearn, is being launched by the Open University. It will operate in direct rivalry with established American course platforms such as Coursera and Harvard-based edX, which offer massive open online courses (Moocs) to students around the world for free. “Moocs represent an enormous development in higher education, one that has the potential to bring about long-lasting change to the HE [higher education] sector," said Martin Bean, Vice-Chancellor of the Open University. Read more...