«FutureLearn: Designing social learning on a massive scale»
Mike SharplesFutureLearn
Abstract
FutureLearn is a new MOOC platform that has been developed to support social learning on a massive scale, using principles of effective pedagogy. In addition to providing instruction from world-leading scholars via video and text across multiple devices, our goal has been to create a community of FutureLearners who share ideas, have engaging discussions, and support one another. And instead of fighting to avoid failure and abandonment, we have chosen to reward success at every step. Every decision about the design of the FutureLearn platform has been built on three principles: world-class storytelling, social learning, and celebration of progress. I will describe FutureLearn’s design principles, the informed agile development process, and the challenges faced, including building social learning into every element, recognizing that not everyone wants to engage socially, offering online support, and enabling formative assessments at scale. massive.
Bio
Mike Sharples is Professor of Educational Technology at the Institute of Educational Technology at the Open University in the UK. Mike also works as an Academic Lead for the company FutureLearn. His research involves user-centered design of new technologies and environments for learning. He inaugurated the Mobile Learning (mLearn) Conference Series and was founding president of the International Association for Mobile Learning. Mike is Associate Editor in Chief of the IEEE Transactions on Learning Technologies journal. His projects include nQuire: Young Citizen Inquiry, funded by the Nominet Trust, with the aim of encouraging young people to conduct science research online, the JUXTALEARN project on science learning through creative means, and the OpenScience Laboratory. to offer practical science online.
