Hello colleagues
Below is the text of an email I received today as a FutureLearn
student. I ought to point out that at the moment both "unlimited
access to course content even after the course ends" and "access to
tests" are free of charge (although certificates and statements of
participation are not). So the forthcoming change represents a
significant reduction in what is offered for free. FutureLearn is
clearly moving the freemium model up several notches, and in doing
so is becoming significantly less 'open'. (Of course many may argue,
with some justification, that FutureLearn has never really been an
example of open educational resources - but I take the view that
openness is a matter of degree.)
My prediction is that over time FutureLearn will be squeezed even
tighter, offering less material for free and increasing the price of
the paid content. Which reinforces my belief that there is a need
for those of us who champion open educational practice to propose
economic models of learning provision that can work.
Best wishes to all, and sorry for any inconvenience caused by
cross-posting
Terry Loane
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Hi Terry,
It looks like you're enrolled on one or more FutureLearn
courses that start on or after 6 March 2017. We want you to know
that you will have the option to upgrade these courses.
What is upgrading?
You can upgrade any course to get a full range of benefits.
It costs between £24 and £69 and for that you’ll get:
Unlimited access to course content even after the course
ends, for as long as the course exists on FutureLearn
Access to tests
A Certificate of Achievement or Statement of
Participation when you complete the course.
Can I still take the course for free?
Yes! Don’t worry, you can still take any course for free. You
will be able to access all the content, except for tests, for the
duration of the course plus 14 days - regardless of the day you
join.
What if I join a course after it starts?
You will always get access to the course for its duration
plus 14 days - regardless of when you start. So if your course
lasts four weeks, but you join in the third week, you’ll get four
weeks plus 14 days from the day you join.
Why are we introducing upgrading?
We want to give people all over the world access to great
learning. That’s what drives us, and why FutureLearn was created.
But producing courses and maintaining the FutureLearn platform
costs our partners and us a lot. To keep providing great learning
to people all over the world, we need to become financially
sustainable - offering upgrading is one of the ways we can do
that.
Want to know more? Have a look at our FAQs or read our blog
post.
Happy Learning,
The FutureLearn Team
