Free online courses a big hit for university

Leeds University is among those in the UK offering ‘MOOCs’ (massive open online courses) on a new online hub, called FutureLearn, owned by the Open University.

The idea behind the scheme is to increase the reach of universities by allowing people all over the world to learn from the expertise of their academics.

Although the subject matter can be degree standard there is no formal qualification. Students are able to test themselves.

Professor Neil Morris, Leeds’s director of digital learning said MOOCs enabled people to learn for “learning’s sake.”

The university has so far run three MOOC short courses. Fairness and Nature: When Worlds Collide was the first and was so popular the university has run it twice.

It has also held short courses on Exploring anatomy: the human abdomen, which ran for three weeks in February and an Introduction to Physical Actor Training.

Now it is about to launch its latest offer: Starting a Business: Realise your Vision, will run from June 30.

Innovation: The key to Business Success runs from September 15 and uses case studies from the university and Marks & Spencer – the retailer is a key partner of the university – illustrating how people are key to driving successful innovation in existing businesses.

Mr Morris said 7,000 people had already signed up to the business course starting this month.