BBC teams up with British universities for online learning pilot
The BBC is working with four British universities to create a series of massive open online courses (MOOCs*) on World War One (WW1), which will be available on the social learning platform, FutureLearn.com.
Published: 23 July 2014
Working as a content partner with these four universities will help us establish how we can contribute to the UK remaining a world leader in online learning."
The pilot project is part of the BBC’s WW1 season and will see each of the four universities (Birmingham, Glasgow, Leeds and The Open University) deliver a web-based course exploring an aspect of WW1. To create an even richer learning experience, each course will feature material of historical value from the BBC’s vast archive, as well as newly-created multimedia content. All four courses will be open to anyone with an interest in learning more about WW1.
The courses are open now for registration and will begin between October and November 2014. They are:
• World War One: Paris 1919 - A New World Order? from the University of Glasgow. Available from 13 October 2014.
• World War One: Aviation Comes of Age, from the University of Birmingham. Available from 20 October 2014.
• World War One: Changing Faces of Heroism, from the University of Leeds. Available from 27 October 2014.
• World War One: Trauma and Memory, from The Open University. Available from 03 November 2014.
The pilot project will allow the BBC to explore how it can work with British universities to ensure that the UK remains a world leader in online learning. Each course will combine academic material from the universities with video, audio recordings and images from the BBC’s archive, such as interviews with English aviation pioneer Sir Thomas Sopwith and World War One soldier and cartoonist Bruce Bairnsfather.
To support this pilot the BBC will create four new BBC iWonder guides, based on these subjects and presented by Dan Snow, Sian Williams, David Shukman and Johnson Beharry VC. They will introduce audiences to these topics and explore different perspectives on thought-provoking questions.
By combining formal learning material from universities, archive content and new multimedia resources like BBC iWonder guides, the BBC will create rich user journeys that enable audiences to dive deeper into topics that they are interested in – perhaps by starting with an iWonder guide and travelling through to a MOOC.
The BBC will also look to engage with course learners by driving debates and conversations from the courses across social media and online. Learners will also have chance to curate their own exhibition from Britain’s collection of oil paintings on the BBC Your Paintings website.
Sinéad Rocks, Acting Controller of BBC Learning, says: “The BBC is committed to education and looking at how we can exploit technology to best serve audiences. This is a great opportunity to explore how we can do that as part of our WW1 season, and working as a content partner with these four universities to help deliver online courses will help us establish how we can contribute to the UK remaining a world leader in online learning. MOOCs are an interesting and exciting area, and I’m looking forward to exploring what role we might play.”
Simon Nelson, CEO, FutureLearn, says: “It’s our aim at FutureLearn to connect our university partners with other great centres of culture and knowledge, so I’m delighted to see the BBC and these four universities come together to create new learning experiences. The collaboration reinforces FutureLearn’s approach to online education, which is to draw on academics and experts in storytelling to produce compelling courses for learners around the world. And it’s the learners who are the real winners here, gaining access to the unrivalled resources of one of the world’s best known broadcasters; world leading educators and each other, around an event as significant as the World War One centenary.”
Notes to Editors
*MOOCs connect thousands of learners as a time, enabling free higher education study, free of charge, across a range of internet enabled devices.
About FutureLearn
FutureLearn.com offers a range of free online courses from leading universities and cultural institutions as a way of encouraging lifelong learning. Social interaction is central to the FutureLearn course experience, and the platform enables people to learn by engaging in conversations with one another around the multimedia course material.
FutureLearn is a social learning platform based in the UK and providing free online courses from world-class universities. Its distinctive approach to 'learning through conversation' attracts consistently high level of engagement and participation among learners.
FutureLearn’s leading British and international university partners join three British cultural organisations – the British Library, British Council and the British Museum – and the National Film and Television School to offer quality, higher education courses to anyone with an internet connection, anywhere in the world. FutureLearn is wholly owned by The Open University. Find out more at www.futurelearn.com.
About BBC iWonder
BBC iWonder provides thought-provoking answers to the questions sparked in your everyday life - questions sparked by BBC programmes, what's in the news, important anniversaries, or what's trending on social media.
About BBC Your Paintings
Your Paintings is a joint initiative between the BBC, the Public Catalogue Foundation (a registered charity) and participating collections and museums from across the UK.
The website shows the entire UK national collection of oil paintings from thousands of museums and other public institutions around the country.
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