Sunday 9 February 2014

MOOC will teach English

MOOC will teach English

FutureLearn and the British Council see India as a major market for MOOCs that teach English. Photo: Nic Walker
Tim Dodd
The UK-based FutureLearn will ­partner with the British Council, which already provides English language education, to pioneer MOOCs that teach the English language.
It is the first time that a major MOOC provider has announced plans to offer language courses. The two organisations said there would be a portfolio of English language courses ready in 2014 which would be focused on preparing ­students whose native language is not English for studying higher education courses taught in English.
The announcement was made in India, which FutureLearn and the ­British Council see as a major market for MOOCs that teach English. The two organisations said the MOOCs would also “provide a route for learners to take International English Language ­Testing System (IELTS) assessments at British Council testing centres”.
The British Council is a part-owner of the IELTS test, along with Australian company IDP Education, which ­operates a separate network of IELTS testing centres.
FutureLearn is owned by British education institution, The Open ­University, and has 29 partners which are mainly UK universities but also include the British Council and the ­British Museum.
Monash University is one of FutureLearn’s international ­partners.
The British Council is a non-profit organisation set up by Royal Charter to promote British culture and education internationally.
It is pitching English teaching MOOCs as a way of channelling ­international students to British ­universities.
“It is right that India should be one of the first places where we collectively launch the FutureLearn MOOC ­platform and courses,” said Martin Davidson, chief executive of the British Council. “FutureLearn will provide young Indians with another means of access to the UK’s world-class education ­institutions.”
In other news, the world’s leading MOOC provider, US-based Coursera, has raised $US20 million ($21.8 million) more than expected in its latest capital raising.
According to All Things D , Coursera’s $US43 million capital raising announced in July this year has expanded to $US63 million.
Three unnamed universities are responsible for most of the extra investment. Coursera has now totalled $US85 million in capital from investors.

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