A few weeks back I wrote about MOOC platforms and about their potential future relationship with UK universities. It felt like an opportune time to do so 10 years on from the huge MOOC buzz of 2012. 1/
I spent some time looking at three of major MOOC platforms Coursera, edX and FutureLearn, because it’s hard to divorce the MOOC as an educational model from the platforms that have sprung up around them. 2/
Being UK based and considering that nearly all of the 50+ UK universities that are partnered with MOOC platforms are partnered with FutureLearn it felt necessary to focus more attention on them than any other platform. 3/
In that piece, I highlighted the significant leadership changes and churn that have taken place at FutureLearn in recent years and that it was the end of an era but they had seemed to struggle to transition to a new one. 4/
This was perhaps exacerbated by the length of time between the departure of the previous CEO and the installing of a new one. 5/
Another thing that I highlighted was their seemingly heavy dependence on two universities, Coventry and the Open University for their microcredentials and degrees portfolio - which is really one of the main routes for profitability 6/
Overall I summed things up like this “Whilst as a UK-based company they will always have a certain degree of appeal to UK universities, they are a company that needs to rediscover its mojo somewhat and gather some forward momentum again.” 7/
Since then I have also been trying to find out more about their financial position but have had to wait until this week when their company accounts were filed at companies house. It made for pretty worrying reading. 8/
Highlighting that they do not have sufficient funding for the 12 months from the date of signing financial statements and whilst additional funding will be provided it’s not sufficient for that period. 9/
Discussions on options for raising further funding are ongoing but, and this is a direct quote “there remains a material uncertainty which may cast significant doubt about the groups ability to continue as a going concern” 10/
That’s a pretty stark statement right there and that’s on top of £16.1 million operating loss. 11/
On top of that some of the noises coming out from university partners and from those on the inside have been far from positive. From the university side there’s been concerns expressed on the lack of direction and effective communication for some time now. 12/
In terms of internally this is probably best highlighted in quotes like this from employees - “So many changes, so many people leaving, no clear path to profit, and strategy and direction changes constantly.“ 13/
“Leadership is constantly moving the goalposts. Product offering is very confusing even to people who work there. Playing catch up with Udemy, Coursera etc and no real chance of catching them” 14/
All of this will be of concern to UK universities partnered with FutureLearn, and perhaps presents a bigger risk to those really invested in the platform like the University of Coventry and University of Kent. 15/
Others bear less risk, because as I mentioned in my earlier article there are only really a small number of UK universities that are meaningfully growing their portfolios on FutureLearn. 16/
Whilst there will inevitably be schadenfreude from those critical of anything that’s private that comes within a hair's breadth of education, it's a shame that a platform that offered universities the opportunity to provide online education to learners has got to such a place.17/
Whilst not perfect as a platform FutureLearn did offer a different proposition to some of the other platforms like edX that always felt like dated courseware. 18/
Although this isn’t the end of the road for FutureLearn necessarily, it’s a salutary warning not just to private companies involved in online education but universities themselves to...19/
...not believe the hype and understand that developing a strong, profitable sustainable online education offering isn’t a walk in the park. 20/
Oh and for anyone interested in reading my earlier piece you can find it here - neilmosley.com/blog/nm6ovv8dv…
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