Courses - December 2025

[smallhobbit]

Bringing the list up to date for the year:

FutureLearn

Exploring Scottish Catholicism: Education, Philosophy and Literature (University of Glasgow)
It was interesting to see some of the contribution Catholicism had made, but with only one week per subject this really was a very quick look at the three topics.

The Forbidden City and its People (University of Stirling and Palace Museum)
The forbidden city has a lot of interesting artefacts, and was the centre of government for both the Ming and Qing dynasties, with many notable emperors during that time.  But somehow the course seemed to be mostly a series of pictures, and a confusing list of emperors, and more something simply to be looked at.


OpenLearn

Intermediate German: Understanding Spoken German
The German level was above what I am capable of, although I could understand some of what was said.  But much of the vocabulary is not relevant to my needs - there was a lot of sport, which isn't one of my interests.

Understanding Dyslexia
This was another 8 week badged course.  The first four weeks were very interesting, the second four less so, as they seemed to be extended simply to qualify as an 8 week course.  I passed the test, so earned my badge!


In total this year I have completed 18 FutureLearn courses and 47 OpenLearn courses.  The latter is a reflection on my intention of reducing the number of courses on my wish list, and I was successful in completing everything I had at the beginning of the week.  Looking forward, I am partway through one FutureLearn course, being on week 2 of a 5 week course.  And I have 5 courses recently added to my OpenLearn wish list, which I shall be starting in the new year.  I shall also be continuing my German.

Comments

[thatjustwontbreak]

Kicking butt and taking names! Do you prefer one platform over the other- Futurelearn vs. Openlearn?

[smallhobbit]

FutureLearn can be good for new courses when various people take part and there can be discussion in the comments. It also helps when the course tutor joins in with the comments and answers questions. On the other hand each course runs for a limited time (unless you pay), so week 2 will only become available exactly one week after you start week 1 and so on, and the whole course finishes exactly one week after the final week opens. Which means there's not much flexibility.

OpenLearn has no time limit, so one week you could do a lot or if you're away it doesn't matter. There's no connection with the tutor. Depending on the course there are some good exercises to do. Also, if you finish a course, which means you work through everything you will receive a certificate and badged courses have a badge providing you pass the tests on weeks 4 and 8 - and even then, you can retake after 24 hours, and it's possible to look through the course if you can't remember the answer.

Individual courses vary - I do a wide variety on the basis that some that don't look very promising may turn out to be interesting (to me) while others, which I'd expect to be good, simply don't grab me.

[thatjustwontbreak]

Good to know! So interesting how it can be hit or miss. I really appreciate the write-up. I want to try out both.

[smallhobbit]

Definitely try both out. I hope you enjoy yourself.