If you've haven't yet come across Moocs – massive open online courses – be prepared to hear a lot more about them over the next few months.
The Mooc concept – which involves universities putting short courses online and inviting anyone in the world to sign up for free – took off in the US a couple of years ago and has attracted millions of learners worldwide.
But the UK has risen to the challenge. In September last year a consortium of British universities launched their own Mooc platform, Futurelearn, led by The Open University (OU).
And in 2014 it will be adding more and more free online courses to what is already a diverse offering - you can study addiction or actor training, discover dentistry or build your own computer game, typically with less than six hours a week of study over four to eight weeks.
Futurelearn's unique selling point is that it brings UK universities' academic expertise together with The Open University's unparalleled experience in delivering effective higher education via non-traditional routes.
"The internet may be relatively recent but blended learning – delivering
information through varied media in different ways – is a school of thought that the OU has pioneered since its inception nearly 50 years ago," says Mike Sharples, who is academic lead for Futurelearn.
"And seven years ago the OU launched OpenLearn, a free, online learning platform where students can access both free higher education courses and bite-size learning pieces."
Whether Moocs really are the revolution in higher education that some claim, there is no doubt that Futurelearn is mounting a serious challenge to the American Mooc providers.
More than twenty universities from the UK, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand have now joined the consortium, along with the British Library, British Council and British Museum.
And The Open University has appointed Simon Nelson, the architect of BBC iPlayer, as Futurelearn's CEO. This is intended to signal a commitment to embracing the newest technologies and latest thinking on teaching and learning to offer students something very different, says Nelson.
"To start with, we're looking at highly user-focused searching and browsing, so people can find exactly the right course for them.
"Teaching and learning will present material through a blend of video and other media, combined with opportunities for social learning with others who are studying the same course."
Futurelearn may be good news for learners, but what's in it for the universities themselves? For The Open University, it's a natural extension of its mission to make higher education more accessible – just as Open University TV broadcasts did 40 years ago.
But it's also a bid to ensure the university remains ahead of the fast-moving curve in learning and teaching technology.
As Futurelearn's head of UK education partnerships, Mark Lester, puts it: "If things are going to be disrupted, be the disrupter. If the world is going to change, be the one who's changing it."
Interested in trying out a Mooc? Check out these new Futurelearn courses starting this spring.
Moons from The Open University
Medicines adherence: supporting patients with their treatment from King's College London
Community journalism from Cardiff University
Kitchen chemistry from the University of East Anglia
Getting a grip on mathematical symbolism from Loughborough University
Good brain, bad brain: drug origins from the University of Birmingham
Start writing fiction from The Open University
Managing people: engaging your workforce from the University of Reading
