The Open University (OU)’s social learning platform FutureLearn is to deliver digital skills programmes as part of the Institute of Coding (IoC), a multi-million pound initiative.
The FutureLearn platform, which is wholly-owned by the OU, will deliver digital skills courses from the University of Leeds, Lancaster University, Goldsmiths and the Creative Computing Institute at the University of Arts London (UAL), as part of the scheme.
The IoC, a consortium of universities, employers and outreach organisations, with a mission to develop the next generation of digital talent at degree level and above, has announced the formal allocation of £4.8m of funding. The sum is inclusive of £2.4m of grant funding provided by the Office for Students (OfS) and a further £2.4m of match funding from the consortium of partners that have formed the winning bids.
Among the partners is the University of Leeds, which has partnered with FutureLearn to create new online courses and the consortium — led by the University of Leeds — has secured £500,000 to launch a new programme called ‘The IoC guide to kick starting your career with 21C skills’. The online courses — delivered through FutureLearn — are designed to focus on digital employability skills for people in the 18-25 age group and will be available later this year.
UAL’s new Creative Computing Institute has also been given £581,000 for its ‘Creative solutions to digital transformation’ project and will work with Lancaster University, Goldsmiths University and FutureLearn to develop a bespoke online learning programme that can help transform business in media, manufacturing and engineering through creative digital technologies.
Learning that’s designed to meet the needs of industry
Focused on the future environment, the programme covers specific creative digital technologies that can transform opportunities in media and manufacturing, as well as key roles and skills and how these can be futureproofed. The learning focus and content will be designed in collaboration with Made Smarter, Nesta and Semta to meet the real identified needs of industry.
Stephen Somerville, Managing Director, Government and Employer Partnerships at FutureLearn said: “We’re delighted to be working with The University of Leeds and the Creative Computing Institute (CCI) to host such an important portfolio of courses and at a time when the need for investment in digital skills is so clear.
“The Institute of Coding is an excellent example of cross-sector collaboration and exactly the kind of initiative we need to be celebrating. At our inaugural employment round table earlier this month, which brought together educators and employers, digital skills was unsurprisingly high up on the agenda and it is encouraging to see an investment of this scale committed to tackling the challenge.”
Find out more about the Institute of Coding and the involvement of FutureLearn and the OU:
Open University welcomes tech pioneer Jacqueline de Rojas to Institute of Coding
