Parliament has launched its first social learning course
14 November 2016
Parliament has teamed up with FutureLearn, a social learning platform, to develop its first course “Introduction to the UK Parliament: people, processes and public participation”.
The course, which launched as part of UK Parliament Week, provides an open and accessible opportunity to learn more about Parliament and how it is essential to democracy.
This three week introductory course is free to join, and is designed to increase public engagement and understanding of the work and role of the Parliament. The course covers the following areas:
- the difference between Parliament and Government
- the role, and the changing nature of Parliamentary debates, including new digital debates
- the steps and processes involved in making and changing legislation
- the role of committees
- how citizens can engage with Parliament
Owned wholly by the Open University, FutureLearn is the UK's only massive open online course (MOOC) provider and has an audience of over four million people engaging with courses through its learning platform. All courses, which are free to join, have social learning embedded into them as participants respond, share and debate ideas with their fellow learners. In contrast to broadcasting long classroom lectures, ideas are introduced via short videos, articles and audio. This encourages learners to develop their understanding through discussing specific points, drawing on their individual experiences and different perspectives.
Image: PC