FutureLearn, a company funded by the Open University to provide learning online globally, contacted Mummu directly to create a film to celebrate their first year and to demonstrate the reach and impact the service has on its learners.

 

Future Learn has made education accessible to more than 650,000 people across the globe in over 178 different countries in its first year by partnering with a range of recognised UK universities and internationally renowned organisations.

 

It was important to FutureLearn to include the experiences and voices of real life users of the service. Producer Natalie Harvey interviewed a range of learners from all over the world, to understand their individual motivations and reasons for learning.

 

We partnered with Illustrator Richard Hogg who drew inspiration from the interviews to create a set of vibrant colourful characters and fantastical locations. Animation Director Karl Hammond with help from animators Daniel Burke and Katherine Stephens injected life into the illustrations, by animating and lip-syncing each character to their recorded interviews.

 

The film highlights the variety of reasons people learn online and the positive impact it has had on their lives. We spoke to one learner who had completed a whopping 24 courses ranging in subjects from creative coding to Shakespeare.

 

The FutureLearn community has a large social media presence, with learners regularly using twitter to communicate and connect with others around the world using unique course hashtags. FutureLearn housed our film on their main website but also shared it across their social media.