The launch of the UK's biggest online university venture has the potential to "revolutionise conventional models of formal education" and keep the UK ahead in the global race to deliver the best education, says universities minister David Willetts.
The FutureLearn project will see more than 20 institutions enter the global market to offer massive open online courses, or Moocs. Until now, the US has led the way in the creation of Moocs, with companies including Coursera, edX, and Udacity catering to an estimated 3 million learners worldwide with hundreds of courses from a range of top institutions.
Bath, Exeter, Birmingham, Edinburgh and Warwick are among the 21 UK universities that have signed up. The British Library, British Museum and British Council will also make material available to students.
The venture, set up by the Open University, is a response to the rise of Moocs and will offer students a new and innovative way to access courses, says Martin Bean vice-chancellor of the Open University.
Bean said: "Time and again we have seen the disruptive impact the internet can have on industries – driving innovation and enhancing the customer experience. I have no doubt Moocs will do the same for education – offering people new and exciting ways to learn."
Students in any country will be able to sign up for free to a course through FutureLearn which can be accessed using mobiles, tablets and computers. University of East Anglia's (UEA) 10-week online course, The secret power of brands, will be the first of eight courses to launch in 2013.
With higher education in a period of change and becoming more competitive and global, open online courses are a "key part" of the 21st century higher education experience, says Helena Gillespie, associate dean for learning, teaching and quality at UEA.
David Bell, vice-chancellor of Reading University, which is planning to offer a course in programming, said: "Offering free taster courses online is a no-brainer. Universities shouldn't be afraid to open up teaching and research, either in the UK or beyond.
"Learning never stops and as the economy's demand for higher-skills rises, universities should be in the vanguard when it comes to providing new opportunities."
A senior academic at University College London – which has chosen not to be involved in FutureLearn – has questioned whether the Mooc model is the best road for universities to go down. Although free for students, online courses are expensive to develop for universities.
Stephen Caddick, vice-provost for enterprise and professor of organic chemistry and chemical biology at the university, says students want flexibility above all.
"Moocs are an online product of higher education as currently experienced offline for a lot of students: standardised, one-size-fits-all and rigid," said Caddick. "These courses are free to students, very expensive to develop for universities and often have unacceptable dropout rates."
Simon Nelson, CEO of FutureLearn, said university partners see this opportunity as "money extremely well spent", helping them to boost their global profile, act as a calling card to domestic and international students, and encourage experimentation and innovation within university departments.
According to Nelson, FutureLearn will continue to expand its number of partners both in the UK and overseas, as well as develop its commercial model, which in the future could see students paying to take exams and purchase extra course material.
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