The 12-month initiative on the FutureLearn platform aims to showcase taster courses from the country’s providers under the national Think New brand umbrella.

Te Pūkenga consists of 16 Institutes of Technology and Polytechnics in New Zealand, and once fully established will be the 35th largest tertiary provider globally.

“FutureLearn has reached more than 15 million learners globally and gives Te Pūkenga network the opportunity to sit alongside other world-leading academic institutions and reach learners wherever they are,” said Te Pūkenga deputy chief executive Delivery and Academic, Angela Beaton.

The FutureLearn platform already has a range of courses from New Zealand providers, including Te Pūkenga collaboration courses with subsidiaries Wintec and NMIT.

Courses with NMIT include Sustainability in the New Zealand Wine Industry and English Language for Nature Conservation and Sustainability, while Wintec collaboration programs featured include Design Thinking for Sustainable Development and Grow Your Workforce: How to Teach Adult Learners.

“The pilot aims to establish appetite from global learners to engage with a New Zealand online education”

“The pilot aims to establish appetite from global learners to engage with a New Zealand online education, and to test the value of this type of online course offering, promoting a range of New Zealand content under a consolidated, national brand,” said ENZ’s general manager, Partnerships and Marketing, Paul Irwin.

The project supports the country’s recovery plan for international education, he added. Along with a range of initiative, the plan – released in 2020 – featured $10m to fund new “future-focused” products and services to drive growth onshore and offshore.

Insights from the pilot will inform ENZ’s work to support the education sector, the organisation added.

ENZ announced a short courses partnership FutureLearn earlier this year with a number of New Zealand universities, edtech providers and other specialist providers including Media Design School and Tech Futures Lab.