Dear friends,
I spoke on Tuesday at Coursera’s annual conference. It was the company’s most well-attended conference yet, and the first to be held online.
Higher education is in for turbulent times. With campuses shut down indefinitely and many professors teaching digitally for the first time, schools are challenged to deliver high-quality education while both students and teachers remain at home. At the same time, more people than ever — of all ages, all over the world — are more interested than ever in taking courses online.
In his keynote, Coursera CEO Jeff Maggioncalda spoke of the importance of social justice. Even as Covid-19 heightens social inequities, within this crisis lies an opportunity for educators to serve learners around the world. It’s also an opportunity to rebuild society’s trust in science, reason, and each other.
When the pandemic is over, hundreds of millions of learners around the world will have picked up the habit of learning online. The momentum could drive a new golden age of learning, and it’s not too early to start preparing. Let’s make sure we keep working to democratize access to education and make our society more fair and equitable.
Stay safe and keep learning!
Andrew