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Introducing Coursera’s 2024 Outstanding Achievement Award Winners

September 18, 2024

Coursera honors global innovators at its 12th Annual Outstanding Achievement Awards. Discover how these winners are transforming education and shaping the future of learning worldwide.

Coursera Co-founder Andrew Ng announces a Coursera award winner from the stage

Photo by Chloe Jackman

As Coursera celebrates its 12th year, we stand at the forefront of a global learning revolution. Our partners and customers have not just adapted to the changing landscape of education and workforce development—they’ve reshaped it, creating unprecedented opportunities for learners worldwide.

At our 12th annual Coursera Conference on September 17th, 2024, we’re proud to announce the recipients of our Outstanding Achievement Awards. These awards recognize trailblazers who have leveraged online learning to drive impact, foster innovation, and build vibrant communities.

From over 170 submissions from over 40 countries, our internal committee evaluated entries based on Impact, Innovation, Values, and Community contributions. The selected winners stand out as global innovators, charting new frontiers in continuous learning.

While we honor our global winners today, we look forward to celebrating additional contributors through regional awards in the coming months.

Now, let’s meet our 2024 global award winners—the pioneers shaping the future of learning and work.

AI Innovation Award

This award recognizes organizations that have leveraged AI to enhance their learning programs—or are driving the acquisition of AI skills—and have achieved outstanding results.

We have two winners for this award:

Larsen & Toubro Ltd. (L&T)

L&T has made remarkable strides in AI innovation, becoming the first enterprise in India to launch GenAI Academy. Their use of AI-powered Course Builder and Coursera Coach has significantly enhanced their training programs, resulting in:

A 40% improvement in AI-related skills among participants through GenAI Academy
50% reduction in course development time, creating over 20 custom courses with an average satisfaction rating of 4.8 out of 5
25% increase in understanding complex concepts and 20% improvement in applying skills to job-relevant scenarios through Coursera Coach

Notably, L&T learners have earned 1,600 certificates and have provided an average learner feedback rating of 4.7 out of 5.

Azerbaijan Ministry of Economy

The Azerbaijan Ministry of Economy launched the ‘4IR Academy’ project which aims to support the development of digital skills like AI in the country, increase awareness of the importance of continuous learning, and provide access to high-quality education and training, even in rural areas.

Here are a few highlights of their achievements:

The project has allowed 10,000 Azerbaijani citizens to access free courses within a year
To date, 7,000 citizens have used the Coursera platform, achieving approximately 2,600 certificates
Women make up 51% of the registered users, including housewives and mothers with small children who can readily utilize online learning

Additionally, the Azerbaijan Ministry of Economy has launched a Digital Badge program to further expand the reach of their educational initiatives, covering topics like AI, Big Data, and STEM, with more than 60 learners already earning their Digital Badges.

Congratulations to L&T and the Azerbaijan Ministry of Economy for their outstanding achievements in AI innovation!

Global runner-up: Capgemini

Engagement Excellence Award

This award recognizes institutions that have demonstrated exceptional learner engagement and innovative program implementation.

The winner of this award is Prince Sultan University.

Prince Sultan University has implemented an innovative approach allowing students to earn up to 20% of their final grades by completing Coursera courses. Their achievements include:

Approximately 6,323 course completions over the past year
A remarkable 300% utilization of their licenses from February 2023 to May 2024
An excellent average feedback rating of 4.6 out of 5

This initiative has become a template for success across other universities in Saudi Arabia, supporting learners in acquiring job-ready and future skills.

Congratulations to Prince Sultan University for their achievements in engaging learners!

Global runner-up: Banco Davivienda

Maximizing Impact Award

This award recognizes organizations that have leveraged Coursera’s offerings to create significant, wide-reaching impact.

This year, we have two global winners:

iPeople Inc.

iPeople is an education company in the Philippines that operates several renowned education institutions, including Mapua University and National Teachers College. By granting course credit for industry-standard certificates, iPeople ensures their students gain in-demand skills recognized by employers.

Their achievements include:

Almost 200,000 total enrollments
Over 150,000 course completions
Over 25,000 students earning more than 150,000 certificates

Their pioneering use of self-paced learning and strategic implementation of microcredentials have established them as frontrunners in micro-credentialing in the Philippines.

National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Nigeria

NITDA launched the “One Million Developers and Skills” initiative, partnering with Coursera to empower Nigerians with digital learning opportunities. In less than two years, they have achieved:

More than 8,000 learners enrolled in almost 60,000 courses
Over 200,000 learning hours on Coursera
Significant improvements in learners’ skills, productivity, and employability

NITDA’s strategic approach not only addresses immediate skill gaps but also lays the foundation for long-term digital transformation in Nigeria.

Congratulations to both iPeople Inc. and NITDA for their remarkable achievements in maximizing impact!

Global runner-ups: Hult International Business School

Talent Transformation Award

This award honors an enterprise customer who has best leveraged Coursera to equip their workforce with new skills and enhance productivity.

The winner of this award is goeasy.

Goeasy partnered with Coursera to offer custom training programs for employees, drive higher learning engagement, and develop key skills, including:

A program aligning Coursera courses with Individual Growth Plans, achieving a 44%+ course completion rate
The “goforum” program, with a 66% course completion rate and 84% of learners reaching advanced skill proficiency levels
Cohort-based programs fostering dynamic learning circles

By strategically leveraging Coursera’s resources, goeasy has not only upskilled its workforce but has also created a sustainable model for ongoing talent development.

Congratulations to goeasy for their innovative approach to talent transformation!

Global runner-ups: Pernod Ricard, Walmart

Learning Hero Award

This award recognizes an individual who has gone above and beyond in promoting and leveraging Coursera within their organization.

This year’s Learning Hero is Dr. Kelvin Bentley from the University of Texas System.

Dr. Bentley has been instrumental in growing the UT System’s partnership with Coursera from 300,000 to 1.6 million learners in just 15 months. His contributions include:

Presenting at multiple nationwide and global conferences
Regularly providing references and feedback to improve Coursera’s offerings
Collaborating with various Coursera teams to enhance the partnership and learner experience

His work is setting new standards for how large university systems can harness digital learning to democratize access to high-quality education.

Congratulations to Dr. Kelvin Bentley for his exceptional dedication and impact!

Global runner-up: North Gardens High School – Neil Jones

—

As we conclude our 2024 Customer Awards, we’re filled with inspiration and optimism for the future of learning. These award winners exemplify the transformative power of education in our rapidly evolving world.

To our partners, customers, and the 155 million learners in our global community: your dedication to lifelong learning continues to drive us forward. Together, we’re not just adapting to the future of work—we’re actively shaping it.

Thank you for being an integral part of the Coursera journey. Here’s to another year of breaking barriers, fostering innovation, and unlocking human potential through the power of learning!

Missed Coursera Connect 2024? Watch the live streamed keynote where Coursera CEO Jeff Maggioncalda, explores how AI is reshaping the landscape of education and work. Watch the keynote.

3 tips from a Google AI research director

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September 17, 2024

3 tips from a Google AI research director

We have big news: At the end of last week, Google launched an AI Essentials course that we are very excited about. It’s about 9 hours long and it covers practical skills including using GenAI tools, responsible AI, prompting, and staying informed about the developing technology.

Think of this course as your AI starter pack. With this core cluster of AI skills, you can unlock new layers of productivity, creativity, and efficiency. At that point, your biggest AI challenge will become figuring out what area of your life you want to simplify first—and even then, you’ll be equipped to use your GenAI tools to help you figure it out.

We are particularly fond of using these skills to find more competitive footing in your career. We’ll draw some direct lines between these skills and specific careers in upcoming issues, a continuation of the series we started with product management. In the meantime, enroll in Google’s newest course, practice your foundational AI skills, and start using them to accelerate your growth.

Want to practice your AI skills? Revisit our issues on refining your career goals, enhancing your resume, and preparing for interviews with GenAI. Each issue has specific prompts you can test and iterate on as you explore your tool of choice.

Career tips from a Google employee

As a special treat for the occasion, we connected with Anoop Sinha, an AI research director at Google with over 20 years of industry experience, and learned a bit about his career path and tips for success. Here are three takeaways:

Commit to lifelong learning. Anoop has found that the ability to learn and adapt outside of academic settings can be just as important as formal education. Although he credits his formal education as a major contributor to his success so far, he also stays sharp with smaller daily projects, like writing scripts using large language models (LLMs) to auto-generate notes, outlines, and draft ideas.
Communication skills are crucial. He knew how central his technical skills would be for his career, but Anoop was surprised by how much he relies on his speaking, presentation, and writing skills.
Show your expertise. Anoop heartily recommends building a project portfolio from the very beginning of your career. “Work is more about projects than about classes,” he says.

If you’re curious about the educational pathway to becoming a Google AI research director, Anoop started as a software engineering intern, earned a professional certification early in his career, got hands-on experience working across several data analysis tools, and eventually earned his PhD in computer science.

Remember that his growth occurred over the course of 20 years. If you’re just getting started, learn the technical basics with the Google IT Support Professional Certificate or explore computer science degrees.

Read our full Q&A, and hear more from Anoop in this video about becoming AI-empowered from the Google AI Essentials course.

Announcing AI-powered capabilities enabling educators to use Coursera Coach to deliver interactive, personalized instruction

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September 17, 2024

Announcing AI-powered capabilities enabling educators to use Coursera Coach to deliver interactive, personalized instruction

By Jeff Maggioncalda, Coursera CEO

Classrooms around the world are bustling with students of varying skill levels and career goals, each striving to succeed in a rapidly changing workforce. Educators work hard to support every learner, but with crowded classrooms and limited time, it’s a daunting task.

Today, at Coursera Connect, I’m excited to announce the expansion of AI-powered Coursera Coach to serve our learner and educator community in three unique ways: providing learning assistance, offering career guidance, and facilitating interactive instruction. This evolution of Coach is designed to enrich the human interactions that define education and maximize the impact of instructors in online settings. We’ve also expanded other advanced features on our platform, including Course Builder, which will soon include Coach for instructional design support.

Coursera Coach: Using AI to bring in-classroom teaching methods and career guidance online
Since its debut at last year’s conference, Coursera Coach has transformed the way learners interact in the online classroom. Today, we’re excited to share its early impact and introduce several new enhancements:

Coach for learning assistance: Since its launch, Coach has supported over 1 million learners, leading to a 9.5% higher quiz pass rate on the first attempt and 11.6% more lessons completed per hour. Learners liken the experience to one-on-one time with a personal tutor and appreciate the ability to ask any questions free of judgment.
Coach for career guidance: Coach will soon help learners explore career paths and identify transferable skills, recommending tailored learning paths based on their experience and goals. This is especially useful for those seeking a career change like a “remote tech job,” but are unsure which role suits them, where to start, or how to acquire the required skills. This functionality will be available to learners by year-end.
Coach for interactive instruction: Instructors can now use Coach to build immersive learning activities that bring in-classroom teaching methods into their online courses, starting with Socratic dialogue with text-based interaction. In the coming months, we’ll also add other interaction types, including modalities like audio. Grounded in Coursera’s best pedagogical practices and course content, instructors can tailor their activities by specifying learning objectives, teaching style, assessment criteria, and additional files for enhanced context. Google Gemini will be the first large language model (LLM) to power Coach for interactive instruction on Coursera.

World-renowned instructors, including University of Michigan’s Vic Strecher, Oakland University’s Barbara Oakley, Vanderbilt University’s Jules White, and DeepLearning.AI’s Andrew Ng, Coursera co-founder, are among early adopters using Coach to integrate more personalized, interactive teaching methods into their online courses. Starting today, learners can experience a Coursera Coach-powered Socratic dialogue in University of Michigan’s Finding Purpose and Meaning in Life and Grow with Google’s AI Essentials. Pilot in progress with select instructors.

Click here to watch CEO Jeff Maggioncalda’s keynote at Coursera Connect 2024, with product demos and more.

Course Builder: Helping organizations scale custom training with Coach for instructional design support

Organizations such as Hult International Business School and L&T have used Course Builder, our GenAI-powered authoring tool, to create, update, and deploy custom training at scale. Compared to last year, we’ve seen a 2.8x increase in institutions beginning to author on Coursera, with 715+ Course Builder courses launched since March and nearly 137,000+ enrollments so far this year.

Course Builder will also include Coach for instructional design support in the new year. Coach functions as an AI-powered thought partner for the Course Builder authoring experience, helping authors refine course content, suggest course modifications, and uphold pedagogical best practices. Pilot launching in the coming months.

The Coursera Connect Conference 2024 highlights the critical role of collaboration among institutional leaders in transforming real challenges into meaningful change. Together, we are excited to use AI to better equip learners and instructors, achieve greater educational outcomes, and provide pathways to new economic opportunities.

Click here to read about the exciting new degree pathways, content, and credentials announced at Coursera Connect 2024.

* This blog contains forward-looking statements regarding upcoming content, product, or platform developments that reflect our current plans and beliefs as of the publication date. Purchasing decisions should not be made on the sole basis of forthcoming content and features. Actual developments may vary due to a number of risks and uncertainties, including those discussed in our recent filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Market data and statistical information are provided as estimates and may not reflect actual outcomes or future plans. We undertake no obligation to update any forward-looking statements or estimates except to the extent required by law.

Announcing 1 degree pathway, 8 Professional Certificates, and 20 new and upgraded GenAI certs and Specializations

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September 17, 2024

Announcing 1 degree pathway, 8 Professional Certificates, and 20 new and upgraded GenAI certs and Specializations

Welcoming 4 new university partners and 5 industry partners, including Saïd Business School – University of Oxford, Amazon, and Xbox

By Marni Baker Stein, Chief Content Officer, Coursera

Today, we are excited to announce several new partnerships and a major expansion of our content catalog at Coursera Connect 2024, our annual flagship conference. This expansion includes numerous certifications and Specializations, with a particular focus on generative AI.

We are honored to welcome prestigious universities such as Saïd Business School – University of Oxford, Dubai College of Tourism, IMD Business School, and Real Madrid Graduate School Universidad Europea, along with industry leaders like Airbus Beyond, Amazon, Johns Hopkins Medicine, Liberty Mutual, and Xbox to our partner community. These partnerships enhance our ability to deliver job-relevant content for learners around the world, empowering them to meet the rapidly changing demands of the labor market.

Introducing a new degree pathway from the University of London

Coursera hosts 55+ flexible, job-relevant degrees from over 30 top universities to help learners advance their careers. We’re excited to announce the International Foundation Programme (IFP) for Computer Science from the University of London (UoL), which prepares learners to pursue the UoL bachelor’s degree in computer science in less than a year.

Designed for all learners – regardless of prior academic or professional experience – this program features a foundational curriculum in mathematics, statistics, and computer programming. Students will use industry-standard tools like Python, Tableau, and Pandas in practical computing challenges and activities. Upon successful completion, students will be offered a place in the UoL’s online BSc Computer Science degree, without the need to apply.

Applications for the IFP for computer science open in mid-September 2024, with the first cohort starting in January 2025.

Expanding career pathways with 8 new Professional Certificates

Professional Certificates from industry partners help learners break into or progress in high-demand careers. Entry-level certificates, many of which can be completed in six months, are particularly valuable for non-degree holders or beginners. We’re pleased to expand our portfolio with 7 entry-level and 1 advanced Professional Certificate:

Compensation and Benefits Analyst Entry-level Professional Certificate from ADP – Equips learners with crucial skills in areas including total rewards, health benefits, and compensation strategies through expert instruction and hands-on projects. Upon completion, learners will have a portfolio of 25 work samples to showcase to potential employers.

Payroll Specialist Entry-level Professional Certificate from ADP – Provides learners with a foundation in payroll, including process, management, customer service, and data analysis. Upon completion, learners will have a portfolio of eight work samples to showcase to potential employers.

Junior Software Developer Entry-level Professional Certificate from Amazon – Delivers vital skills in Java and full-stack web development, incorporating an introduction to GenAI to enrich software skills. The program emphasizes practical application, and equips learners for entry-level software development roles. Available now for pre-enrollment; expected to launch by the end of September.

Data Engineering Professional Certificate from DeepLearning.AI and AWS – Helps learners elevate their careers through teaching effective data engineering principles and practices, providing hands-on experience with AWS and open-source tools. Led by renowned data engineering expert and best-selling author, Joe Reis, this advanced certificate helps learners use data to create and drive business value.

Game Design Professional Certificate from Epic Games – Helps aspiring game professionals refine skills in level design, Blueprint visual scripting, audio/visual development, and UX/UI design. Utilizing Unreal Engine, the most advanced real-time 3D creation tool, the program primes learners for a career in game design.

Program Manager Entry-level Professional Certificate from IBM– Prepares learners for the industry-recognized PMI-PgMP certification exam. The program focuses on strategic execution, portfolio planning, and risk management, including hands-on activities like developing program plans, creating business cases, and building program roadmaps.

6 Entry-level Professional Certificates from Google, enhanced with GenAI updates

In addition to introducing new Entry-level Professional Certificates, we have continued to work with our partners to enhance our existing portfolio of certificates with GenAI content. We are proud to announce that the following certificates from Google now incorporate a refreshed curriculum – including activities, readings, and videos – that feature practical, field-specific AI training directly from Google’s own industry experts:

New Specializations from IBM and Microsoft teach GenAI skills for job roles

Sixty-six percent of leaders wouldn’t hire someone without AI skills, but a study from the University of Toronto shows that more than half of people globally aren’t sure how ChatGPT is useful to their work. To help workers apply GenAI skills to their specific job roles and enhance productivity, IBM and Microsoft have introduced a variety of GenAI Specializations in functions such as cybersecurity, data science, HR, marketing, and more.

IBM has launched the following Specializations to help learners unlock the potential of GenAI in their current roles:

Microsoft has launched the following Specializations to help learners integrate Copilot into their day-to-day work:

We are honored to work with our partners to expand our offerings, helping learners everywhere prepare for a new future and gain from the economic opportunities created by AI.

Click here to read about several platform-related announcements made at Coursera Connect 2024.

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Introducing Coursera’s 2024 Outstanding Achievement Award Winners

AI Innovation Award

Engagement Excellence Award

Maximizing Impact Award

Talent Transformation Award

Learning Hero Award

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