What do you think this image is saying? How does it relate to or comment on society or current events? Can you relate to it personally? What is your opinion of its message?
Tell us in the comments, then read the related article to learn more.
Students 13 and older in the United States and the United Kingdom, and 16 and older elsewhere, are invited to comment. All comments are moderated by the Learning Network staff, but please keep in mind that once your comment is accepted, it will be made public.
2. the generally accepted perspective of a particular discipline at a given time
3. systematic arrangement of all the inflected forms of a word
4. the class of all items that can be substituted into the same position (or slot) in a grammatical sentence (are in paradigmatic relation with one another)
Women’s sports, through no fault of the athletes, are also inherently political and politicized, much like women’s bodies. To Manuel, who spent much of the pandemic training for the upcoming Olympics in a backyard pool, all of the complicated ways in which women must navigate through sports and the world means they are “bursting at the seams to tell these stories.”
It might also mean they have more interesting stories to tell — Manuel wants to tell stories about Black hair, mental health, minorities in swimming and perhaps cooking — than male athletes who might begin focusing on a multimillion dollar career when they are 14 and begin media training at 16.
“Being a woman, you are told you are too much or not enough of any one thing, all the time, especially in sports,” Manuel said. “It is a consciousness that isn’t even ingrained, it is a byproduct. If we are talking literal financial opportunities, you have to dimensionalize yourself because there isn’t enough respect for women athletes and their athletic performance.”
Success for TOGETHXR could look like many different things, but for the founders, it’s rooted in changing that paradigm.
“We won’t know until we are looking back on this time and ask ourselves if we were right,” Robertson said. “Did coverage grow? Did pay change? Whose stories are we centering and how often are we centering them?”
Daily Word Challenge
Can you correctly use the word paradigm in a sentence?
Based on the definition and example provided, write a sentence using today’s Word of the Day and share it as a comment on this article. It is most important that your sentence makes sense and demonstrates that you understand the word’s definition, but we also encourage you to be creative and have fun.
Then, read some of the other sentences students have submitted and use the “Recommend” button to vote for two original sentences that stand out to you.
If you want a better idea of how paradigm can be used in a sentence, read these usage examples on Vocabulary.com.
Students ages 13 and older in the United States and the United Kingdom, and 16 and older elsewhere, can comment. All comments are moderated by the Learning Network staff.
This map shows the world’s top climate risks by 2040 if greenhouse-gas emissions are not cut drastically.
After looking closely at the map above (or at this full-size image), answer these four questions:
What do you notice?
What do you wonder?
The questions are intended to build on one another, so try to answer them in order.
2. Next, join the conversation online by clicking on the comment button and posting in the box. (Teachers of students younger than 13 are welcome to post their students’ responses.)
3. Below the response box, there is an option for students to click on “Email me when my comment is published.” This sends the link to their response which they can share with their teacher.
4. After you have posted, read what others have said, then respond to someone else by posting a comment. Use the “Reply” button to address that student directly.
On Wednesday, March 31, teachers from our collaborator, the American Statistical Association, will facilitate this discussion from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Eastern time.
5. By Friday morning, April 2, we will reveal more information about the graph, including a free link to the article that included this graph, at the bottom of this post. We encourage you to post additional comments based on the article, possibly using statistical terms defined in the Stat Nuggets.
Reveal
We’ll post more information here on Thursday afternoon. Stay tuned!
• Learn more about the “Notice and Wonder” teaching strategy and how and why other teachers are using this feature from our on-demand webinar.
• Sign up for our free weekly Learning Network newsletter so you never miss a graph. Graphs are always released by the Friday before the Wednesday live-moderation to give teachers time to plan ahead.
Students 13 and older in the United States and the United Kingdom, and 16 and older elsewhere, are invited to comment. All comments are moderated by the Learning Network staff, but please keep in mind that once your comment is accepted, it will be made public.
What springtime activities and celebrations are you planning?
Will you observe a religious holiday like Ramadan, Passover or Easter? Do you go on walks and picnics to enjoy warmer weather? Have you been watching March Madness or are you eagerly anticipating the beginning of baseball season?
How does the coronavirus pandemic factor into your plans? As vaccinations increase and case numbers decline, are you approaching springtime gatherings any differently than you did last year?
The weather is warming, the days are looking brighter and the number of people getting vaccinated is on the rise. So can we finally celebrate the spring holidays together like we used to, back when we could see the bottom halves of everyone’s faces?
Well, not exactly.
Although coronavirus cases and deaths are declining nationwide and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently issued new, looser safety guidelines for vaccinated people, the agency recommended against unmasked indoor gatherings with unvaccinated people except in certain circumstances.
We asked public health experts to help us understand the latest guidance and offer advice on how to safely observe upcoming holidays like Easter, Passover and Ramadan.
The article describes how two families are planning scaled-down Passover and Ramadan celebrations:
Erica Fleischer, 42, a public policy expert and mother of two who lives in Chicago, said her family would typically celebrate Passover Seder, held on the first two nights of the eight-day holiday, at her in-laws’ home, surrounded by as many as 20 people.
Last year they met virtually, but this year, given the new C.D.C. guidance, her unvaccinated family will have a small dinner with her in-laws, who have each received the vaccine.
Ms. Fleischer said she feels “pretty confident” the risks of infecting one another are low. “I think I actually needed more convincing than my in-laws did.”
Dr. Shaun Din, 35, a radiation oncologist in Manhattan, is planning to spend part of the holy month of Ramadan with nearby family members. Five of the eight adults, including Dr. Din and his parents, have been vaccinated, so the family feels comfortable meeting unmasked on weekends for the evening iftars that break each daylong fast.
“Last year was very lonely, not being able to celebrate together,” Dr. Din said. “Ramadan is difficult, but the communal aspect of all of us going through it and then breaking the fast together is something that’s very fun.”
The experts Ms. Caron interviews acknowledge that loosening restrictions could create moments of disagreement between family members with different risk and comfort levels:
After a year of public health warnings, some family members might feel uneasy about loosening the rules while others might be anxious to get back to normal.
Last year, ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday, Claudia W. Allen, a clinical psychologist and the director of the Family Stress Clinic at the University of Virginia School of Medicine, told The New York Times that if there are differences of opinion, it’s important not to pass judgment, start lecturing or assume that your relatives have bad motives.
“The people who are willing to take more risks are usually doing it because they’re valuing connection. And the people who are less willing to take risks are usually less willing because they are prioritizing safety. Connection and safety are both good,” Dr. Allen said at the time.
What springtime celebrations are you planning? Whether you’re observing religious holidays or just celebrating a change in the weather, what are your plans?
What foods, songs, activities and traditions do you associate with springtime? What do they mean to you? Do you have a favorite memory of spring?
How are you balancing safety and community in your springtime plans? Are you planning small or outdoor gatherings? Do any of the plans shared by the families in the article sound like something you might want to try?
How has your risk assessment for gatherings changed now that vaccinations are underway in many places? What is your reaction to the advice of the public health experts quoted in the article?
Are your springtime plans different this year from last year? How did you feel last spring? How are you feeling now?
Students 13 and older in the United States and the United Kingdom, and 16 and older elsewhere, are invited to comment. All comments are moderated by the Learning Network staff, but please keep in mind that once your comment is accepted, it will be made public.
In “News of the World,” Zengel’s character, Johanna Leonberger, is left orphaned after her German parents are violently murdered on their farm when she is four. Taken in and raised by the Kiowa tribe, she is later removed by soldiers, and a traveling veteran, played by Hanks, agrees to bring her to a surviving aunt and uncle.
Zengel has received strong reviews for her performance, with critics praising her ability to imbue her defiant and alienated character with a sense of warmth and intelligence, and for channeling the emotional horrors of Johanna’s back story in near silence. Most of her lines are in Kiowa, a language she had to learn for the part.
Can you correctly use the word imbue in a sentence?
Based on the definition and example provided, write a sentence using today’s Word of the Day and share it as a comment on this article. It is most important that your sentence makes sense and demonstrates that you understand the word’s definition, but we also encourage you to be creative and have fun.
Then, read some of the other sentences students have submitted and use the “Recommend” button to vote for two original sentences that stand out to you.
If you want a better idea of how imbue can be used in a sentence, read these usage examples on Vocabulary.com.
If you enjoy this daily challenge, try using multiple Words of the Day in a 50-word story that you submit to our Monthly Vocabulary Challenge.
Students ages 13 and older in the United States and the United Kingdom, and 16 and older elsewhere, can comment. All comments are moderated by the Learning Network staff.
Written by members of our Womxn in Tech Employee Resource Group: Yujia Cao, Rachel Liao, Olwen Puralena, Carolane Bonhaume, Như Lâm, and Emily T.
Coursera’s Womxn in Tech (WiT) Employee Resource Group (ERG) aims to create an environment where women in product, data science, design, engineering, or any roles requiring technical skills, are equally represented, can thrive, and are celebrated for their unique contributions.
According to the Women in the Workplace report in 2019, women see lower representation at every level and are less likely to be part of management and senior leadership in the tech industry. Half of WiT leave by the age of 35 due to various reasons, including culture, discrimination, or career development issues. At WiT ERG, we want to empower women in tech both within and without Coursera by investing in the career development of WiT, building a supportive work environment, and attracting and hiring WiT talent that represents the diversity of our current and future workforce.
In celebration of Women’s History Month, six of us across design, engineering, business development, data science, and product management came together to share our advice and tips for women who are looking to break into the tech industry. We hope this blog post will give you insights and courage to pursue or advance your career in tech!
Olwen Puralena[Product Researcher]: Always consider yourself to be a work-in-progress. This means that people will give you the feedback you need to hear and that you will be receptive to that feedback. Having a growth mindset frees you from seeing challenges as personal attacks. Instead, you see them as stepping stones to becoming a better version of yourself.
Carolane Bonhaume [EMEA Sales Development Representative]: Resilience, adaptability, and persistence are the most valuable skills you need to develop in order to be successful in this field. Associate yourself with someone successful in that field. A mentor-mentee relationship can help you launch or advance your career.
Emily T. [Staff Technical Program Manager]: Be bold! I know the field can be intimidating, but don’t be afraid to just go for it and ask for what you want and need; whether it’s a role, promotion, project, or raise. Be prepared with data and facts to justify the ask. Never sell yourself short.
Yujia Cao [Software Engineer]: Be resourceful. Use the available resources around you to help you achieve your goals: your peers, managers, online articles, webinars, and more. Find people you admire and see how they did it.
Rachel Liao[Data Scientist]:Stay true to yourself. Working in tech can be exciting, challenging, and so rewarding, but it can also be tiring and demotivating. Figure out what values matter the most to you and find a company and team that aligns with your values. Do you want to work in a fast-paced environment or would you rather have a healthy work-life balance? Does it matter if an organization has a flat structure or do you prefer defined levels and rubrics? Do you care to work at a mission-driven company or is it okay if you don’t relate to the product at all? If you’re not sure, then reach out to people in the field and ask!
Như Lâm [Software Engineer]: Whatever company you work for, make sure you seek out the other women in tech there. Once you do, build relationships, and support one another.
There is a good chance you’ll be working on a team where you are the only woman. Because of that, you may constantly doubt yourself because there is no one else that behaves or speaks the way you do.
However, if you’re a part of a community of people who are similar to you, this can help to normalize your experiences. You can build relationships with people who can remind you, either directly or indirectly, that “no, you’re not the only one.” This can help you feel much more at ease and better equipped to handle your inner doubts.
Without that inner doubt, you’ll be able to put your best foot forward everyday at work and reach your highest potential. So, go forth and find your people!
Olwen: I had worked in clinical research for a few years. This involved interviewing people as part of research on new medical devices, tests, and pharmaceuticals. I loved having a job where I felt I could help people, work on difficult problems, and be perpetually curious. Tech had this, too, plus the timelines to go from identifying a problem to having a solution were much shorter. This opportunity to effect change was really appealing to me! Once I saw how enthusiastic and driven people in tech were, I was hooked.
Carolane: I had a list of values and priorities when I was career searching: I liked interacting with people, I needed a decent income, and I wanted a challenge that would test my skills. Sales seemed like the right path for me that checked off all the boxes. Women are rare in sales, even rarer in tech—and when you combine them both together, it’s quite astounding to see the gender gap! I am happy I joined Coursera because at my previous job, I was the only woman on a team with 32 men. I think Coursera is making a huge effort for diversity and inclusion and it was one of the other main reasons why I wanted to join in the mission.
Emily: I love technology and how it can bridge some gaps in our daily lives. The ability and speed to connect with people across the world, distanced learning, ordering meals via mobile—these are just some of my favorites. All three have become pretty vital this past year—especially due to COVID lockdowns—and none of these would have been possible without technology.
Yujia: I was influenced by the Sci-Fi movies I watched in high school which made me think that tech is cool! There are a lot of discussions about future technology and how it has changed people’s lives, and I just want to be part of the force to make the change and to make dreams into reality. Also, my choice to enter tech was a bit of a rebellious act. I was recommended to choose finance or accounting as my major because many of my female peers had already opted for these fields. I was told they would “suit me better.” But I don’t believe there’s such a thing as “suits” when it comes to gender. So I just went with computer science and wanted to see how far I could go from there.
Olwen: I did a lot of research online! I watched videos of researchers talking about what they did and read every article on User Experience (UX) I could find. I also reached out to friends in tech to hear more about what working in tech was like. I searched for people with the jobs I wanted on LinkedIn and used their profiles plus job descriptions to figure out which skills I needed. Eventually, I found several excellent courses on Coursera and spent almost a year growing my skills. This helped me land my first job in tech.
Carolane: I previously worked in finance, but I found that the quality of my performance was not reflected in the pay and recognition I received. In tech sales, I’ve found the contrary to be the case. I think I’m actually doing better than most of my male counterparts. However, some of this may be attributable to a feeling that I think many women have—that we have to do more to earn our place. I think I am quite fierce and competitive. I also feel angry when women don’t have equal access to the best jobs in society—that we face so many blockers. I joined tech not only because it’s fascinating but also to be a part of creating a fairer system.
Yujia: I did a few internships and projects that helped me discover different options for a tech career. I have tried different areas of engineering in my internships, including mobile and machine learning. I even did UI/UX design as side projects but it turned out I didn’t like it. At one time, I got interested in product management, but after talking to some PMs about what they do, I felt that I liked writing code better so I decided not to start a PM career. In general, I really enjoy how fast this industry is growing and how much impact I can make during my daily work. I’ve been able to launch features that are used by millions of users and that level of impact just excites me every day.
Rachel: Seek out other women in your field, in and outside of your company. It helps a lot to have a strong support system and community that you can go to if you have any questions or need advice on work-related situations. You’ll likely also meet other women who are excelling at what they do, which can serve as inspiration for yourself to succeed in tech. You can find these communities through local or virtual meetups, conferences, Slack groups, Twitter, or LinkedIn.
In terms of entering the tech field itself, please don’t feel like you need to have a traditional tech background in order to enter tech. I’ve met people in tech that have come from backgrounds like consulting, teaching, professional gambling, and trucking, who have pivoted and successfully applied their transferable skills to tech.
The job application process for tech can be confusing if you aren’t familiar with it. Make sure to research how tech interviews work—in general, as well as at each company—and familiarize yourself with the different compensation pieces (base, equity, annual bonus, signing bonus, other benefits). Women and people of color earn less than half the equity men do (https://tablestakes.com/study/, by Carta), so make sure you know your worth so you can successfully negotiate.
Olwen: Tech interviews are really different from other roles I’ve interviewed for—from the initial call with a recruiter to the on-site interviews with an interview panel. You can have all the knowledge and transferable skills but if they don’t stand out at each stage, you’ll struggle to get your foot in the door, even with a referral. Start by learning the lingo for your new role. Reading relevant job descriptions can help.
Figure out how to explain the jobs you’ve had so the transferable skills are clear. Recruiters don’t work in the role you want. This means they may not spot your transferable skills in the one minute they give to review your resume. You may need to rephrase words on your resume so they’re familiar to recruiters in tech. Also, ensure your resume has the same keywords as the job description, and make sure to list specific skills that are relevant. You can list them in the skills section on your resume and LinkedIn description.
Lastly, remember that it’s really common for people to have more than one career. The best companies look for that diversity. Show them your enthusiasm, prove how eager you are by taking steps to develop your skills, and just keep knocking on doors until you find the right one.
Carolane: Trust yourself and don’t believe in people that tell you that you can’t do it. Confidence is everything. Find a person in your company you can trust to support and mentor you. My last advice would be to be open to critique and take a step back when someone gives you feedback—most of the time they are just trying to help.
Emily: Find a good mentor who has navigated the field, always be true to yourself, and don’t let anyone knock you down!
Regarding mentorship—in my experience, finding a mentor who is accomplished, enthusiastic and with whom you have a good rapport has been invaluable in helping me along the way of my career, and life. Be honest with them about your needs, goals, challenges, and set ground rules around important issues like confidentiality and cadence of conversations. Each mentor-mentee relationship is unique and you want to allow it to evolve and adapt!
Yujia: NOW it is the best time for you to lean in and make an impact. It’s never too late to pivot careers, learn news skills, and explore a new field. Entering the tech field can be scary, but we have many women in tech that are bright and ambitious and that have made great impact, and this shows us that we can do it, too!
About the authors:
Yujia Cao is a software engineer at Coursera’s payment platform team and co-lead of Coursera’s Womxn in Tech ERG. She is a key player in enabling safe, smooth, and easy payment on Coursera and makes quality educational content easily accessible for learners around the world. Besides work, she likes arts and cats.
Rachel Liao is a data scientist and the co-lead of Coursera’s Womxn in Tech ERG. She drives Coursera’s content strategy through data, and has been a key player in developing Coursera’s international growth plan, identifying content catalog and skill gaps and scaling content topic automation. Before Coursera, she worked on search and ranking for Thumbtack’s three-sided marketplace. Reach out to her via LinkedIn to chat more!
Như Lâm is a software engineer and the co-chair of Coursera’s Womxn in Tech ERG. She likes writing fiction, consuming art made by people from marginalized communities, mango, and hip-hop/r&b. Some of her favorite books are Pachinko by Min Jin Lee and On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong.
OlwenPuralena is a Senior Product Researcher leading research for Coursera’s consumer teams. She leverages her expertise to help teams identify the most important problems to tackle and ensure that product solutions align with learner needs. Key to this is creating compelling stories to build understanding and empathy with stakeholders and connecting insights to actionable next steps for the product team. Her research has focused on products across tech including Android OS and the Pixel phone at Google and Monetization at Facebook.
Carolane Bonhaume is a European Sales Representative for Coursera for Business. She helps organizations change and uplevel the skill set of their workforce so that they can be prepared to face a new future together. Carolane grew up in France, completed her master’s degree in finance while studying at universities in Paris, Hamburg, Honolulu, and Jacksonville. After graduation, she moved to London and started her career in sales, following her passion to build bridges between people.
Emily T. is a staff technical program manager and on the leadership team of Coursera’s Womxn in Tech ERG. She helps lead cross-functional projects such as accessibility and initiatives such as engineering operational excellence. Outside of work, she loves non-fiction reads, geeking out on space/astronomy, and going on adventures with her Siberian Husky T-Rex. Happy to chat and answer questions – just reach out via Linkedin!
Meet Hillary, a marketing freelancer and aspiring entrepreneur who’s learning from the Philippines. She started learning on Coursera at the beginning of the pandemic last year with the goal to gain news skills and boost her resume while in quarantine. Now she not only feels more confident in her marketing skills, she’s also getting ready to launch her first apparel line!
2020 was not a very good year for me. I bet many other people also feel the same way. But when life knocks you down, I believe that one way to approach a setback is to get working and focus on yourself. You can never go wrong with investing in yourself no matter what happens.
During quarantine, I had a lot of time on my hands and I couldn’t go out. I figured that I could be productive even if I was at home. I set aside time to learn while helping our family business thrive during the pandemic. I also kept busy being a freelance social media manager, working out, and pursuing my hobbies.
After a year of taking courses on Coursera, I can happily say that I have become a confident and aspiring entrepreneur and a better marketing and advertising professional. I listed my course certificates on LinkedIn, and now, many companies are reaching out to me and offering me job opportunities that I didn’t think were possible before. The courses that I took helped me not just with my career, but also with my physical and mental health.
Here is a list of courses I’ve completed so far and a description of some of the things I learned:
1) Introduction to Food and Health by Stanford: I took this course to help me with my diet while I was working out, and it helped me start my journey to living a healthier life!
2) The Science of Well-Being by Yale University: My favorite course so far! It helped me live a better life by focusing on what really matters, and it really helped my overall well-being—especially my mental health. It made me rethink the way I view happiness.
4) Viral Marketing and How to Craft Contagious Content by Wharton Online: This course broadened my knowledge of the digital avenues that I can use in order to be a better marketer, and the strategies I can leverage in order to effectively capture people’s attention.
5) Advertising and Society by Duke University: I learned about the correlation between advertising and society, and how exposure to marketing can change people’s perception of a product, brand, or situation.
6) Converting Challenges into Opportunities by University of California, San Diego: Through this course, I learned how to use my strengths in order to face challenges in the corporate world, and how to spot a challenge that can be made into an opportunity for growth.
7) The Strategy of Content Marketing by University of California, Davis: This course helped me understand the importance of content marketing in disseminating your message to the world, and it helped me become the effective and strategic social media manager that I am today!
I aspire to become a successful entrepreneur and marketer in the future. This is, in part, because of my mother. The woman that I look up to most in life is my mother––she’s superwoman! She has managed to grow and sustain our family optometry business for more than 20 years, and I aspire to be like her in the future, managing my own brands.
Photo: Hillary and her mother at their optometry clinic
I’d like to have a career in marketing while also building my own businesses––it’s the best of both worlds. Through Coursera, I was able to become confident in starting my own business. I have been in the process of creating an e-commerce platform to sell clothing and accessories from my own apparel line, and will be launching it very soon!
I was also able to start my own personal website that serves as my online resume and portfolio. I eventually want to share my learnings and knowledge through blogging. I want to inspire others to work and focus on themselves, and for them to be an inspiration to others as well.
My advice to my fellow learners is to never compare yourself to other people when it comes to their achievements. Instead, be inspired by them. We all have our own timelines and things we want to achieve in life. Be proud of your progress every day, and celebrate your wins whether they’re big or small. It will be your time soon and you’ll be glad you pushed through and never gave up. As a woman, people sometimes underestimate what we can do. But we’re proving them wrong and showing them what we are made of.
Bonus fun fact about me: I play guitar and write my own songs which I don’t let others hear. I also do Muay Thai. I’m obsessed with dogs and I love cats as well. I act, sing, and dance, although not really well. I also hosted a Study With Me session with Coursera, which you can check out here!
The pandemic saw a surge in pet adoptions that brought much-needed joy to many families in 2020 and beyond. Did you get a new pet to spend time with during quarantine? If so, what kind of pet was it? What memories and bonds have you created with your furry friends — new or old — during this past year?
Tell us in the comments, then read the related article to learn more.
Students 13 and older in the United States and the United Kingdom, and 16 and older elsewhere, are invited to comment. All comments are moderated by the Learning Network staff, but please keep in mind that once your comment is accepted, it will be made public.
The word abject has appeared in 79 articles on NYTimes.com in the past year, including on Aug. 1 in “The War on Frats” by Ezra Marcus:
In the past month, hundreds of students have dropped out of their fraternities and sororities at Vanderbilt University. They have gathered, digitally, using group-run Instagram activist pages. They have written searing op-eds condemning their own organizations for the student newspaper, The Vanderbilt Hustler.
And they have petitioned the administration to ban Greek organizations from campus.
… In college student newspapers, some have criticized the Abolish Greek Life movement for painting fraternities and sororities with too broad a brush. “AGL is wrong to characterize every Greek chapter as irredeemable,” wrote Jared Bauman, a Vanderbilt student, in a Vanderbilt Hustler op-ed, referring to the Abolish Greek Life movement. “My fraternity might not be perfect, but it’s a far cry from the image of abject depravity that AGL projects.”
Daily Word Challenge
Can you correctly use the word abject in a sentence?
Based on the definition and example provided, write a sentence using today’s Word of the Day and share it as a comment on this article. It is most important that your sentence makes sense and demonstrates that you understand the word’s definition, but we also encourage you to be creative and have fun.
Then, read some of the other sentences students have submitted and use the “Recommend” button to vote for two original sentences that stand out to you.
If you want a better idea of how abject can be used in a sentence, read these usage examples on Vocabulary.com.
If you enjoy this daily challenge, try using multiple Words of the Day in a 50-word story that you submit to our Monthly Vocabulary Challenge.
