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Leading Companies Partner with Coursera to Tackle Pandemic Disruption and Upskill for a New Economy

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Leading Companies Partner with Coursera to Tackle Pandemic Disruption and Upskill for a New Economy

By Leah Belsky, Chief Enterprise Officer, Coursera

The pandemic has made the need for workforce upskilling an urgent priority for companies worldwide. On Coursera, we are seeing companies across global regions and industry verticals grow their investment in enterprise learning. Amidst the pandemic, many of them are using Coursera to accelerate digital transformation, manage the shift to remote work, and navigate business model disruption. This year alone, more than 340,000 employees gained access to world-class learning on Coursera.

As many as 25 percent of the Fortune 500 companies use Coursera’s skill development platform. In 2020, leading companies like BNP Paribas Cardif, Capgemini, Campofrio, Liberty Global, Novartis, Sberbank, Stanley Black & Decker, Tata Communications, and WPP engaged Coursera to reskill their workforce and prepare for future growth.

Enrollments among enterprise learners surged up to 450 percent this year, with significant demand for digital and technology skills like agile software development and artificial neural networks. This momentum was partially driven by the Employee Resilience Initiative, which provided an additional 80,000 employees with free courses during the pandemic. 

Companies are using content on Coursera to address skill needs across their entire workforce. Employees can access 4,200 world-class courses across more than 10 domains like business, technology, data science. This year, we added 1,500 new courses to our catalog, including four new courses per day. We also introduced 900 Guided Projects, which are hands-on learning experiences that teach job-relevant skills like Project Management, Python Programming, or Spreadsheets.

Trending courses, guided projects, and skills among employees in 2020.

Our product is designed to help companies drive transformative skill development. This year, we introduced hundreds of job-based learning programs that match skill goals for a given role with a set of data-driven course recommendations. These SkillSets power Academies, which help organizations drive skill literacy, upskilling, and reskilling in key areas such as Data Science, Software Engineering, and Cloud.

The tremendous interest in workforce learning from companies and employees this year speaks to the promise of using online learning to drive business growth and resilience. We are honored by how companies across the world are engaging Coursera to deliver on that promise and prepare workers for the future.

“As the manufacturing industry continues to evolve, we are committed to equipping employees with opportunities to upskill and grow their careers. Coursera is helping Stanley Black & Decker provide high-quality online learning in cutting-edge skills like machine learning and AI, data science, and cloud computing. Thousands of Stanley Black & Decker employees turned to Coursera’s Employee Resilience offering during the pandemic to gain collaboration and well-being skills that are critical to driving resilience.”

Mike Murray, Director, Global Learning & Development, Stanley Black & Decker

“Our close partnership with Coursera adds to our employees’ seamless learning experience, enriching customer, technical and human-centric skills through our social learning environment and contributing to personal and professional growth.”

Denisa Pandia, Global Program Manager Learning, Signify Innovation

“At Swisscom, driving employee engagement through investment in skills is a top priority. We are delighted to partner with Coursera to support the upskilling needs of our employees and develop solutions to help them navigate through a rapidly changing business environment.”

Matthias Schmidt, Chief Learning Architect, Swisscom

Interested in learning more? Reach out to a Coursera expert to customize a learning plan for your business today.

5

Snow Globe

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Snow Globe

Students in U.S. high schools can get free digital access to The New York Times until Sept. 1, 2021.

What story does this image inspire for you?

Use your imagination to write the opening of a short story or poem inspired by this illustration — or tell us about a memory from your own life that this image makes you think of.

Post it in the comments, then read the related article to learn more.

About Picture Prompts

• Find all our Picture Prompts in this column.
• Have an idea for a Picture Prompt? Tell us about it.
• Teachers, discover more ways to teach with our Picture Prompts and learn how to use our free daily writing prompts for remote learning.

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.

Word + Quiz: virago

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Word + Quiz: virago

1. a noisy or scolding or domineering woman

2. a large, strong, and courageous woman

_________

The word virago has appeared in four articles on NYTimes.com in the past year, including on Feb. 20 in “Is This the Best Opera Singer You’ve (Probably) Never Heard Of?” by Christopher Corwin:

Though she’s one of Europe’s most acclaimed and sought-after artists, the Swedish mezzo-soprano Ann Hallenberg’s appearances on this side of the Atlantic have been surprisingly few: Her New York debut came just three years ago.

But she will return on Thursday for an ambitious program of early-18th-century arias: “The Swedish Nightingale,” joined by the Venice Baroque Orchestra at Zankel Hall. A richly expressive and candid approach to the quite formal style of that period of music has made her a beloved Baroque diva, and one of the greatest singers you’ve (probably) never heard of.

… Despite the work’s title, Dejanira is the one who dominates the action, evolving through seven arias from impatient wife to imperious virago to despairing murderer. Biting into Thomas Boughton’s text with relish, Ms. Hallenberg revealed all those conflicting facets through her regal presence and opulent, seamless voice, which rose from earthy lows to brightly ringing highs…

_________

Do You Miss Hugs?

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Do You Miss Hugs?

Students in U.S. high schools can get free digital access to The New York Times until Sept. 1, 2021.

Not everyone is a hugger. Hugs can feel awkward or uncomfortable for some people.

At the same time, hugging can be essential for humans. Hugs can reduce stress by calming our sympathetic nervous system; they can make us feel safe, loved and not alone.

But like kisses, handshakes and fist bumps, hugs are not the safest way to greet people outside our immediate family members during a pandemic.

Are you a hugger? Do you miss hugs? Who do you want to hug again when life returns to normal? If you don’t like to hug, are there other greetings you’ll be happy to reinstate?

In “When We Can Hug Again, Will We Remember How It Works?” A.C. Shilton writes about the “HuggieBot 1.0,” an on-demand squeeze machine, and recent research on hugging:

Alexis Block was worried that the robot she’d built was malfunctioning. She was testing the optimal hug duration for her “HuggieBot 1.0,” a purple-furred, on-demand squeeze machine. Ms. Block had built pressure sensors into the machine’s torso, so if the human tester tapped or squeezed the robot on the back, it let go. But this hug was going on and on. “I worried that the pressure sensors were malfunctioning,” she said.

Her palms began to sweat (getting stuck in the clutches of a giant robot is no one’s idea of a good time). But then, the hug ended, and the HuggieBot released its test subject. When Ms. Block, who is working toward her Ph.D. at the Max Planck ETH Center for Learning Systems in both Stuttgart, Germany and Zurich, Switzerland, asked the subject if something had gone wrong, he surprised her by explaining that he had wanted the hug to last a long time. “He said, ‘I just needed it, and the robot wasn’t going to judge me.’”

As the weeks of coronavirus quarantine stretched into months, hugs are among the many things isolated people found themselves aching for. Hugs are good for humans — perhaps more valuable than many of us realized, until we found ourselves missing them.

Research has shown that hugs can lower our cortisol levels during stressful situations, and can raise oxytocin levels and maybe even lower our blood pressure. A 2015 paper published in Psychological Science even found that study subjects who got more hugs were less likely to get sick when exposed to a cold virus than those who weren’t hugged as often.

“The need for human contact is extremely profound,” said Judith Hall, a psychology professor emerita at Northeastern University who researched interpersonal touch at the university’s Social Interaction Lab. But whether to hug someone or not sometimes seems fraught.

Not everyone enjoys having their body squished against yours — as evidenced by the wealth of “Not a Hugger” T-shirts available online. Ms. Block, the hug robot researcher, knows this all too well. Her best friend defines herself as “not a hugger.” She makes an exception for Ms. Block, but, “She told me she actually preferred hugging my robot to hugging me because sometimes I don’t let go,” Ms. Block, who is now working on a HuggieBot 2.0, said with a laugh.

Students, read the entire article, then tell us:

  • Do you miss hugs? Would you want an embrace from a hug robot like the HuggieBot 2.0?

  • Ms. Shilton writes that the first rules of hugging are “You don’t have to hug anyone you don’t want to,” and “It’s best to ask before going in for a squeeze — especially if it’s someone you don’t know well.” Why do you think these are such important rules? What “rules” around hugging would you establish if you could?

  • Who do you want to hug again after the pandemic ends? Do you have a long list, or just a few people you’re especially close to?

  • Before the coronavirus took over our lives, how did you typically greet family and friends? Were you likely to hug others, or were handshakes, fist-bumps, cheek-kisses, head nods, bows or anything else a more central part of your repertoire? Have you adopted any new forms of greeting during these social-distancing months?

  • Do you have a memory of a time when a hug — or some other form of comforting physical touch — was especially meaningful to you? Why do you think you still remember it? In thinking about your own experience, would you say that you agree that “hugs are good for humans”?

About Student Opinion

• Find all our Student Opinion questions in this column.
• Have an idea for a Student Opinion question? Tell us about it.
• Learn more about how to use our free daily writing prompts for remote learning.

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.

Best Books?

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Best Books?

Students in U.S. high schools can get free digital access to The New York Times until Sept. 1, 2021.

The New York Times just published its list of 100 Notable Books of 2020 as well as the editors’ picks for the ten best of those books.

What would go on your list of the best books you read this year, whether they were published in 2020 or earlier? Why?

Tell us in the comments, then check out the related Times lists, both to see what the editors chose, and to get some ideas of your own for what to curl up with in December.

About Picture Prompts

• Find all our Picture Prompts in this column.
• Have an idea for a Picture Prompt? Tell us about it.
• Teachers, discover more ways to teach with our Picture Prompts and learn how to use our free daily writing prompts for remote learning.

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.

How Much Do You Know About Grenada?

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How Much Do You Know About Grenada?

Can you find Grenada on a map? What else do you know about this island nation with a population of about 112,500 people?

COVID-19 HAS TAUGHT US THAT FINANCIAL PLANNING IS A NECESSITY OF LIFE

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COVID-19 HAS TAUGHT US THAT FINANCIAL PLANNING IS A NECESSITY OF LIFE

Since the announcement of the first case of the coronavirus in Rwanda, different measures have been taken to slow the spread of this disease. One such measure was the closing of schools and nonessential businesses since the first day of the outbreak.

The life of the people living in Kigali were changed drastically as their businesses were closed. Some employees had to go to their villages, while most of them were stuck in a bus station called Nyabugogo. These employees were not allowed to leave Kigali, as it was feared that they may have spread the virus in the districts from Kigali to Rusizi District. The district where I come from was almost impossible to get into, and many people wanted to go there as it is very difficult for them to live in Kigali where they have to buy food, pay rent, all with no income.

We are going to discuss some mistakes made that caused some of these residents to land in this financial crisis. In the case of the District that I live in, some of the residents who were receiving a wage of RWF5000 every day, spent about half of that amount buying drinks and cigarettes instead of helping their families. All counsel given to them on the importance of wisely using the money to improve the standard of living for their family was ignored. As a result of ignoring this counsel, these residents had no choice but to depend on the supplies provided by the Local Government (three kilograms of rice, three kilograms of beans, soap, and more) for three days at a time.

Improper planning is a problem faced by many families, the society, and the country. Evidence of this recently manifested in the fact that the government had to bear all the burden and led them to seek to help only those people who become destitute. In my opinion, it is shameful to see a young man calling for help now after having worked for four years. Then after all his hard work, he has no land and no business to show for the years of ‘hard work’. Many were given the opportunity to capitalize on the profits gained or save some of the money for any emergency, but they chose to spend it all.

If this crisis continues, Kigali will be negatively impacted by a rise in cases of theft and other related crimes. The culprits will be sent to jail, their lives will be broken, and their families will have no breadwinner, and no protector. This all simply leaves me to conclude that proper planning and money management is paramount to ensure that persons can live a stable life amidst times of crisis.

How to land a good letter of recommendation: Advice from an admissions expert

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How to land a good letter of recommendation: Advice from an admissions expert

by Mary Beth Carroll, Assistant Director of Student Affairs in the Office of Student Engagement and Practice at the University of Michigan School of Public Health.

Most graduate school applications require two to three letters of recommendation, which provide another dimension to your application and, when viewed alongside other factors such as your GPA, professional experience and personal essays, can help faculty reviewers get a sense for whether you can succeed in your program of interest.

The process of securing letters of recommendation can be stressful or confusing for some applicants. As the Assistant Director of Student Affairs at the University of Michigan School of Public Health, I have helped guide hundreds of prospective students through the applicant process. Here, I’ll explain the steps you can take, and some of my top tips, for securing strong letters of recommendation.

At Michigan Public Health,  we encourage a quality-over-quantity lens when it comes to fulfilling this requirement, meaning that a page length high-quality letter from a recommender who knows you well will be more valuable than a long letter that lacks detail and specific examples.

Quick Tip: As you gather information on programs you’re interested in, be sure to do it early to ensure you have time to familiarize yourself with what is required. Keep an eye out for details about application materials such as essay prompts and standardized test or professorial work requirements prior to beginning the application process. 

Weighing Your Options 

If you have been outside the academic setting for an extended period of time, it may be challenging to identify references. We encourage our applicants to choose people who can speak to their potential to succeed both in an academic and professional setting. 

Depending on your background and specific situation, consider the following as potential recommenders:

  • Professors in your major of study
  • An employer or supervisor
  • Academic advisor
  • Professional mentor from a relevant volunteer or professional experience

We advise applicants against using a friend or relative for a graduate school recommendation. In addition, public health faculty reviewers like to see letters on official letterhead (a document with a heading that includes a company/affiliation logo, company name, address, and contact information), when possible, along with a full signature including the writer’s company or professional affiliation, job title, and contact information. You can make a good impression with these small considerations — making sure all components of your application display professionalism and thoughtfulness.  

Ask Away!

Prior to engaging with potential recommenders, it is best to review the program’s application process and timeline, so you are prepared to convey exactly what you need. It is ideal to provide recommenders ample time to write their recommendation, as they likely have busy schedules and multiple competing demands. If possible, schedule an in-person or virtual meeting to discuss your desire to attend graduate school and potentially include them as a recommender. Also, make sure they are familiar with the program and field you are applying to. When we advise applicants, we always mention this as many people aren’t familiar with what public health is or the career trajectory our students have. If you are unable to meet in person or virtually, it’s also appropriate to initiate contact via email.

Quick Tip: The letter of recommendation submission process has come a long way! In 2020, the majority of graduate school applications, including the Michigan Public Health application, allow recommenders to electronically submit a letter. During this process, applicants share recommenders’ names and contact information. From there, the system initiates contact, provides reminders, and offers instructions for submission.

Provide Relevant Materials 

You want to make a recommender’s role straightforward and easy, so after your conversation, follow-up with them to provide an updated resume/CV, transcripts, essays, and overview of the process and timeline. A short paragraph or bulleted list of the items you would like a reference to touch on is a helpful tool for them and a good way to ensure your major accomplishments are highlighted. 

Quick Tip: As you navigate the process of securing recommenders, remember to communicate your reasoning for pursuing graduate school, future career goals, and what you can contribute to the discipline. For example, you might say something like this: “I am applying to the Population and Health Sciences MPH program at the University of Michigan because I want to gain the skills necessary to start a career as a community health worker. I’m passionate about teaching children and new mothers about nutrition and other early-life health considerations.”

Say Thank You

It is important to compose a proper thank you note to each recommender. In addition, once you determine your next steps, it is appropriate to share your future plans with them. Communicating both of these messages will allow you to continue to foster a relationship and keep the door open if additional support is needed down the road.

A Final Thought

While letters of recommendation are important, remember that they are just one peice of your complete application package. At Michigan Public Health, like many other schools, we practice a holistic review process in which faculty reviewers give careful consideration to all credentials presented by each applicant. This ensures that no single factor leads to either accepting or denying an applicant.

Consider an Online Public Health Degree at Michigan Public Health 

Are you looking for an opportunity to contribute to a better world? Right now, the world needs public health, and public health needs you. Now more than ever, we need passionate and capable public health professionals, and since 1941, the University of Michigan School of Public Health has been helping students become just that. We are excited to have the opportunity to reach a broader audience through our newly designed online Master of Science and Master of Public Health degrees in Population and Health Sciences.

As an online learner, you will gain access to everything our school and community has to offer. You will be taught by the same top-notch faculty who teach our residential classes. Our school has consistently earned top rankings for the programs and resources we offer. Staff from the Office for Student Engagement and Practice will be there every step of the way as we work to provide you with quality student life opportunities, enriching practice experiences, and support through career preparation programming. 

We’re here to help you discover how an online degree in public health can fit into your life, so reach out to our team today at sph-inquries@umich.edu to learn more! 

 

5 benefits of learning SQL for non-technical teams

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5 benefits of learning SQL for non-technical teams

We recently shared an announcement about Codecademy for Teams, a Codecademy for Business offering that unlocks technical training opportunities for organizations. We’ve seen our Codecademy for Teams customers learning all sorts of things, from web development to data science. In this article, we thought we’d dive into a language we’ve seen a lot of non-technical teams benefit from — SQL.

SQL is a programming language designed for managing and querying data held in databases. Understanding SQL can allow marketers, sales teams, product managers, and more to easily search their companies’ databases to get the information they need to successfully do their jobs, without having to rely on data engineers.

The benefits of learning SQL for sales teams, marketers, and product managers

We spoke to some Codecademy learners to find out more about how learning SQL has helped them in their jobs. Read on for 5 ways that learning SQL can benefit you or your team members.

Getting the most out of company data

One of the main reasons that non-technical team members learn SQL is so that they can get the most out of the data available in company databases. The right data can provide valuable insights about customers that can help sales teams be more effective, determine if marketing campaigns are working, help product teams understand how people are engaging with products, and more. But you can only glean these insights if you know how to access them.

Jorge Alejo started learning SQL after his company, dataPlor, joined Codecademy. Jorge tells us:

“I got started with SQL because I needed the ability to query my company’s database for sales sampling purposes. My initial goal was to swiftly pull useful data from our database using SQL. As I’ve developed more skills, I’ve created multiple, company-wide business intelligence dashboards, provided custom datasets for everyday operations, and assumed command of a variety of processes at the console level.”

Not only has Jorge’s work led to more effective use of data, it’s also earned him a promotion. He tells us, “My company has recognized my growth and I have since moved into data analytics for operations and business intelligence, which is now my main responsibility.”

Professional growth

Jorge isn’t the only learner that’s shared news of a promotion with us. Marco De Libero, a Senior BI Analyst, landed a senior-level job that required advanced coding skills after learning SQL and Python. Marco tells us, “I’ve built some exciting analyses that I could never have completed had I not been able to start my coding journey with Codecademy.”

Marco shared more about his coding journey with us:

“I didn’t have any coding background when I was hired by a former employer within the iGaming industry a couple of years ago. At the time, SQL wasn’t a skill that was required in the recruitment process like it is now for analysts. To perform very basic analyses, I needed to interrogate an old, slow, and basic software to retrieve my raw data in the first place. Furthermore, any advanced extraction needed a data engineer to do the job. I felt stuck in my day-to-day tasks.”

“I have always been curious about coding and the idea of sitting around without getting my hands dirty was something that I wanted to erase. My wake-up call was when my data engineer co-worker suggested that I pick up some SQL skills to provide me with some independence when completing my tasks. And that’s how I got started with Codecademy.”

Better communication with clients and engineering teams

Jessica Sarceda, a Product Director at Paradox, started her coding journey in college. She shared with us that this knowledge of coding has enabled her to better communicate with clients.

“I am in a very strategic and product heavy role, and through learning with Codecademy (SQL in particular), I can now better communicate with clients on their reporting requests, speaking to what’s realistic technically and map those reporting needs to engineering.”

“I have found that the more I can technically understand the scope of products I manage, the more likely the product is to be shipped at high quality.”

Jessica focuses on strategy in her current role as a Product Director, but she’s able to do her job more effectively because of her understanding of how things are built and how queries are run behind the scenes.

Being empowered to get hands on

Here at Codecademy, we don’t just teach technical skills — we’re learners too! Hannah Jun, an Email Marketing Manager on our marketing team, decided to learn SQL in order to be able to access business data in Looker.

“It wasn’t always easy to pull the data I needed because most of our existing dashboards were focused on product metrics and analytics, rather than marketing metrics. Learning SQL allowed me to go to the source and query directly into our tables to find the information I needed. It made me feel powerful to know I could find analysis that no one else could.”

Today Hannah uses the fundamentals of SQL to create razor-focused segmentation for Codecademy email campaigns and to query in Looker. She tells us, “knowing I can always get hands on is valuable.”

Showcasing the impact your work is having

Last but not least, SQL can unlock ways to showcase the impact that you or your team’s work is having. Data queries and dashboards can make it easier to illustrate your wins and report on progress on a regular basis.

Getting started

Interested in seeing what SQL can do for you or your team? If you’re starting from square one, our Learn SQL course is a good way to dip your toes in. Looking for something more advanced? Check out Learn Intermediate SQL for Marketers and Product Managers, How to Analyze Business Metrics with SQL, or How to Transform Tables with SQL.

Want to learn more about how Codecademy for Teams can unlock technical training for your entire team? Sign up below to request a free trial or find out more.

Word + Quiz: bildungsroman

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Word + Quiz: bildungsroman

: a novel that focuses on the intellectual, moral and psychological growth of the main character

_________

The word bildungsroman has appeared in 17 articles on NYTimes.com in the past year, including on Nov. 17 in the book review “Ismail Kadare Attributes His Writer’s Gift to His Mother” by Elisabeth Zerofsky:

Ismail Kadare, the prolific Albanian novelist, is best known as an ironist who has earned comparisons to George Orwell and Milan Kundera, writing in the face of the ruthless Communist dictator Enver Hoxha, who ruled Albania from 1944 to 1985. By the early 1990s, though Hoxha was by then dead, Kadare had provoked enough ire within the regime to have to flee to Paris. He returned to his country only several years later, after receiving a call from his siblings informing him of the illness of his mother, whom he called the Doll. Such is the premise of Kadare’s autobiographical novel of the same title, originally published in Albanian in 2015 and now translated by John Hodgson into English.

… The novel also turns, partly, into a bildungsroman, as the narrator tries to tease out what it was about his mother’s sensibility that gave birth to “the writer’s gift” within him. Ismail becomes convinced that “everything that had harmed the Doll in life became useful to me in my art,” and that his mother had surrendered liberty in her own life “to give me all possible liberty as a human being, in a world where freedom was so rare and hard to find.”

_________

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