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What’s in a Name? Alison Founder on Global Education Brand’s Beginnings

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What’s in a Name? Alison Founder on Global Education Brand’s Beginnings

Have you ever wondered who Alison is or whether the name is an acronym? You’re not alone. Alison founder Mike Feerick travels the world, meeting Alison staff, learners and graduates in 193 countries and is reliably asked, “Is Alison your wife’s name?” or, “How did you come up with the name Alison?” Here, he shares the story of how the best free online learning platform in the world came by its name.

“When I first came up with the vision of a website that could teach for free anyone, anywhere, on any subject, at any time, I knew that coming up with the right name was very important. As the old Chinese sage Confucius was reported to have said (and I paraphrase!) “Calling something by its right name is the beginning of all wisdom”. 

Criteria for Choosing a Name

The name of the project/website had to have certain basic qualities:

  1. Simplicity: It had to be a simple name, easily said. The name phonetically had to roll off any tongue in any language, as our goal from day one was to have a large global website with learners studying in every country.
  2. Generic and benign: It had to be a generic, benign word to begin with – something like “Google” that could morph into many things. What I did not want to call the website was “Free Online Learning.org” as what we were planning to build was so much more than providing free learning alone.
  3. Alphabetical advantage: It should begin with the letter “A”. It’s one of the most basic marketing strategies, as starting with “A” gets you placed naturally at the top of many listings. I remember some years later listening to an interview with Jack Ma at the World Economic Forum in Davos, in which he said he came up with the name Alibaba partly also because of the letter “A”!There was another reason for the “A” letter: the original company (which sold IT Desktop Training courses online) was called “Advance Learning”, so from there, I got the “A” and the “L”.  When I thought of the “Alison” name, I had to look to see if the domain was taken, and indeed it was, by a very nice American lady by the name of: you guessed it, “Alison”.

The Golden Question

Not only is the right name important, but having the matching domain/URL equally so. I found out that “Alison” was living in New Jersey, USA. I reached out and got a speedy reply. No, she wasn’t interested. “I like having this domain name,” she said, and who would not like to have their own matching namesake domain for themselves? Unsurprised, I persisted. Alison told me she had over 100 inquiries from China alone trying to buy the name. Then she asked me the golden question after some friendly exchanges: “What do you want it for?” 

I knew I had a chance when she asked that question. As carefully as I could, I wrote out my vision for educating the world for free. I shared with her some of my background; that I had already started a number of web-based businesses, and how the social mission and impact of what we could do was what excited me most. She asked for some time to think about it. She really did like having that domain name!

Sometime early in 2007, I received the email I was hoping for. Yes, we could have the domain name.  A month later, for a one-off payment of $10,000, dinner and show on Broadway, the domain was ours!

How Alison Has Grown

I have not been in contact with Alison for many years, but I hope she is happy with how we have used her precious domain name around the world. It reminds me how many acts of goodwill around the world have helped us to get this far. 

What’s in a name? Well, everything. You make it become something that in time stands alone. We hope the Alison name will become even more synonymous with free learning and empowerment in the years ahead. For my part, I invite you too to help build the brand of Alison by telling someone new about Alison when you can!

Hope you enjoyed the story! You can follow me on Twitter and Linkedin.”

Free Courses and Much More!

Mike’s vision and passion for equal access to education worldwide has seen Alison notch up more than 40 million registered learners in the years since that theatre-loving lady agreed to sell him her domain name. Today, Alison boasts over 4,000 free courses, all accredited by CPD UK. They can be studied on your PC, laptop or phone via the app. Additional tools, like psychometric tests and career advice have grown our claim to fame as an all-round empowerment platform. Explore our courses and the resources below today! 

Resources to Help Your Career:

  • Career Guide – Explore thousands of career pathways, including average salaries and course recommendations.
  • Career Ready Plan – Discover the career most suited to you and get a step-by-step plan for succeeding in it.
  • Resumé Builder – Create a clear, concise, impactful CV that will showcase your skills and experience

Discover Who You Are:

  • Workplace Wellbeing Assessment – Understand and improve your cognitive, emotional and physical wellbeing and workplace stressors.
  • Realise your career dreams with Alison’s best free Workplace Personality Test. Explore your character; discover your professional strengths and weaknesses and find your perfect career match. Upskill with personalised course recommendations.
  • Aptitude Test – Assess your verbal, numerical and abstract reasoning skills. Course recommendations will help you improve in your areas of weakness.

Read Learners’ Success Stories

  • Testimonials – Be encouraged by positive stories of empowerment from Alison graduates.
  • Graduate Outcomes – Discover why people study with Alison.

Earn As You Learn

Why not join our Affiliate Programme? It’s a simple process. If you enjoy a course and want to recommend it to others, we’ll help you share your review and earn commission when someone you’ve brought to the site completes the course and purchases a certificate or diploma.

Helping Employers to Upskill Their Workforce

Free LMS – Upskill your employees with micro-credentials from our free learning management system. Keep abreast of your team’s progress with comprehensive reports.

Follow Alison on Facebook, X, LinkedIn, Instagram, TikTok, Quora, YouTube.

Leadership for engineers: How one manager is investing in himself and his team

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Leadership for engineers: How one manager is investing in himself and his team

Thank you for sharing your thoughts and insights on how you use ChatGPT to enhance your resume—and for your tips to avoid over-embellishment. We’re excited to keep talking about ways we’re using GenAI tools to boost productivity in future issues. This week, however, we thought we’d shine the spotlight on someone like you, a learner, who is currently using Coursera to reinforce his current skills and strengthen new skills in order to further his career.

Hubert Abiera is currently pursuing his Master of Engineering in Engineering Management from the University of Colorado Boulder on Coursera. Prior to joining the program, Abiera had already earned a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering, had several years of work experience in manufacturing and mechanical design, and had begun his journey as a manager. It was then that he realized that he’d need more than technical skills to be a good leader for his team.

“You see good managers,” Abiera said. “You also see ineffective managers.” He’s had both and didn’t want to fall into the latter category. “I wanted to be able to have the fundamentals of what’s being taught out there, and then mix that in with what I’ve seen to be effective from the managers I’ve had.”

For him, having a goal was a good starting point. Then, he thought about the qualities he’d like to have in a program. Topping his list was flexibility. He wanted to continue working at his full-time job while enrolled in his program.

When Abiera found UC Boulder’s program, he found other aspects of the program that spoke to his values. He liked that he’s able to adjust his schoolwork according to his other responsibilities—“the self-pacing is actually really nice for the program,” he said—and the accessibility of the performance-based admissions policy, which grants an offer of admission to students who successfully complete specific courses rather than requiring a formal application process with transcripts and exam scores. (Abiera started with the Finance for Technical Managers Specialization and put his new skills to work immediately.)

“I love being able to trust in my team to do bigger and bigger things, so I spend a lot of time on people and their personal development,” he says. “It’s an investment in them, and for myself, for the company. If the individuals on my team get stronger then my whole team is stronger. We can do more.”

We love any learner success story, but do you know what we really love about Abiera’s story?

The fact that anyone can replicate his approach:

  1. Clarify your goal.
  2. Identify your growth path.
  3. Set your must-haves and nice-to-haves.
  4. Research aligned programs.
  5. Work toward your growth.

Sure, maybe your goal doesn’t necessitate a degree right now (see: Should You Go Back to School?), but there are tons of ways to build the skills you need to move closer to your desired outcomes (also see: 9 Alternatives to College).

Next time, we’ll return to a skills-centric topic. Until then, tell us in the comments: What steps are you currently taking to move closer to your goals?

Grass Lawns: Lavish and Lamentable

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We are honoring the Top 9 winners of our Student Open Letter Contest by publishing their entries. This one is by Lucy Robb, age 17.

‘As a Muslim, Those Words Pierce My Soul’: The Week 4 Winner of Our Summer Reading Contest

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Jawaher Korichi writes about how the two sides of her family — one wealthy and one not — experience the Hajj differently.

Word of the Day: adieu

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This word has appeared in 39 articles on NYTimes.com in the past year. Can you use it in a sentence?

Coursera celebrates AI Appreciation Day with new GenAI courses, Professional Certificate enhancements, and GenAI Academy for Teams

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Coursera celebrates AI Appreciation Day with new GenAI courses, Professional Certificate enhancements, and GenAI Academy for Teams

By Jeff Maggioncalda, CEO, Coursera

As the GenAI revolution unfolds, it is leaving individuals anxious about job security and businesses struggling to adapt. White-collar workers, in particular, must stand out by proving their GenAI skills in order to secure jobs and advance in their careers. On AI Appreciation Day, we are reminded of our collective responsibility to harness the potential of GenAI, turning it into an engine of opportunity for everyone.

Today, we are proud to announce several new initiatives aimed at empowering individuals and institutions at this critical time. These include a new selection of GenAI-focused content and credentials, enhancements to our current Professional Certificate portfolio with GenAI-specific updates, upgrades to Coursera Coach, and an expansion of our GenAI Academy to help businesses equip their teams with GenAI skills. These launches will further help meet the unprecedented demand to learn GenAI skills on Coursera, with over 2 million enrollments (four per minute in 2024 alone) across 250+ GenAI courses and Guided Projects. 

Introducing 7 new GenAI courses, Specializations, and certificates

Sixty-six percent of leaders wouldn’t hire someone without AI skills, yet only 5% of companies have rolled out reskilling at scale. We have launched the following content from top partners to help learners develop the latest GenAI skills:

  • Generative AI for Software Development Skills Certificate from DeepLearning.AI – Designed for software developers and engineers at all stages in their careers, this program will explore how large language models (LLMs) work, their architecture, and their applications in various coding tasks. Learners will gain knowledge on how to incorporate LLMs as members of their development team as pair coding partners that can help test and optimize code and enhance efficiency. Skills Certificates on Coursera target specific high-demand skill sets within a field, helping learners advance their careers. Launching in August, available now for pre-enrollment.
  • Artificial Intelligence Graduate Certificate from the University of Colorado Boulder – This comprehensive program helps learners build a strong foundation in key AI topics, including GenAI, natural language processing, computer vision, ethics, and more. The certificate can count toward credit for the online Master of Science in Computer Science degree from CU Boulder and is designed to be completed within 6-9 months.
  • Generative AI in Marketing Specialization from UVA Darden – This four-course series explores how GenAI frameworks, applications, and considerations are essential to create and sustain an effective AI marketing solution. Learners will also participate in a hands-on exercise to develop a brand essence statement and generate a logo using GenAI tools. 
  • Programming with Generative AI course from IIT Guwahati – Designed for software developers, tech leads, or AI enthusiasts, this hands-on course explores how GenAI tools can transform the coding workflow. 
  • Responsible Generative AI Specialization from University of Michigan – By exploring the possibilities and risks of GenAI, learners will be able to identify impacts relevant to business operations, consumers, society, the labor market, and the environment. 
  • Change Management for Generative AI course from Vanderbilt University – This course will delve into the strategies and frameworks necessary for organizations to successfully implement and adapt to GenAI. 
  • Generative AI for Kids, Parents, and Teacherscourse from Vanderbilt University – Designed as a resource for parents and teachers, this free course will help children navigate a world filled with GenAI. It will teach kids how to use GenAI to innovate, solve problems, use multimodal prompting, and engage in creative thinking.

Find the full portfolio of GenAI content available on Coursera here.

Enhancing 8 entry-level Professional Certificates with GenAI updates

Entry-level Professional Certificates on Coursera help learners enter high-demand fields like cybersecurity, data analytics, or project management within six months, with no prior degree or experience required. As GenAI transforms the labor market, mastering GenAI to enhance these roles is crucial.

These eight entry-level Professional Certificates from top companies, which have reached more than 1.7 million learners, are now updated with GenAI-specific content, including activities, readings, and videos:

Expanding GenAI Academy with skills training and credentials for teams

Today, we are also announcing the expansion of our GenAI Academy with GenAI for Teams. This new catalog from the world’s top research institutions and companies will equip teams to apply GenAI skills and best practices in a way that is unique to their business functions. With real-world applications and secure, hands-on practice, businesses and professional services firms can use GenAI Academy to unlock innovation and productivity across functional teams. Here are some of the curated programs offered by GenAI Academy for Teams:

  • GenAI for Software and Product Teams (100+ courses): Streamline routine tasks such as code generation and documentation, freeing up valuable time to create and launch higher value, differentiated offerings. 
  • GenAI for Data Teams (70+ courses): Optimize complex tasks such as data analysis and visualization, enabling deeper insights and more accurate business recommendations.
  • GenAI for Marketing Teams (60+ courses): Maximize customer lifetime value with deeper insights, content personalization, and more efficient targeting at scale.

Introducing Coursera Coach as a sidebar experience

Coursera Coach, introduced in 2023, provides AI-powered guidance within the learning experience. Since its launch, we’ve received positive feedback from learners about how Coursera Coach has significantly helped them progress in their learning and master new skills. Today, we’re excited to announce Coursera Coach’s expanded access to nearly all paid learners and an improved user experience.

  • Ask questions to clarify material and stay on track
  • Summarize key takeaways for better note-taking
  • Practice for quizzes and tests to solidify knowledge and identify gaps
  • Explore how their learning aligned with current or future goals

In addition to these new offerings, our AI-powered translations have now expanded to include more than 4,600 courses and 55 Professional Certificates in up to 21 popular languages. We also recently announced a suite of Academic Integrity features to help university leaders uphold academic excellence in the age of AI-assisted cheating.

At Coursera, we are committed to helping everyone unlock the potential of GenAI. By offering mission-critical GenAI skills through trusted brands and credentials, we strive to make this technology an inclusive and transformative force.

Coursera expands GenAI Academy with skills training and credentials for high-impact teams

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Coursera expands GenAI Academy with skills training and credentials for high-impact teams

By Karine Allouche, General Manager of Enterprise, Coursera

Today, we are excited to expand our GenAI Academy with GenAI for Teams. This new catalog from the world’s top research institutions and companies will equip teams to apply GenAI skills and best practices in a way that is unique to their business functions. 

According to Accenture, 94% of employees want to learn AI skills, but only 5% of companies are reskilling their employees at scale. The application of GenAI in specific job roles and functions can have a multiplier effect on the bottom line, but leaders are struggling to move beyond basic literacy to empower their teams. 

With real-world applications and secure, hands-on practice, businesses and professional services firms can use GenAI Academy to unlock innovation and productivity across critical functions. Here are some of the curated programs offered by GenAI Academy for Teams:

  • GenAI for Software and Product Teams (100+ courses): Streamline routine tasks such as code generation and documentation, freeing up valuable time to create and launch higher value, differentiated offerings. Course selection includes:
  • GenAI for Data Teams (70+ courses): Optimize complex tasks such as data analysis and visualization, enabling deeper insights and more accurate business recommendations. Course selection includes:
  • GenAI for Marketing Teams (60+ courses): Maximize customer lifetime value with deeper insights, content personalization, and more efficient targeting at scale. Course selection includes:

GenAI-enhanced Professional Certificates for high-impact roles (8)

In addition to GenAI Academy for Teams, we are also enhancing several entry-level Professional Certificates with GenAI-specific content, including updated activities, readings, and videos. Select Professional Certificates from IBM, for example, have been updated with new role-specific GenAI courses. Research from the University of Pennsylvania projects that GenAI will automate up to roughly half of tasks for up to half of jobs. While many job roles are here to stay, their job descriptions are evolving rapidly. Workforces need new GenAI skills to stay competitive. 

The following entry-level Professional Certificates, available in Coursera’s Career Academy and to learners worldwide, have been updated with GenAI content:

The Dow Chemical Company used GenAI Academy training content to build a custom badge for their IT workforce: Foundational GenAI Certification, which includes courses such as Generative AI for Everyone by DeepLearning.AI and Responsible AI in the GenAI Era by Fractal Analytics. Employees were hungry to learn: With Coursera, over 80% of Dow’s IT workforce achieved AI certification and 200 employees chose to earn an extra badge (6-8 hour duration). 

“It’s exciting to see employees from all levels of our organization participate with such enthusiasm, as it showcases a collective commitment to learning and growth.”

– Alison Klein Information Systems Talent Manager, The Dow Chemical Company

  • GenAI for Software and Product Teams (100+ courses): Streamline routine tasks such as code generation and documentation, freeing up valuable time to create and launch higher value, differentiated offerings. 
  • GenAI for Data Teams (70+ courses): Optimize complex tasks such as data analysis and visualization, enabling deeper insights and more accurate business recommendations.
  • GenAI for Marketing Teams (60+ courses): Maximize customer lifetime value with deeper insights, content personalization, and more efficient targeting at scale.

GenAI Academy features content from top university and industry partners including Microsoft, Google Cloud, Stanford Online, IBM, DeepLearning.AI, and Vanderbilt University with three key pillars: executive education for strategic decision-making, foundational literacy for every employee, and functional training for high-impact teams and job roles. Businesses and professional services companies advising multinational workforces can leverage these valuable resources for workforce transformation and technology adoption plans.

As the AI revolution continues, the expansion of our GenAI Academy will help equip teams with the skills needed to harness the full potential of GenAI and fuel innovation.

To learn more about GenAI Academy, visit https://www.coursera.org/business/generative-ai-academy.   

Accepting Autism: A Sibling’s Perspective

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We are honoring the Top 9 winners of our Student Open Letter Contest by publishing their entries. This one is by Leela Uppaluri, age 16.

Word of the Day: staggering

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This word has appeared in 611 articles on NYTimes.com in the past year. Can you use it in a sentence?

Exploratory learning that counts and professional networking that matters

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Exploratory learning that counts and professional networking that matters

The Master of Business Administration (iMBA) from Gies College of Business at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) is a great option for learners like Molly Johnson who want to explore continuing their education by first completing stackable courses on Coursera. With these courses, learners can build their skills into a master’s degree. The iMBA is also an excellent choice for those who are looking for powerful networking opportunities, because students in the program get to enhance their abilities alongside ambitious peers while learning from industry-connected experts. Plus, with Gies receiving recognitions such as the “#1 Biggest B-School Innovation of the Decade” from Poets&Quants, learners like Molly can pursue the iMBA with plenty of confidence.

Molly originally went to school for psychology to become a school counselor, but she eventually found her way into the corporate world instead. Rising through the ranks of the flooring industry—from sales assistant to a senior director of sales enablement—she grew to like the business while separately realizing she could use her psychology background for volunteer work. As she was assuming more roles and projects in her career, Molly decided to advance in a particular area. She says, “I thought digital marketing would be a real skill to gain, and I wanted to add something to my toolkit.”

After searching online for digital marketing courses, Molly discovered the Digital Marketing Specialization from Gies on Coursera. She was familiar with the strong reputation of the university because both her sister and brother-in-law had attended it. The ability to make progress toward the iMBA through the Specialization, before committing to the full degree program, instantly caught her eye as well. By learning about digital marketing this way, Molly could acquire specific skills with immediate value for her career while knowing her coursework could ultimately be applied to an impressive degree. Loving the flexible learning that could fit her schedule, and the tuition costs that she could afford, Molly soon completed the Specialization and applied to the iMBA.

Throughout her journey with the Gies iMBA, Molly says she has significantly enjoyed her quantitative and finance courses. She especially cites learning how to read financial statements as one of the several new talents she’s developed. As part of her degree program, Molly even visited Brazil for over a week to obtain international experience with identifying solutions to business problems. But one of the most important outcomes for Molly has been the professional connections she’s made all along the way. “My biggest concern was the networking opportunities. I didn’t know if I would be getting as much of that, but I was impressed.”

Because of the online nature of her iMBA program, Molly was able to work as a consultant while earning her degree. Since her graduation, she’s landed a new job as the Associate Manager of Strategic Initiatives for a global manufacturing company. Molly is now working on high-profile projects that are driving meaningful business results for her company, and she says she’s doing exactly what she wants to do at a higher compensation level than she would’ve had before earning her iMBA. 

If your story sounds similar to Molly’s, you too can start with a Specialization on Coursera to get a feel for the learning before jumping into the full degree program. Experience reputable, flexible, and affordable learning for yourself.

Learn more about Gies College of Business iMBA program.

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