School districts across the United States are wrestling with the benefits and drawbacks of providing advanced education for some students. What do you think?
Picture Prompt: Seasonal Depression
Do the darker, colder days affect your mood? What do you do about it if so?
Word of the Day: umbrage
This word has appeared in 58 articles on NYTimes.com in the past year. Can you use it in a sentence?
Learn with Claude: Anthropic launches new content on Coursera to drive responsible AI innovation and workforce transformation
Now learners everywhere can gain hands-on experience and build practical AI skills with guidance from Anthropic’s experts.
By Greg Hart, Coursera CEO
Today, I’m excited to share that Anthropic, one of the world’s leading AI research companies, has launched a course and a Specialization on Coursera that teach learners and developers how to work effectively with Claude, Anthropic’s trusted AI assistant.
As AI transforms every aspect of work, many employees are still unprepared — only one-third say they’ve received training on how to engage with AI at work. There’s an urgent need to scale practical AI education that boosts individual productivity and supports workforce readiness. Anthropic’s new content is designed to give learners direct, hands-on experience with Claude and help them build the confidence and skills to collaborate effectively with AI.
“Claude can transform your workday, acting as a brainstorm partner, a researcher, and a coder,” said Maggie Vo, Anthropic’s Head of Education. “But we know many people are still learning how to collaborate with AI safely and effectively. These courses address that gap by giving learners the skills and confidence to get the most out of Claude, from the fundamentals of getting started up to building agents.”
Learn to build powerful, responsible AI applications with Claude
Anthropic’s Building with the Claude API course teaches developers how to deploy Claude to build intelligent systems and streamline workflows. Through AI-driven dialogue and interactive sessions, learners receive real-time, personalized feedback as they build tools and agents that drive innovation.
Modules in the course include:
- Getting Started with Claude: Learn API fundamentals, model selection, and how to make your first API call to Claude.
- Prompt Engineering & Evaluation: Master the art of designing, refining, and testing high-quality prompts for reliable results.
- Claude Features and Tool Use: Unlock advanced capabilities, including structured data handling, tool use, and response optimization.
- Model Context Protocol (MCP): Build modular, extensible AI applications using Anthropic’s Model Context Protocol.
- Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG): Combine Claude with external data sources to build powerful, knowledge-enhanced AI systems.
- Claude Code & Computer Use: Accelerate your development workflow with Claude Code and automated computer interactions.
- Agentic Workflows: Learn to design, orchestrate, and deploy multi-step AI workflows and autonomous agents.
Together, these modules equip learners with the technical foundation and real-world skills to use, develop, and deploy AI safely, effectively, and confidently with Claude’s API and developer tools.
Expanding access to AI skills through a partnership with AWIT
To complement the developer-focused content, Anthropic’s collaboration with Advancing Women in Technology (AWIT) brings AI learning to everyone — regardless of their background or experience. Real-World AI for Everyone is a three-course Specialization that helps learners of all experience levels build practical fluency for using AI in their daily work. The Specialization features:
- AI Fundamentals with Claude: Learn how to structure prompts and context to get useful, high-quality responses, and turn rough ideas into polished deliverables using Claude Artifacts.
- AI Collaboration with Claude: Strengthen your ability to think and create with effective prompting strategies, crafting unique messages for different audiences, and analyzing complex information with AI.
- AI Automation with Claude: Use Claude Projects to automate repeatable tasks, scale your results, and apply AI beyond text by using multimodal inputs and retrieval-augmented generation to achieve real-world goals.
“At AWIT, we believe that those who invest in becoming proficient with AI will excel,” said Nancy Wang, Founder and CEO of AWIT, SVP of Engineering at 1Password, and Venture Partner at Felicis Ventures. “Yet today, AI use remains uneven across different groups. And anyone, at any level, can benefit from deliberate, hands-on practice. That’s why we partnered with Anthropic to give Coursera learners worldwide access to real-world, curated AI learning experiences. Learners receive hours of experience with Anthropic’s AI assistant, Claude, guided by former Anthropic engineering manager Dan Mellott. Learners build fluency, confidence, and joy as they use AI to innovate, lead, and create lasting impact across every field and community.”
This collaboration — combining Anthropic’s commitment to safe AI, Coursera’s global learning platform, and AWIT’s inclusive learning content — empowers learners everywhere to engage with AI thoughtfully and apply it meaningfully in their work and communities.
Enroll in Real-World AI for Everyone or Building with the Claude API today.
Updated with revised content launch information as of November 18, 6:00 p.m. PT
How the iMSM Empowered Korede Oludiran to Reimagine His Business and Redefine His Career
After over 15 years of leading IT projects across public and private sectors, Korede Oludiran knew process improvement and change management inside out. But when he launched his own management consulting firm, Echo Oscar Inc., in Ottawa, Canada, he realized something was missing. His technical expertise alone wouldn’t unlock the next level of growth. He needed a deeper understanding of strategy, marketing, and organizational collaboration.
That’s when Korede discovered the online iMSM (Master of Science in Management) from Gies College of Business at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. The program, he says, “helped me rethink everything about how I manage, how I serve clients, and how I grow my business.”
A career rooted in project and process management
Korede’s professional foundation was built on project management. Since earning his Project Management Professional (PMP) certification in 2009, he’s led IT projects and process improvement initiatives across multiple industries. “I’ve always been focused on how teams work together (change management, process efficiency, and getting systems to align),” he explains.
In 2022, he turned that expertise into an entrepreneurial venture as he launched Echo Oscar Inc., a management consulting firm helping organizations improve processes, enhance collaboration, and implement change effectively. “We work with businesses to make things function better, from process improvement to change management to team collaboration to training,” he says.
But as he began growing Echo Oscar, Korede realized his company’s offerings could be more strategic and more attuned to clients’ needs. This is when he saw the opportunity to upskill, gain an additional credential, and enroll in the online iMSM with the University of Illinois.
Finding the missing link: Strategy and marketing
“I thought marketing was more about ‘go sell,’” Korede laughs. “But during my time at Illinois, I discovered how robust it really is. It’s not just about selling. It’s way more strategic than operational. It’s about deeply understanding your customers.”
Through iMSM courses like Creating Value: Developing a Marketing Mix for Growth – a part of Marketing Management BADM520, Korede learned how to think from the customer’s perspective. “That course was a turning point,” he recalls. “You need to ask the right questions and understand what your customers really need. That’s what helped me pivot my business.”
Armed with these insights, he launched a new user-focused survey at Echo Oscar to identify client pain points and streamline offerings. “I realized that team collaboration is the pivotal driver of process efficiency. If your team can’t collaborate, you won’t get the ROI of your process improvement,” he says.
The iMSM didn’t just confirm what he already knew from years about the importance of team collaboration; it gave him the frameworks and data-driven tools to act strategically in real time.
Korede’s path to Gies
When Korede began looking for a master’s program, flexibility was key. “I explored universities in Canada like Queen’s and Ottawa,” he explains. “But I needed something I could do while still running my business. That’s when I found the University of Illinois through Coursera.”
He appreciated how accessible the process was: from applying online with his copy of transcript from Nigeria’s Obafemi Awolowo University, to participating in live lectures and office hours.
And despite studying virtually, the connections were real. “At graduation, I met people I’d been talking to online for over a year. It was incredible to meet classmates and professors in person,” Korede recalls. “I even reconnected with my Operations Management and Marketing Management professors on LinkedIn afterward.”
From insight to action planning
Today, Echo Oscar Inc. is expanding its offerings with an 8-module training program on team collaboration, developed directly from what Korede learned in the iMSM program. “It was published this year,” he says proudly. “We created it because our survey results clearly showed that collaboration plays a key role in employee engagement and the overall success of the organization.”
He credits courses in operations management, organizational management and marketing management with reshaping how he runs his business: “Those courses made me realize where I was falling short. I wasn’t reaching the right people or serving them effectively. Now, our approach is more strategic and more data-driven.”
Why the iMSM was the right choice
“The MSM felt like an abridged MBA,” Korede explains. “We studied many of the same topics as MBA students — strategy, marketing, operations, leadership — but in a more streamlined format. It’s very solid and I loved the courses.”
He especially valued how Coursera allowed him to keep learning beyond graduation. “I’m still on Coursera now,” he says. “I had my graduation ceremony last year, my first time back in a classroom since 2008, but I want to keep learning.”
So why did he return to school after more than a decade? “I needed more mental energy — a challenge,” he admits. “And honestly, I wanted the credit. The Nigerian in me wanted the degree!” Korede laughs.
But beyond that, he says, “I wanted something to propel me forward for my career and for my business.”
Advice for others
Korede’s advice for aspiring learners is clear:
“Find what you want and make a decision about how you want it to affect your life and career. The University of Illinois is a big deal. It’s not a small university, and if you can have that collaboration with Coursera, don’t miss it.”
He also believes consistency is key to any success:
“Whatever you set your mind to achieve, you can do it. It might be tough, but consistency is the game. No matter how ‘not good enough’ your product is, you’ll sell, you’ll improve, if you stay consistent. Being the most consistent is often better than being the smartest.”
A career, redefined
From managing IT projects in Nigeria to running a consulting firm in Canada, Korede’s journey shows what’s possible when lifelong learning meets entrepreneurial ambition.
“The iMSM confirmed what I’d always known, but it also gave me the tools to turn that knowledge into strategy,” he says. “Now, everything we do at Echo Oscar has a clearer purpose: improving collaboration, efficiency, and impact. That’s the real ROI of my education.” Learn more about the program →
Learn with Claude: Anthropic launches new Specializations on Coursera to drive responsible AI innovation and workforce transformation
Now learners everywhere can gain hands-on experience and build practical AI skills with guidance from Anthropic’s experts.
By Greg Hart, Coursera CEO
Today, I’m excited to share that Anthropic, one of the world’s leading AI research companies, has launched two Specializations on Coursera that teach learners and developers how to work effectively with Claude, Anthropic’s trusted AI assistant.
As AI transforms every aspect of work, many employees are still unprepared — only one-third say they’ve received training on how to engage with AI at work. There’s an urgent need to scale practical AI education that boosts individual productivity and supports workforce readiness. These new Specializations are designed to give learners direct, hands-on experience with Claude and help them build the confidence and skills to collaborate effectively with AI.
“Claude can transform your workday, acting as a brainstorm partner, a researcher, and a coder,” said Maggie Vo, Anthropic’s Head of Education. “But we know many people are still learning how to collaborate with AI safely and effectively. These courses address that gap by giving learners the skills and confidence to get the most out of Claude, from the fundamentals of getting started up to building agents.”
Learn to build powerful, responsible AI applications with Claude
Anthropic’s Building with the Claude API Specialization is a series of courses that teach developers how to deploy Claude to build intelligent systems and streamline workflows. Through AI-driven dialogue and interactive sessions, learners receive real-time, personalized feedback as they build tools and agents that drive innovation.
Courses in the Specialization include:
- Getting Started with Claude: Learn API fundamentals, model selection, and how to make your first API call to Claude.
- Prompt Engineering & Evaluation: Master the art of designing, refining, and testing high-quality prompts for reliable results.
- Claude Features and Tool Use: Unlock advanced capabilities, including structured data handling, tool use, and response optimization.
- Model Context Protocol (MCP): Build modular, extensible AI applications using Anthropic’s Model Context Protocol.
- Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG): Combine Claude with external data sources to build powerful, knowledge-enhanced AI systems.
- Claude Code & Computer Use: Accelerate your development workflow with Claude Code and automated computer interactions.
- Agentic Workflows: Learn to design, orchestrate, and deploy multi-step AI workflows and autonomous agents.
Together, these courses equip learners with the technical foundation and real-world skills to use, develop, and deploy AI safely, effectively, and confidently with Claude’s API and developer tools.
Expanding access to AI skills through a partnership with AWIT
To complement the developer-focused courses, Anthropic’s collaboration with Advancing Women in Technology (AWIT) brings AI learning to everyone — regardless of their background or experience. Real-World AI for Everyone is a three-course Specialization that helps learners of all experience levels build practical fluency for using AI in their daily work. The Specialization features:
- AI Fundamentals with Claude: Learn how to structure prompts and context to get useful, high-quality responses, and turn rough ideas into polished deliverables using Claude Artifacts.
- AI Collaboration with Claude: Strengthen your ability to think and create with effective prompting strategies, crafting unique messages for different audiences, and analyzing complex information with AI.
- AI Automation with Claude: Use Claude Projects to automate repeatable tasks, scale your results, and apply AI beyond text by using multimodal inputs and retrieval-augmented generation to achieve real-world goals.
“At AWIT, we believe that those who invest in becoming proficient with AI will excel,” said Nancy Wang, Founder and CEO of AWIT, SVP of Engineering at 1Password, and Venture Partner at Felicis Ventures. “Yet today, AI use remains uneven across different groups. And anyone, at any level, can benefit from deliberate, hands-on practice. That’s why we partnered with Anthropic to give Coursera learners worldwide access to real-world, curated AI learning experiences. Learners receive hours of experience with Anthropic’s AI assistant, Claude, guided by former Anthropic engineering manager Dan Mellott. Learners build fluency, confidence, and joy as they use AI to innovate, lead, and create lasting impact across every field and community.”
This collaboration — combining Anthropic’s commitment to safe AI, Coursera’s global learning platform, and AWIT’s inclusive learning content — empowers learners everywhere to engage with AI thoughtfully and apply it meaningfully in their work and communities.
Enroll in Real-World AI for Everyone or Building with the Claude API today.
Picture Prompt: A Night at the Museum
Would you want to have your own sleepover adventure at the American Museum of Natural History?
Word of the Day: perpetuate
This word has appeared in 108 articles on NYTimes.com in the past year. Can you use it in a sentence?
What’s Interesting About the Place Where You Live?
A neighborhood? A group of people? A natural feature? A business? An annual event? Take a fresh look around your hometown and tell us what’s notable — no matter how small.
Weekly Student News Quiz: Climate Summit, Shutdown End, ‘Dapper Man’
Have you been paying attention to current events recently? See how many of these 10 questions you can get right.
