By Marni Baker Stein, Chief Content Officer, Coursera

Every learning journey begins with a great teacher. On National Teacher Appreciation Day, we celebrate the educators who are inspiring, shaping, and empowering learners in a rapidly changing world. 

This belief in the power of learning led two educators, Andrew Ng and Daphne Koller, to found Coursera in 2012. Today, as AI reshapes the workforce, teachers remain indispensable, helping learners stay ahead of the curve and ready to lead with purpose. 

This year alone, instructors from universities and companies have taught over 7.5 million learners, equipping them with skills and credentials that can unlock career opportunities. One course alone has already reached learners in 120 countries this year — a testament to the global impact of teaching on Coursera.

Teachers leading the way

Top instructors like Barbara Oakley (Oakland University), Laurie Santos (Yale), and Jules White (Vanderbilt) are behind transformative courses that have reached millions of learners — and they continue to grow their catalogs. 

“What’s most rewarding is knowing that my course is helping people unlock new possibilities in their lives,” says Oakley. White adds, “The scale of impact that’s possible on Coursera is unlike anything I’ve seen in traditional education.”

We’re proud to work with over 6,700 instructors who are expanding access to education — from top professors to industry experts and first-time educators. Instructors come from all around the world, reflecting our mission to build a more inclusive, equitable learning ecosystem.

Tools to help educators teach—and lead—in the AI era

To help teachers prepare students for the age of AI, Coursera offers a range of courses designed specifically for educators. Explore:

• AI in Education: Leveraging ChatGPT for Teaching (University of Pennsylvania; OpenAI) 
• Artificial Intelligence (AI) Education for Teachers (Macquarie University) 
• Generative AI in Education (University of Glasgow) 
• Generative AI for Educators & Teachers (Vanderbilt University) 
• Generative AI for Educators Specialization (IBM) 

These courses help educators understand the evolving landscape of technology, while equipping them with skills to create dynamic, engaging, and future-ready classrooms.

Beyond content, Coursera’s platform gives teachers tools to build and scale effective learning experiences:

• Dialogue: Educators can embed interactive, AI-powered conversations in their lessons to help learners think critically and get real-time feedback.
• Course Builder: This powerful tool enables instructors to rapidly create, personalize, and adapt content at scale, which is especially useful in keeping pace with fast-evolving skill needs.

Educators like Vic Strecher (University of Michigan), who was an early adopter of Dialogue, are redefining what’s possible in online education. Similarly, Jules White (Vanderbilt) uses tools like Coach to deliver high-quality, job-relevant content to learners on every continent.

From helping someone learn their first programming language to preparing a mid-career professional for a new role in AI, educators shape the future. Whether teaching in a classroom or online, in a university or a company, their impact reaches far beyond their students.

To all the educators building a more skilled, adaptable, and equitable world: thank you.

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