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Our guest for this episode, Lotfullah Andishmand, grew up in a village in rural Afghanistan where there was no internet access or electric lights. (He describes having had to navigate by moonlight to get to his uncle’s house for tutoring in chemistry.) In search of educational opportunity, he eventually moved to Kabul, where he discovered MIT OpenCourseWare’s lecture videos while studying electrical engineering at the university. Even there, though, the internet infrastructure was shaky enough that Lotfullah often resorted to downloading the course materials so he could study them at leisure when broadband wasn’t available. He now resides in India and recently graduated from the MIT Emerging Talent certificate program in Computer and Data Science, specifically designed for displaced communities worldwide. As he continues his educational journey in data science and artificial intelligence, he remains deeply mindful of the challenges he encountered as a student in his home country. Recognizing that most of the available online educational resources are in English, a language few Afghans are fluent in, Lotfullah has used his computer skills to create an online learning platform offering educational materials in Persian. Someday, he hopes the platform will expand to include full online courses with direct interaction between instructors and students.
The Open Learners podcast is produced by Alexis Haut and hosted by Emmanuel Kasigazi and Michael Jordan Pilgreen.
Relevant Resources:
MIT OpenCourseWare
The OCW Educator portal
MIT Emerging Talent program
MIT MicroMasters Program in Statistics and Data Science
6.0001 Introduction to Computer Science and Programming in Python on MIT OpenCourseWare
Hooshmand Lab online learning website (in Persian)
Music in this episode by Blue Dot Sessions
Share Your Open Learning Story
To share your own open learning story with Michael and Emmanuel, send them an email at [email protected].
Connect with Us
If you have a suggestion for a new episode or have used OCW to change your life or those of others, tell us your story. We’d love to hear from you!
Call us @ 617-715-2517
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Stay Current
Subscribe to the free monthly "MIT OpenCourseWare Update" e-newsletter.
Support OCW
If you like Chalk Radio and OpenCourseware, donate to help keep these programs going!
Credits
Sarah Hansen, host and producer
Brett Paci, producer
Dave Lishansky, producer
Jackson Maher, producer
Show notes by Peter Chipman
The team at MIT’s Occupational Health Service provides an overview of the unique work-related and environmental support that they offer MIT employees and beyond. More specifically, they discuss their employee-oriented comprehensive consulting, treatment, and health-education support – as well as examinations, vaccinations, and immunity certifications for Institute employees and affiliated groups like Draper Laboratory.
Giovanni "Gio" Traverso is an associate professor in MIT's Department of Mechanical Engineering and a gastroenterologist at Boston's Brigham and Women's Hospital. His work focuses on innovative methods for drug delivery, diagnostics, and biological sensing. Here, Gio speaks with MIT President Sally Kornbluth about tackling the core challenges of taking medication, the unique perspective that comes with being both a professor and a practicing gastroenterologist, and the importance of entrepreneurship.
Links:
Timestamps:
Show notes and transcript: https://news.mit.edu/podcast/podcast-curiosity-unbounded-episode-10-making-medicine-easier-swallow
Join the mailing list or send us feedback:
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When Nader AlEtaywi was in high school in Jordan, he had a passion for finance but his prospects seemed limited. Juggling his studies, minimum-wage jobs, and family crises made it hard to envision a future where he could develop his talents and flourish in his chosen field. Through sheer perseverance he finished high school and entered university, where during the Covid pandemic in late 2020 he discovered the world of educational resources that MIT Open Learning offers. He devoured MIT OpenCourseWare courses in statistics, computer programming, and calculus, and soon realized that he could take steps toward a career in finance by enrolling in a MITx MicroMasters program. The program’s instructional team recognized Nader’s talent, and when he finished the program they offered him a position as a teaching assistant. From there, drawing on the skills he had learned but also on the online community he had become a part of, Nader was able to get jobs in his field, first working for a financial firm in Jordan, and then for companies in the US and Dubai. In this episode, we hear his inspiring story of passion and perseverance.
The Open Learners podcast is produced by Alexis Haut and hosted by Emmanuel Kasigazi and Michael Jordan Pilgreen.
Relevant Resources:
MIT OpenCourseWare
The OCW Educator portal
MIT MicroMasters Program in Finance
Dr. Egor Matveyev (MIT faculty page)
Prof. Andrew Lo (MIT faculty page)
Courses by Prof. Lo on MIT OpenCourseWare
Music in this episode by Blue Dot Sessions
Share Your Open Learning Story
To share your own open learning story with Michael and Emmanuel, send them an email at [email protected].
Connect with Us
If you have a suggestion for a new episode or have used OCW to change your life or those of others, tell us your story. We’d love to hear from you!
Call us @ 617-715-2517
On our site
On Facebook
On X
On Instagram
On LinkedIn
Stay Current
Subscribe to the free monthly "MIT OpenCourseWare Update" e-newsletter.
Support OCW
If you like Chalk Radio and OpenCourseware, donate to help keep these programs going!
Credits
Sarah Hansen, host and producer
Brett Paci, producer
Dave Lishansky, producer
Jackson Maher, producer
Show notes by Peter Chipman
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