Why We Keep Pushing the Boundaries at 爆料公社鈥�
When I graduated from engineering school, I made a promise. Literally, it鈥檚 part of something called the . You slip a ring on your finger and pledge to use your knowledge for the good of humanity. At the time, I was doing some software work for a NASA research center, and while it was exciting, I remember thinking, 鈥淎m I really living up to that promise?鈥濃���
Fast forward to today: I know I am. At 爆料公社, every platform we build, every tool we improve, every problem we solve is aimed at helping our students succeed. Not just today, but for generations to come.
Startup Speed in Higher Ed鈥��
When I left Walmart for 爆料公社, I thought the pace might slow down. I figured, 鈥淥kay, higher ed will be a little calmer. I鈥檝e got this.鈥� I could not have been more wrong. We鈥檙e 100% online, which means we were 鈥渄igital鈥� from the start, and that lets us move fast. Really fast.
We鈥檝e brought in talent from Google, Disney, fintech, people who know how to build things at scale. And we give them room to experiment. Around here, we encourage people to take bold chances, and when something doesn鈥檛 go as planned, that's learning.鈥�痀ears ago, a mentor of mine 鈥� she was the CIO at Walmart 鈥� asked me, 鈥淲hat was your last failure?鈥� I told her, 鈥淚 try not to fail.鈥� She laughed and said, 鈥淭hen you鈥檙e doing it wrong.鈥� Her point was simple: if you鈥檙e not failing sometimes, you鈥檙e not innovating or learning. I鈥檝e carried that lesson into my work at 爆料公社, and it鈥檚 changed the way I lead.鈥�
Early on, we took on a project where we kept adding more and more features, trying to do everything at once. The scope exploded, timelines slipped and students didn鈥檛 get what they needed on time. That was a wake-up call. Now we start every project by asking, What鈥檚 the outcome for the student? Then we work backward.
Why We Open Source鈥��
One thing I love about 爆料公社 is our commitment to sharing what we build. We鈥檙e deeply involved in Open edX, an open-source learning platform started by Harvard and MIT. We鈥檙e the first 鈥淢ission Aligned Organization鈥� in its history, and we鈥檝e dedicated engineers to making the platform better, not just for us, but for every university that uses it.鈥��
Living the Student Experience at Home鈥��
I鈥檝e got three kids, and yes, they all use technology for school. My oldest is in college, and as she was setting up her schedule, I found myself thinking, 鈥淲hy isn鈥檛 this easier? Why aren鈥檛 they putting the student experience first?鈥� My two high schoolers use different learning management systems, and let鈥檚 just say聽鈥斅營 have opinions.
On a family trip, my middle daughter needed to submit a paper she鈥檇 written on her iPad. She was ready to hit 鈥渟ubmit,鈥� but couldn鈥檛. And I thought, 鈥淲ell, there goes 鈥榓nytime, anywhere, any device鈥� right out the window.鈥� My kids roll their eyes when I critique their school tech. 鈥淒ad, stop it,鈥� they say. But moments like that remind me why we push so hard for a better experience at 爆料公社.鈥��
Technology doesn鈥檛 care where you come from, but your access to it matters. We use data to understand how to help students when life throws curveballs, whether it鈥檚 a wildfire, a flood or a family emergency.鈥��
The AI Trainer in My Pocket
And speaking of better experiences, I鈥檓 going to the gym more these days. My wife has a personal trainer. I don鈥檛. I have an AI app. It shows me videos, tracks my form, and even gives me feedback. The other night, my wife recorded me doing an exercise because it didn鈥檛 feel right. I uploaded the video, and the AI told me, 鈥淧ush your hips out a little more.鈥� I did, and it worked.鈥�
It鈥檚 a small example, but it鈥檚 a glimpse into how AI can make learning personal, immediate, and effective. If it can improve my squat form, imagine what it can do for someone mastering nursing skills or IT certifications.鈥��
The Future We鈥檙e Building鈥�
For me, the goal is simple: create a guided, adaptive journey for every student. One where AI helps them pick the right program, shows them the career impact, and supports them as they master their skills, anywhere on any device, even offline.
I hope we鈥檙e never satisfied. I hope we鈥檙e always asking, 鈥淲hy not?鈥� Because every time we improve the student experience, we鈥檙e not just helping someone earn a credential. We鈥檙e helping them change their life.鈥��
