Dear Friend and Colleague,

These are indeed troubling times – not only the medical threat humanity faces from COVID-19, but its devastating economic and social consequences. We have written about the potential consequences of the crisis for educators here: “After the COVID-19 Crisis: Why Higher Education May (and Perhaps Should) Never be the Same.”

The current crisis has highlighted the need for leaders able to transform education by creating a new generation of e-learning ecologies, not just for learners who are participating at-a-distance, but also as an underlying platform for in-person classes.

We are sending making this update to remind you that the deadline is coming up for admission to our online Learning Design and Leadership doctoral program. The focus of the program is to investigate and develop innovative learning environments in the era of increasingly technology-mediated and computer-supported learning.

As well as being available through Coursera, all our program content is available online for free in learning module format here, and on our website here.

The Learning Design and Leadership program is offered by internationally renowned professors at the University of Illinois, one of the world’s top research universities, where some of the foundational e-learning technologies and pedagogies were invented. The program is offered as single non-degree courses, as well as Certificates (12 credit hours), Masters (32 credit hours), and Doctorates (64 credit hours). Cost: $490 per credit hour. Find out more here. Apply here. APPLICATION DEADLINE for the doctoral program: April 15; for the certificate and masters programs, continuous.

We hope you might be able to join us, if not in our certificate and degree programs, then in the eight courses from the program that we offer in Coursera or the free course content on our websites.

Stay safe and healthy, everyone!

Bill Cope

Professor of Education, University of Illinois

Mary Kalantzis

Professor of Education, University of Illinois