Emmanuel Kasigazi is a data scientist from Kampala, Uganda. Michael Jordan Pilgreen is a financial technology engineer from Memphis, Tennessee. Kasigazi and Pilgreen know firsthand how transformative open learning can be: Pilgreen’s discovery of the free educational materials at MIT OpenCourseWare helped him develop new technical skills and eventually led to a new career in a field he is passionate about, while Kasigazi has enjoyed MIT OpenCourseWare’s wealth of lecture videos on YouTube for years, not only to learn within his field but also to immerse himself in the deep questions of psychology and philosophy. In this episode we hear from Kasigazi and Pilgreen about how open learning changed their lives and how they became friends and colleagues despite living on opposite sides of the world. We also hear of their new project, in which they’ll be teaming up to host an upcoming special season of Chalk Radio. Unlike the typical Chalk Radio season, which focuses on the supply side of open learning, featuring interviews with inspired educators at MIT, this special “Open Learners” podcast season will focus on candid conversations with open learners from all over the world. This special season is coming Fall 2024. Don’t miss it!
Relevant Resources:
MIT OpenCourseWare (ocw.mit.edu)
The OCW Educator Portal (ocw.mit.edu/educator)
Emmanuel Kasigazi - Open Learning Story (https://ocw.mit.edu/stories/emmanuel-kasigazi/)
Michael Jordan Pilgreen - Open Learning Story (https://ocw.mit.edu/stories/michael-pilgreen/)
Music in this episode by Blue Dot Sessions (https://www.sessions.blue/)

Share Your Open Learning Story
To share your own open learning story with Michael and Emmanuel, send them an email at open_learners_pod@mit.edu.

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Credits
Sarah Hansen, host and producer (https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarah-e-hansen/)
Brett Paci, producer (https://twitter.com/Brett_Paci)
Dave Lishansky, producer (https://twitter.com/DaveResonates)
Show notes by Peter Chipman