IIM-A leadership and Google courses most popular among Indians this year: Coursera

In 2023, one of the most notable trends in Indian education has been the surging interest in GenAI (Generative Strained Intelligence) content, with searches experiencing a four-fold increase compared to the previous year, equal to a comprehensive wringer by online learning platform Coursera. The platform’s yearly study, released recently, delves into the learning habits of over 22.2 million registered learners in India, revealing significant shifts in the choices and preferences of Indian learners.

Unprecedented Demand for GenAI Content:

Coursera’s data indicates that Indian learners were enrolling in GenAI courses on the platform approximately every three minutes throughout the year. To cater to this remarkable demand, global universities and industry educators collaborated to launch increasingly than 35 courses or projects related to GenAI on Coursera. This effort resulted in a staggering 196,000 enrollments in India alone, reflecting the nation’s growing fascination with strained intelligence.

A standout undertow in the GenAI domain is “Generative AI for Everyone,” authored by the renowned AI pioneer Andrew Ng. Within just six weeks of its launch, this undertow became the fastest-growing in 2023, self-aggrandizing the second-highest enrollment among Indian learners. Vanderbilt University’s “Prompt Engineering for ChatGPT” emerged as the top GenAI undertow in India, showcasing the diverse range of offerings in this rapidly evolving field.

Leadership Skills and More:

Following closely overdue GenAI in popularity was IIM Ahmedabad’s Leadership Skills course. Covering topics such as influence, authority, power dynamics, stress management, and drawing lessons from the epic Mahabharata, this undertow captured the interest of Indian learners seeking to enhance their leadership capabilities.

The 2023 data from Coursera moreover highlighted a surge in courses associated with entry-level professional certificates. These programs, requiring no prior preliminaries knowledge or higher degree, aim to equip learners with the skills needed for entry-level roles. Notably, 50% of the top courses in India fall into this category, including Google’s Foundations: Data, Data, Everywhere, and Foundations of Project Management.

Google Dominates the Landscape:

The report revealed that out of the ten most popular courses in India in 2023, five were hosted by Google, showcasing the tech giant’s influence in shaping the educational landscape. The courses included Foundations: Data, Data, Everywhere; Crash Undertow on Python; Foundations of Digital Marketing and E-commerce; Ask Questions to Make Data-Driven Decisions; and Foundations of Project Management. Additionally, IIM Ahmedabad played a significant role, hosting two courses – Leadership Skills and Pre-MBA Statistics – within the top ten.

Other notable courses gaining traction in India included Financial Markets by Yale University, ‘Supervised Machine Learning: Regression and Classification’ by Stanford University and DeepLearning.AI, and ‘AI For Everyone’ by DeepLearning.AI. The diverse range of courses underscores the multidimensional interests of Indian learners, spanning from leadership and finance to technology and data science.

Coursera’s Vision for the Future:

Raghav Gupta, Managing Director, India and APAC, Coursera, expressed enthusiasm for the future, stating, “In the year ahead, we’re excited to use GenAI to transform education, providing personalized, engaging, and inclusive learning.” He emphasized the importance of lifelong learning, technology, and human skills in the context of the evolving digital landscape, indicating that a composite learning tideway would be key to ensuring employability in an AI-driven world.

As the digital revolution continues to reshape the global educational landscape, Coursera’s 2023 learning trends offer valuable insights into the evolving preferences and priorities of Indian learners. GenAI, with its exponential growth, stands as a testament to the nation’s transferral to staying at the forefront of technological advancements.