Hi! I'm Laura, a New Community Manager at Coursera! | Coursera Community
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Hi! I'm Laura, a New Community Manager at Coursera!

  • 15 November 2018
  • 42 replies
  • 1674 views
Laura
Rank
Userlevel 7
  • Laura
  • Community Manager
  • 1581 replies

Hi everyone! My name is Laura, and I’m a Community Manager on the Community team at Coursera. I’m here to help learners connect with and support each other as they work to achieve their learning goals.

Prior to joining Coursera, I worked as a Content and Community Manager at Soi Dog Foundation – a large animal welfare organization in Thailand. I’ve also worked in social-behavioral health research, educational travel, educational publishing, and international education. I have Bachelor of Arts degrees in English (creative writing) and French, and I have a Master of Social Work degree with a focus on community and organizational leadership.

Recently I have been studying positive neuroplasticity and mindful meditation. I’m passionate about social-ecological justice and intersections of human and animal welfare (social dimensions of the One Health concept).

I believe everyone is here because they have something unique and valuable to gain and contribute. I look forward to getting to know you as a vital part of this community!
Coursera Community Manager

42 replies

Lochcarron
@Laura

Hi Laura
Welcome here. I am sure Claire is very happy getting support. You have an amazing background!

The ‘old hands’ here will be very happy to get you familiar with our community.

Have you taken any courses on Coursera?

I wish you a great time here
Scotty
Laura
Rank
Userlevel 7
Thank you for your warm welcome and kind words, @Lochcarron.

I have not yet taken any courses on Coursera, but I would like to start one in the near future. I have fairly broad interests so my Coursera course list is long!

I'd love to get recommendations, too. Is there a particular course that you highly recommend?
Coursera Community Manager
Lochcarron
Depends on your interests @Laura

My main interest is Space. I mentor four courses on the subject on Coursera, more elsewhere.
Recently I have added Circular Economy ones, I mentor a few here and, again, elsewhere.
I love the Archeology ones, like The Truth in your Bones. Extinctions Past and Present is s relevant right now as we are in the sixth major extinction event.
Many of my most loved courses are not available anymore, regretfully.

I think it will be very useful to take at least one course, so you can experience what it is all about. The problems mentors face. The features that would make your experience better.

Enjoy your time here!
Scotty
Judith
Rank
Welcome, @Laura . Your extensiive background will bring such rich experiences to us all here. It is a pleasure to meet you.
Mohammad Sameer Hasan
Userlevel 6
Badge +8
Hi @Laura, yesterday, i was looking at the the people online and found you among them. I was however apprehensive, whether you actually joined yet or not as i opened your profile and saw your title as Community Manager but didn't see any posts. It seems just like this new community platform, you are new to Coursera too. Claire has been in Community Management for long and i am sure you too will have a great time together while interacting with learners here. Our uniqueness and diversity makes us distinct and recognizable.
Coursera Community Leader, Beta Tester, Mentor/Partner, Steering/Governing Committee Member of EDEN NAP (Network of Academics & Professionals) Association
J
Userlevel 3
Badge
Hi Laura.. wellcome..!!
M
Userlevel 1
Badge
Hi Laura, dear! I am very excited to meet you. Your interesting background magnetized me to you specially along organizational leaderships, social-ecological justice and interactions of human and animal welfare. I was wondering if you are inclined to Veterinary Medicine. Welcome to amazing Coursera !
Annesha Kar Gupta
Userlevel 2
Badge +1
Hey Laura,

I am Annesha & I love learning too. Nice to meet you here. I am a mentor of An Introduction to American Laws since 2015; English Common Laws since 2016 which will end soon; Social psychology since 2018; Global human rights SDG talk since 2018; Changing Global Order since 2018; International Law since 2018; London University, Leiden University, Wesleyan University are extremely special for me. Thank you for this new community.
Annesha Kar Gupta
A
Userlevel 1
Badge +3
Good luck!
Working with the Coursera community is very difficult, but interesting. I have been a mentor for over 2 years, so I see your work from the outside. You will need luck. 😉
L
Badge
A very warm welcome laura. Your background has something to do with human interactions and engagements.
R
Badge
Welcome Laura (Soyez la bienvenue !) ! I'm happy that you've joined our wonderful community of learner and help Claire in managing this community. I wish you all the best in your new work ! 🙂
Halla
Rank
Hi Laura. Welcome.
I agree with Lochcarron, It would be invaluable to take at least on course to get a feel for the whole thing, how it works and how it could be improved
If you are interested in mindfulness, you might want to check out Leiden University's De-mystifying Mindfulness course. It is a six week (module) course that looks at mindfulness from both an academic perspective and a practical one. It has remained one of my favorite Coursrea courses (although I may be a bit biased in its favor, as it is one of the courses i mentor) out of the lot that I have taken from Coursera.

Depends on your interests @Laura

My main interest is Space. I mentor four courses on the subject on Coursera, more elsewhere.
Recently I have added Circular Economy ones, I mentor a few here and, again, elsewhere.
I love the Archeology ones, like The Truth in your Bones. Extinctions Past and Present is s relevant right now as we are in the sixth major extinction event.
Many of my most loved courses are not available anymore, regretfully.

I think it will be very useful to take at least one course, so you can experience what it is all about. The problems mentors face. The features that would make your experience better.

Enjoy your time here!
Maryam
Hi @Laura. Welcome to the community! So glad to have you here with us in this new space. I am sure this marks the beginning of a wonderful journey for of all of us. Looking forward to interacting with you and learning from you. 🙂
Denise
Userlevel 7
Badge +12
A huge warm welcome from me too @Laura . We are privileged to have someone with your wonderful background in our community. Great to have you here. We hope you like it too. I started a thread on asking for opinions on Life Sciences courses, which might also interest you here: https://coursera.community/networking-social-discussion-5/what-is-the-best-life-sciences-course-you-have-taken-90 . I mentioned Introduction to Genetics and Evolution by Prof. Noor there as one of my top favorites. It includes Zoology as well, which you might like due to your background. 🙂
Judith
Rank
@Laura , it might be interesting to take the Mentor course. You would get a good idea of the many kinds of people and courses that interest others. You don’t have to do the assignments although a few might be fun to try as well as gain experience peer grading.

Be careful because taking Coursera courses can become addicting! They are amazing! As they tell us in the Help Center, “Happy Learning!”
J
Userlevel 3
Badge
HI Laura, I hope with your kindle accompaniment we get and build new neuronal and plenty living paths
Pete
Userlevel 1
Badge
Welcome @Laura, nice to see you joining the community team. Best of fortune and hope your Coursera experiences are enjoyable and rewarding.
Pete
ashchauh
Badge
Welcome Laura:)
Thanks for joining our community.
Hello Everyone.
I am mentoring for Data Science courses and working as a Data Science Intern. Feel free to reach me if want to discuss about machine learning, deep learning.
Thank you.
Ashish
Alley_ng
Badge
Welcome onboard @Laura! Looking forward to learn more from you. Have fun!
Laura
Rank
Userlevel 7
Hi @Laura, yesterday, i was looking at the the people online and found you among them. I was however apprehensive, whether you actually joined yet or not as i opened your profile and saw your title as Community Manager but didn't see any posts. It seems just like this new community platform, you are new to Coursera too. Claire has been in Community Management for long and i am sure you too will have a great time together while interacting with learners here. Our uniqueness and diversity makes us distinct and recognizable.

Yes, exactly! I appreciate how unique and diverse this community is – I'm honored to be here!

Depends on your interests @Laura

My main interest is Space. I mentor four courses on the subject on Coursera, more elsewhere.
Recently I have added Circular Economy ones, I mentor a few here and, again, elsewhere.
I love the Archeology ones, like The Truth in your Bones. Extinctions Past and Present is s relevant right now as we are in the sixth major extinction event.
Many of my most loved courses are not available anymore, regretfully.

I think it will be very useful to take at least one course, so you can experience what it is all about. The problems mentors face. The features that would make your experience better.

Thank you! I hadn't looked at any archeology courses, and these sound fascinating.

Hi Laura, dear! I am very excited to meet you. Your interesting background magnetized me to you specially along organizational leaderships, social-ecological justice and interactions of human and animal welfare. I was wondering if you are inclined to Veterinary Medicine. Welcome to amazing Coursera !

Thank you – I have considered studying veterinary nursing as I think that skillset would be useful in areas with large stray animal populations.

Hey Laura,

I am Annesha & I love learning too. Nice to meet you here. I am a mentor of An Introduction to American Laws since 2015; English Common Laws since 2016 which will end soon; Social psychology since 2018; Global human rights SDG talk since 2018; Changing Global Order since 2018; International Law since 2018; London University, Leiden University, Wesleyan University are extremely special for me. Thank you for this new community.

Great to meet you! These courses sound very interesting – and important.

Hi Laura. Welcome.
I agree with Lochcarron, It would be invaluable to take at least on course to get a feel for the whole thing, how it works and how it could be improved
If you are interested in mindfulness, you might want to check out Leiden University's De-mystifying Mindfulness course. It is a six week (module) course that looks at mindfulness from both an academic perspective and a practical one. It has remained one of my favorite Coursrea courses (although I may be a bit biased in its favor, as it is one of the courses i mentor) out of the lot that I have taken from Coursera.

I agree that taking a Coursera course will be extremely valuable for me in terms of better understanding learner experiences. Thanks for this mindfulness course recommendation – I like the idea of both an academic and practical approach.

A huge warm welcome from me too @Laura . We are privileged to have someone with your wonderful background in our community. Great to have you here. We hope you like it too. I started a thread on asking for opinions on Life Sciences courses, which might also interest you here: https://coursera.community/networking-social-discussion-5/what-is-the-best-life-sciences-course-you-have-taken-90 . I mentioned Introduction to Genetics and Evolution by Prof. Noor there as one of my top favorites. It includes Zoology as well, which you might like due to your background. :)

Thanks for starting that thread and sharing that link. I look forward to checking these out!

@Laura , it might be interesting to take the Mentor course. You would get a good idea of the many kinds of people and courses that interest others. You don’t have to do the assignments although a few might be fun to try as well as gain experience peer grading.

Be careful because taking Coursera courses can become addicting! They are amazing! As they tell us in the Help Center, “Happy Learning!”

Great idea on the Mentor course. I know what you mean about being careful! Maybe my first course should be a time management course so I don't sign up for too many Coursera courses at the same time. :)

Welcome Laura:)
Thanks for joining our community.
Hello Everyone.
I am mentoring for Data Science courses and working as a Data Science Intern. Feel free to reach me if want to discuss about machine learning, deep learning.
Thank you.
Ashish

Thank you for that invitation!

A big thanks to everyone for your very kind welcome to the community!
Coursera Community Manager
TanjadeBie
Rank
Userlevel 3
Hi Laura,

Nice to e-meet you. Looking forward to meeting up with you and Claire in London next year!

Tanja,
Community Manager Leiden University.
Tanja, Community Manager Leiden University
P
Userlevel 1
Badge
Welcome!
Is great that coursera brought someone with your background on board.

please do take a few specializations, the forums around many of those are in desperate need for a overhaul.

Cheers!
king.aloush
Userlevel 3
Badge
Welcome @Laura nice to meet you
Mohanad Djaber
Badge +1
Welcome @Laura , it is nice to meet you 😊 if the coursera website choosing you to be a community manager, then you are a great person 😎
Joan Katrina Cruz
Userlevel 1
Badge
Hello Laura! What an awesome introduction, you are so inspiring in your list of endeavours. I could only wish to organise me life better and accomplish more of the things I am passionate about. I am very into mindfulness as well as of recent, and I have taken yoga on - still working on that breath though! I am looking forward to hearing more from you in the coming days. xx Joan

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