Salman Khan’s Khan Academy, a not-for-profit online education platform, thrived even during the peak of the global economic crisis in 2008. The academy’s educational videos attracted a large number of learners that year and continues to grow ever since. The Khan Academy is supported by notable funders such as the Gates Foundation, Google, and Elon Musk. Today, it boasts an impressive user base of 130 million learners worldwide, ranging from school students to graduate-level learners. This demonstrates the enduring popularity and demand for online education.

In 2011, as the world was recovering from the economic setback, a new category of online courses called Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) emerged, driven by reputable educational institutions. Although MOOCs had been in existence since 2008, their institutional origins can be traced back to three free online courses offered by Stanford University in 2011, led by renowned educators like Peter Norvig, Sebastian Thrun, Jennifer Widom, and Andrew Ng. The overwhelming response to these “pilot” courses encouraged Thrun to launch his for-profit online education venture, Udacity, later that year. A year after that, Andrew Ng and Daphne Koller followed suit and founded Coursera, also established as a for-profit company.

The emergence of MOOCs and the success of online education platforms like Khan Academy, Udacity, and Coursera reflect the growing demand for accessible and flexible learning opportunities. These platforms have revolutionized education by providing high-quality courses to millions of learners worldwide, irrespective of their geographical location or educational background. Online education continues to thrive as a valuable and popular alternative to traditional learning methods.