Closing knowledge gaps with MIT Open Learning resources
In a new conversation series, entrepreneur June Odongo and MIT’s Christopher Capozzola discuss how open educational resources support professionals.
By Lauren Thacker
“It’s no longer about credentials,” says June Odongo, the founder and CEO of Senga Technologies. In talking about building her Kenya-based logistics software and services company, she says she’s finding that “folks who are self-directed and have a deep interest…they have passion, and they opt in. That’s when something like Open Learning becomes very powerful.”
Odongo’s comments came in a livestreamed conversation with Christopher Capozzola, senior associate dean for Open Learning. The talk, “How opening learning can close knowledge gaps,” covered resources for learning, entrepreneurship, and embedding education in daily life and is the first event in a new MIT Open Learning series, An Open Conversation. The series highlights people who have used Open Learning courses and materials to improve their own lives, empower members of their communities, and work toward change.
Odongo founded Senga Technologies after a career that saw her working in engineering and business leadership roles at companies including Hewlett Packard, Dell-EMC, and Cisco Meraki, and earning degrees from University of Massachusetts at Lowell and Harvard Business School. In her days as an undergraduate studying computer science, she realized that many of her professors were MIT graduates. Wondering how MIT students were learning about the same concepts that she was, she turned to Open Learning to supplement her coursework. And she has turned to it many times since, including to prepare Senga employees to take on their challenging work.
Closing gaps and continuous knowledge
Odongo shared that MIT Open Learning entered Senga’s story in an unintentional but powerful way. Because Senga is a startup with limited resources, Odongo found it difficult to compete with major companies to attract senior developers. Instead, she looked for recent graduates in computer science and other related fields who showed potential and an eagerness to tackle complex problems. Using MIT OpenCourseWare resources within Open Learning, Odongo created a 6-month curriculum to train employees and ensure their skills are comprehensive and up to date. In addition to an electrical engineer who used these courses to delve into software construction, database systems, and machine learning, among other topics, Senga has hired someone who did not complete college but had completed a coding bootcamp. That employee used OpenCourseWare courses to get himself up to speed.
“That’s exactly the kind of story that makes us excited at Open Learning and motivates the faculty at MIT who share these materials,” Capozzola says.
In addition to taking OpenCourseWare courses and completing assignments, Odongo says that a final presentation is essential to processing information and demonstrating understanding. Being able to present on a topic and answer questions is an important way to measure progress, but for Senga employees, the truest demonstration is how they construct, articulate, and generate solutions.
“Our ultimate intention is that the way of thinking about a problem is reshaped, so the proof of learning is in the pudding, right?” Odongo says. “What is your output once you start solving problems in the team?”
Odongo makes clear that she counts herself among the Senga employees who have more to learn.
“I have absolutely no choice but to continue learning… We’re trying to apply technologies that have advanced significantly in the two decades since I’ve been out of school,” she says. ‘I actually go through my old curriculum and introduce new concepts on top of that. Learning has to be embedded in what we are trying to do.”
Entrepreneurship and the power of going for it
When asked about what motivates her and what advice she might give to students, Odongo reflects on her desire to solve problems and minimize regret. Senga started not because she had a passion for logistics, but because she hated moving and felt like there had to be a better, less frustrating way. She also founded a nonprofit that provides schools and community centers with computers and educational materials, not because she had a fully developed plan, but because she heard about computers that could be recycled. In that moment, she remembered her late father, an engineer with a passion for computers and education, and thought she could do something.
“Sometimes, ideas for our problems latch on to me so viscerally that I feel I have no choice but to pursue it,” she says.” My advice is to go for it, even if you don’t know where it’s going to end up.”
After hearing about Odongo’s open learning and entrepreneurship journey, participants had the opportunity to ask questions. Questions covered topics including how engineers can practice communications and leadership skills, how to stay informed as technology grows, and how to stick to learning goals.
Odongo’s response to the question about sticking to goals sums up her answers overall: “Learning is a muscle.” Whether it is listening to podcasts about founders, reading an article on AI that happens to be on her LinkedIn feed, or picking up a book on behavioral economics, Odongo is always open to new information and seeing where it may take her.
MIT Open Learning aims to transform teaching and learning on campus and around the world by opening the innovations of MIT to learners and educators across all levels of education. Through programs such as OpenCourseWare, MITx courses, MITx MicroMasters Programs, and xPRO, Open Learning provides lifelong learning opportunities to advance skills, capabilities, careers, and organizations.
