The influence a teacher can have on a student is undoubtedly something we cherish at Udacity.  Henry Adams said it best, “A teacher affects eternity: he can never tell where his influence stops.” 

For teachers at Udacity, this couldn’t ring more true. “One of the most interesting parts about teaching for Udacity is that my reach is enormous,” says Gabe Ruttner, the CTO at FeatherDocs and Udacity instructor. 

Happy National Teacher Day. Thank you, Teachers!

Michael Dedrick, a UX Designer at Google and a Udacity instructor, is also drawn to the influence he’s able to have on students.

“Knowing that millions of students are going to learn from my course is incredible. Every student is then going to pursue their own opportunities and get jobs, and then they will inspire a million more people,” Michael says. It’s this kind of exponential reach that makes online education so influential and rewarding.

For National Teacher Day, we want to take a moment to acknowledge and honor the Udacity instructors who are not just sharing valuable knowledge in their fields, but are also truly shaping the lives of millions of Udacity students globally. 

Why They Teach

We decided to ask some Udacity instructors about their motivations for teaching –– why they do it and what makes it so rewarding. Here’s what they had to say:

Noah Gift, the founder of Pragmatic AI Labs and a Udacity instructor says, “I teach because I want to create jobs. I believe in empowering people to have greater autonomy in their lives and giving a student the ability to get a new job is a form of empowerment. When a new student learns a skill that leads to a job, it changes the world one student at a time.” 

Andreas Hajas, the CEO of HAJA Technology Consulting and a Udacity instructor, is excited about knowledge sharing and the future of online education, “Teaching with Udacity enables me to share my knowledge with many students at the same time. 

“The platform offers a unique mixture of personal support, theoretical depth, and many practical examples of relevant high-tech topics. It is also very exciting for me to work on the future of digital teaching, for which Udacity is currently laying the foundation,” he said.

What It’s Like to Teach at Udacity

Even if you’ve never taught or designed a curriculum before, Udacity can help you craft the right course to share your knowledge and maximize student learning. 

“Udacity guided me through the entire process. It really allowed me the opportunity to build a course from scratch and build it in a way that’s reflective of the work I do in the industry,” Michael says. 

“In the end, the rewards are amazing. Whether you’re a professor or a professional, Udacity is an amazing platform to help you build educational content to have a transformational effect on students’ lives,” says Melissa Hui, founder at Context Leap and a Udacity instructor. 

We couldn’t agree more. At the end of the day, we’re here to transform lives and catapult careers. 

If you’re interested in becoming a Udacity instructor, you can learn more here.

Come join the Udacity team!