snapshot of https://github.com/zulip/zulip.git @ 48c69911c7dd4e03b20552eb3bd77ad8151c1357 (2026-09-15)

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+## Making the best of a tough year
+
+[University of California San Diego
+(UCSD)](https://ucsd.edu/about/index.html) is recognized as one of the
+top universities worldwide. The UCSD math department offers
+prestigious graduate and undergraduate programs, with course topics
+ranging from foundational material to cutting-edge research.
+
+In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, UCSD instruction moved online early
+in 2020. As instructors scrambled to figure out online education,
+Kiran Kedlaya, Professor of Mathematics at UCSD, gave himself a bigger
+challenge: “Seeing the unique opportunity, I decided to open my
+classes up to the world,” Kiran says.
+
+
+## Communication is key
+
+Kiran knew that an effective chat platform would be key for
+communicating with students. He had prior experience with Slack,
+Discord and Zulip.  “I chose Zulip for several reasons, especially the
+threaded model (which I find sorely lacking in other chat apps), and
+the TeX integration.”
+
+From Spring 2020 through Spring 2021, the [Zulip
+Standard](/for/education/#feature-pricing) plan was free for all educators,
+as we did our part to help make the transition to online education a
+little easier. Having set up Zulip Cloud for his three graduate-level
+courses, Kiran felt confident in the communication platform, and was
+ready to make his classes open to all.
+
+
+## Teaching students across six continents
+
+Students worldwide jumped on the opportunity to take a course with
+Kiran. “Of the 350 students in my classes, no more than 15% were local
+to UCSD,” Kiran says. A Zulip poll showed participants from as far as
+the Middle East, Southeast Asia and Oceania.
+
+“Zulip became a central hub for asynchronous Q&A and posting Zoom
+links for lectures, whiteboard PDFs, and announcements,” Kiran says.
+
+With students logging in at all hours of the day, Zulip’s topic model
+was key to making sure everyone could find the materials they needed
+and participate in the discussions. “Zulip’s topics, and the ability
+to change the topic of someone else's message, has made it much easier
+for me to keep things coherent,” says Kiran.
+
+
+## Zulip has what you need
+
+Beyond topics, Zulip’s rich functionality smoothed out made many
+aspects of remote communication. Here is what Kiran has to say about
+the benefits of just a few of Zulip’s features:
+
+
+- **Discussing math**: “The
+  [**TeX**](/help/format-your-message-using-markdown#latex)
+  made it super easy to discuss material from the course using
+  proper mathematical notation, and was one of the reasons I chose
+  Zulip in the first place.”
+- **Quick pulse-checks**: “[**Emoji
+  reactions**](/help/emoji-reactions) were a nice way
+  to collect RSVPs for office hours or acknowledge typo corrections
+  for my lecture notes.”
+- **Hiding answers**:
+  “[**Spoilers**](/help/format-your-message-using-markdown#spoilers)
+  are a great way to answer questions about homework without depriving
+  students of a chance to keep thinking about the problem on their
+  own.”
+- **Scheduling**: “With [**global
+  times**](/help/format-your-message-using-markdown#global-times),
+  I could announce office hours or outside lectures without having to
+  worry about confusion for students in different time zones.”
+
+
+## Education beyond coursework
+
+What happens once classes return to campus? “I intend to continue to
+use Zulip as the main communication platform for my in-person classes
+this coming year,” Kiran says.
+
+Zulip is also helping Kiran organize events for students, and create
+communities for education and research. “I used Zulip as the
+communication hub for a 200-person undergraduate conference that was
+held virtually for the first time,” Kiran says. “I’ve also started a
+Zulip for the number theory research group at UCSD, where graduate
+students and postdocs can connect to discuss reading courses, social
+events, conferences of interest, etc.”
+
+---
+
+Learn more about [Zulip for Education](/for/education/), and how
+Zulip is being used at the [Technical University of Munich](/case-studies/tum/)
+and the [National University of Córdoba](/case-studies/university-of-cordoba/).
+You can also check out our guides on using Zulip for [conferences](/for/events/)
+and [research](/for/research/)!