Creative Pros Can Learn Skills or Teach Courses on Skillshare

Do you need to expand your photography, design, writing, illustration, or entrepreneurship skills? Or: Can you teach any photography, design, or technology skills that might make life easier or more creatively fulfilling for others? Either way, you might benefit from Skillshare.

SkillshareLogoLaunched in 2011, Skillshare is a global learning community that offers a low-cost way to learn real-world skills from anyone, anywhere. All classes are focused on skills that you can use immediately, either in your career or on personal projects.

Teach

If you have knowledge to share, you can promote your own local, in-person classes on Skillshare. You can set your own fee for the classes your list on Skillshare, keeping in mind that most Skillshare classes cost around $20 per ticket. Skillshare’s goal is to keep the classes affordable and accessible to as many people as possible.

If you can teach a course in photography, film, design, illustration, fashion, or technology, you can apply to teach an online class. The classes can’t be promotional and must involve the completion of a hands-on project that enables students to show what they have learned.

The online classes are still in beta, so only a limited number of applications are being accepted. But the Skillshare approach looks promising.

In November, 2012, Mattan Griffel became the first Skillshare teacher to earn $25,000 in ticket sales for one online course. He teaches students how to code, using Ruby on Rails, one of the hottest programming frameworks for building websites. By the end of the five-week course, each student must use Ruby on Rails to build a basic web app.

Learn

When looking to refresh or expand your own skills, you can find new classes listed on Skillshare every day. Business topics include everything from entrepreneurship, website design, public speaking, and digital-marketing to graphic design fundamentals, visual storytelling, coding, and app store optimization. For a relief from the daily grind, enroll in a Skillshare course on cooking, gardening, or wine tasting.

More Details

Skillshare is based in New York City, but Skillshare classes can happen anywhere. Local classes enable students to meet their teachers live and in person. Online classes happen on Skillshare.com and attract students from anywhere in the world.

The online teachers provide guidance, resources, and interactive lectures and office hours. Students can work together, share questions and ideas, and exchange feedback throughout the duration of the class.

LINKS

Skillshare Classes

Becoming a Skillshares Teacher

YouTube: Learn Differently with Skillshare

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Continuing Ed Program Teaches Web Design, Graphic Design and Online Marketing

Here’s a great example of how colleges are adapting their programs to cater to the growing demand for lifelong learning.

OneRiverSchool-DoorOne River School of Art and Design in Englewood, NJ will be launching specialized Digital Certificate Programs that will aim to meet the creative learning needs of adults in northern New Jersey. The Programs will be in four specific areas of interest: Graphic Design, Web Design, Online Marketing and Digital Photography.

“In today’s marketplace, adults want new digital skills that will contribute to their personal or professional growth,” says Matt Ross, founder of the One River School. “If you run a small business, having these skills can provide you with new services to sell. If you work in the corporate world, these skills may help to increase your salary or provide flexibility to gain a new position. On a personal level, these can simply be cool, exciting, and fun skills to have. Whatever the goals are of interested adults, our four Digital Certificate Programs will allow them to attain this valuable education at an affordable cost in a high-tech facility that’s centrally located and easily accessible.”

One River School of Art and Design’s Digital Certificate Programs will be flexible: they will allow students to customize their areas of study and tailor the days/times of their classes to mesh with their busy home or work schedules. The Programs will require students to take three required classes in their chosen specialty and complete their certificates by adding three electives from a large menu of class options, including “Intro To Online Marketing”, “Photoshop and Illustrator”, and “Blogging Basics”. There will be a maximum of 12 students per class, and each class will be taught by industry-leading instructors who also teach at major universities in the tri-state area.

OneRiverSchool

“One River School of Art and Design’s new Digital Certificate Programs will be personalized for all of our adult students,” says Ross. “They’ll allow members of our community to gain experience with the latest digital creative tools, and be more competitive in their chosen fields.”  Classes will begin in April.

LINKS

One River School of Art and Design

Digital Certificate Programs