Because we live in a digital world, many of our daily activities take place online rather than face-to-face, and teaching is no exception. SkillShare is one such online platform that has emerged to help people gain more knowledge in a variety of subjects in a more convenient way. However, although SkillShare provides many benefits for learners, what about its instructors?
Is teaching on SkillShare worth it? Yes. SkillShare not only rewards its teachers through earnings, but also allows teachers to gain more experience, achieve exposure, and earn recognition for their work.
The remainder of this article will explain what SkillShare is, as well as what you should expect if you plan on teaching through the platform, including its advantages and disadvantages, and the impact of using it to provide educational content.
An Overview of SkillShare
SkillShare is an online education platform that provides instructors the opportunity to contribute their expertise on a variety of subjects, such as business and marketing, technology, creative writing, art and design, and lifestyle. Learners around the world, including students and working professionals, can take advantage of a multitude of course offerings teachers provide to develop their skills within their respective fields further.
SkillShare Features
- SkillShare offers its courses via modules, each arranged so that learners can save and access lessons and lectures on their own time. Students can interact with instructors and other learners through discussion boards and ask questions where needed.
- The courses offered on the platform can range in length, from 7-10 minutes to 8 hours. However, users of SkillShare have the benefit of being able to start and pause featured class lectures or videos as they see fit, so they can always resume them later.
- SkillShare offers quick and efficient customer service for instructors and students. It is easy to connect with them through live chat or over the phone.
Benefits of Teaching on SkillShare
There are quite a few benefits that SkillShare offers instructors on the platform. However, note that depending on your situation, some advantages may be more appealing than others. To get started you can click on this link.
Comprehensive Teacher Training
One of the most prominent concerns teachers and learners have regarding online education applications is whether a teaching certification is required to use the service. It is essential to know that SkillShare does provide comprehensive training for both new and experienced instructors.
This means that even if you are new to teaching, SkillShare provides the tools you need to ensure you can effectively impart your expertise with learners around the world. For example, SkillShare provides instructors with a step-by-step guide to create new courses and achieve higher enrollment rates.
LINK: Skillshare Help Center for Teachers
Different Educational Niches
SkillShare is exceptionally versatile in its course offerings, ranging from business to the creative arts. No matter what your background is in, the platform is likely to have a niche for you to share your knowledge with others.
Inspiring Interactions
With SkillShare, you can interact with learners around the world, exposing yourself to a variety of new ideas to help you develop future lessons as well as your own career further. In fact, by teaching on SkillShare, you can open the door to other opportunities for you and your students to grow.
Gain Recognition and Honor
Many instructors on SkillShare are well-known icons and industry leaders. When you teach on the platform, you become associated with many of these experts, increasing your own status as an instructor, and creating opportunities for greater recognition.
Share Your Expertise with Millions
SkillShare allows instructors to gain students from all around the globe. Its platform has millions of subscribed members, ready to learn from the best. If you enjoy teaching now, wait until you can teach hundreds to thousands of learners.
Earn as You Teach
SkillShare’s membership structure allows it to pay teachers for their contributions. With every lecture or lesson you provide, you’ll be paid for it based on how many students sign up.
Access to a Network of Similar Professionals
The communicative platform allows instructors within the same field to connect and interact with one another online. If you want to learn more about your domain, or are interested in collaborating with like-minded teachers, SkillShare lets you do it all.
Simple Class Creation
SkillShare’s platform allows you to create new courses easily. All you need is a camera (such as a webcam or other digital camera) and a computer to record new lectures. Once you have uploaded a new lecture and publish it, the application makes it available to students signed up for your course. As mentioned previously, SkillShare also offers a how-to guide that provides step-by-step instructions in developing a new class in case you have trouble.
Stop Teaching at Any Time
If you decide that you no longer want to teach on the platform, SkillShare makes it easy to cancel your account. You will still receive whatever earnings are owed from previous lessons until your account officially closes.
Disadvantages of Teaching on SkillShare
As with any service, SkillShare has its own set of disadvantages in addition to advantages.
Difficulties in Building an Audience
The first challenge every new teacher faces on SkillShare is building up your reputation. Many seasoned instructors use the platform who may have been teaching for a while through the application. They have established audiences and learners who continuously come back to them as they release new content.
This poses a problem for new teachers; how do you gain more students if you are not renowned or as experienced as those who are seasoned?
Fortunately, it is possible to build up your profile faster, simply by adjusting what you have to offer. SkillShare has hundreds of courses for learners to choose from, so perhaps what you want to provide is something unique that students may be interested in.
Scheduling Issues
Because SkillShare is an online learning platform, the benefit it offers students is that they can learn on their own time; this means that you will need to create a consistent schedule and be available as much as possible to answer student questions.
If you happen to experience an emergency and can’t post a lecture on time, or can’t be available to address a learner’s question within a reasonable amount of time, then you could potentially lose students due to your inactivity.
Hard to Earn Income Quickly
New teachers on SkillShare may not be able to earn a lot of revenue off the bat. You will need to develop a solid course and attract learners that may be interested in the information you have to offer. Once you have established a good repertoire and have students enrolled, only then will you be able to maintain regular revenue successfully.
The most successful instructors on the platform can make up to $100,000 a year, but naturally, this cannot happen overnight; it will take quite a bit of effort on your part.
In Summary
Advances in technology and how we connect online has allowed online education platforms like SkillShare to emerge to help students and working professionals around the world develop skills within their industry.
SkillShare offers its teachers many advantages, such as regular earnings, professional development, and access to a network of like-minded experts within their field. Although there are some disadvantages instructors face, such as early difficulties building a student base and maintaining a fairly open schedule, many teachers find that the pros far outweigh the cons based on the number of opportunities the platform offers.
If the benefits of SkillShare are in your favor, and you’re interested in becoming an instructor on the platform, visit their site to learn more about how you can apply and sign up to receive their teacher handbook and training, and start sharing your knowledge with others.
References:
https://www.bitdegree.org/online-learning-platforms/skillshare-review/
https://www.skillshare.com/teach
