I’m working on a new suite of courses at AFTRS at the moment and talking to lots of people in the industry and also potential students about the kinds of programs they think we should run.
Heard something interesting on Future Tense (ABC Radio National) about the School of Everything which got me thinking differently about education. Basically the School of everything facilitates links between potential teachers and learners in a variety of niche and not-so-niche content areas. Their co -founder Paul Miller spoke well about their Ebay-like model but more importantly about the long tail of education. With education arguably becoming more homogenised in mainstream institutions School of Everything is able to highlight all those niche areas that only very few people may be interested in. Funnily enough, most of the School’s programs are face to face for small numbers of people and many are run for free. A bit like other long tail content it’s obviously a mix of professional and amateur content listed side by side but it also points to a trend of peer to peer education taking place outside bricks and mortar instititions. If it takes off it’s also potentially a threat to all those online educators who offer walled garden subscription education services. It’s worth signing up to check out School of Everything. Unfortunately there’s not a lot of Australian offerings listed so if there’s something you can teach this might be one way you can find a class.
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In addition to being the best source of current information about laws and regulations, homeschooling support groups can help you meet a lot of people at once and can tell you about local activities. Support groups often have newsletters and meetings and sometimes organize field trips, sports teams, writing clubs, book discussion groups — whatever appeals to the families involved.