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Ask HN: How are you teaching local/online courses?

For anyone who's: - Teaching local courses for their community, at their own imperative, either volunteer or paid / profitable, or - Teaching online courses out of personal interest, or - Providing other training... I'm interested in knowing: - What do you teach, and how's it going? - Are you in-person, online, or both? What tools do you use? - How do you announce your courses / availability? - Are you accepting payment / donations and how's that working out for you? - Anything else you can share? Background: I can probably set aside some time for, and have some interest in teaching community courses. I've done this in the past in various ways, but this was years ago. I'm thinking of some simple topics that have been relevant in my community in the past, like intro to AM/FM/Shortwave radio for emergencies, or let's say how to enjoy geocaching. I could get into some more high-demand general topics but want to start simple. I previously taught these kinds of courses as part of a service framework in a religion I was a member of at the time. But now that's changed, and I'll need to manage the outreach, venue scouting, and scheduling more directly by myself. So, some parts of this seem a bit foreign to me, not having a huge organization at my back anymore. Also I realize things are different since COVID. Thanks for any tips and experiences you can share.

brudgers 4y ago
I don’t teach courses. But when I want to know about something,YouTube is where I usually wind up. Which might be a good place to start since making YouTube videos has a lot of technical and proficiency overlap with online teaching…sound, lighting, video, cinematography, etc. Good luck.
- themodelplumber 4y ago
  Thanks for your comment. I've posted a variety of Youtube tutorials over the years and have a good sense of the pros/cons of that platform. (Some of my really old tutorials from 10+ years ago still get comments, which is always funny) I still do a lot of that style of training for private clients, via links to Google Drive videos, Vimeo, etc. Related to the question at hand, I'm looking to develop basic trainings/courses with schedules and course-style interaction with specific, interested, opted-in audiences. This is mostly from reflecting on my favorite & most effective training environments and experiences.
  - brudgers 4y ago
    Curriculum design is a field in which practitioners might doctorates doctorates. There’s a large body of written knowledge beyond peer to peer oral tradition available if you want to approach the discipline of teaching as a professional pursuit. When you see Norvig explain something clearly in a well structured manner, you’re seeing a decade of experience as a professor…and probably more as a TA in grad school. I guess I am saying that maybe you get some tips and tricks here —- though my comments probably aren’t evidence to support such a thesis —- but leveling up will require leveling up. Expertise doesn’t come fast or easy.

brudgers 4y ago

I don’t teach courses. But when I want to know about something,YouTube is where I usually wind up. Which might be a good place to start since making YouTube videos has a lot of technical and proficiency overlap with online teaching…sound, lighting, video, cinematography, etc. Good luck.

themodelplumber 4y ago
Thanks for your comment. I've posted a variety of Youtube tutorials over the years and have a good sense of the pros/cons of that platform. (Some of my really old tutorials from 10+ years ago still get comments, which is always funny) I still do a lot of that style of training for private clients, via links to Google Drive videos, Vimeo, etc. Related to the question at hand, I'm looking to develop basic trainings/courses with schedules and course-style interaction with specific, interested, opted-in audiences. This is mostly from reflecting on my favorite & most effective training environments and experiences.
- brudgers 4y ago
  Curriculum design is a field in which practitioners might doctorates doctorates. There’s a large body of written knowledge beyond peer to peer oral tradition available if you want to approach the discipline of teaching as a professional pursuit. When you see Norvig explain something clearly in a well structured manner, you’re seeing a decade of experience as a professor…and probably more as a TA in grad school. I guess I am saying that maybe you get some tips and tricks here —- though my comments probably aren’t evidence to support such a thesis —- but leveling up will require leveling up. Expertise doesn’t come fast or easy.