Skillshare
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Founded | New York City, New York, November 2010 |
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Founders | Michael Karnjanaprakorn and Malcolm Ong |
Headquarters | , |
Area served | Global accessibility |
Key people | Michael Karnjanaprakorn, CEO |
Website | Skillshare.com |
Skillshare is an online learning community for creators.[1][2][3][4][5][6]
Unlike traditional study, online classes at Skillshare are taught by industry experts and focus on learning by doing.[2][7][8][9] The courses, which are not accredited, accept anyone who wants to learn.[10][11][12] The majority of courses focus more on interaction than lecturing, with the primary goal of learning by completing a project.[9][11] The main categories of learning are creative arts, design, entrepreneurship, lifestyle and technology, with subtopics covering a myriad of skills.[13][14][15][16]
History
Michael Karnjanaprakorn and Malcolm Ong started Skillshare in New York City, New York in November 2010, the site was live in April 2011.[1][13] Prior to starting Skillshare, Karnjanaprakorn led the product team at Hot Potato, a social media product bought by Facebook, and Ong was product manager at OMGPop.[17][18] In August 2011, Skillshare raised $3.1 million in Series A funding led by Union Square Ventures and Spark Capital.[17][19] As of late 2013, Skillshare has raised $4.65 million in funding.[6] In February 2014, Skillshare raised $6 million, with financing co-led by Union Square Ventures and Spark Capital, bringing its funding total to $10 million.[20]
Skillshare held the Penny Conference in April 2012, a one-day discussion on the current educational system and how to reform it.[13][21] Speakers included Skillshare’s CEO, Michael Karnjanaprakorn, Codecademy’s cofounder Zach Sims, and Pencils of Promise founder Adam Braun.[13]
Skillshare launched its online courses in August 2012.[2][10][22][23][24] In these self paced courses, students collaborate with one another to complete a project.[12] Skillshare started with 15 online courses and as of November 2013, it has hosted more than 250 online courses.[6][22] That same month, Skillshare launched its School of Design.[25]
Skillshare and Levi’s collaborated to launch the School of MakeOurMark in October 2013.[26] These classes focus on individual creativity with courses in photography, tattooing, and various forms of illustration.[26][27]
In March 2014, Skillshare moved to a membership model, with hundreds of online courses in design, business and technology available for $9.95 a month.[28] Later that year, the company announced a new open platform, where anyone can learn and anyone can teach. In conjunction, it released a Free Membership option, with the ability to watch a limited amount of class content each month at no cost.[29]
Categories
Skillshare breaks down the categories of their classes into advertising, business, design, fashion and style, film and video, food and drink, music, photography, technology, and writing and publishing.[30][31] Within each category is a list of available courses being offered under that heading, which are taught by industry leaders.[31][32] All the online courses are self-paced.[2][33]
Notable instructors
Industry leaders have taught several of Skillshare's courses. Seth Godin has a class on entrepreurship;[34][35] Jessica Hische leads one of lettering;[36] Young Guru's s class, covers audio mixing and recording;[37][38] Marc Ecko covers entrepreneurship and brand creation.[39][40] Gary Vaynerchuk's class teaches social media strategy.[41] Teachers of entrepreneurship Guy Kawasaki and Barbara Corcoran also have classes.
References
- ^ a b Jenna Wortham (August 16, 2011). "Skillshare Raises $3.1 Million to Turn Everyone Into Teachers". The New York Times Bits. Retrieved February 4, 2014.
- ^ a b c d Ryan Lawler (August 7, 2012). "Collaborative Learning Startup Skillshare Launches Hybrid Classes, Letting Anyone Join Online Or Offline". TechCrunch. Retrieved February 4, 2014.
- ^ Dani Fankhauser (March 1, 2013). "Toasting Success With Skillshare's Co-Founder". Mashable. Retrieved February 4, 2014.
- ^ Yohance Kyles (October 4, 2013). "Biggie's "10 Crack Commandments" Being Used By Marc Ecko To Teach Business". All Hip Hop. Retrieved February 4, 2014.
- ^ Kadeem Fletcher (September 11, 2013). "Greg Selkoe of Karmaloop Teams With Skillshare for an "Unorthodox Marketing" Class". Complex Style. Retrieved February 4, 2014.
- ^ a b c Erin Griffith (November 5, 2013). "Skillshare has spent the last year quietly transforming itself. It's working". Pando Daily. Retrieved February 4, 2014.
- ^ "Online Skill Sharing Classes Offer Affordable Learning". CBS SF Bay Area. June 20, 2012. Retrieved February 4, 2014.
- ^ Daniel Goodman (May 12, 2012). "This Company Wants You To Get Paid For Teaching In Your Spare Time". Business Insider. Retrieved February 4, 2014.
- ^ a b Christina Chaey (June 2012). "Most Creative People 2012". Fast Company. Retrieved February 4, 2014.
- ^ a b Zoe Fox (August 7, 2012). "Skillshare Goes Global, Launching Hybrid Online-Offline Classes". Mashable. Retrieved February 4, 2014.
- ^ a b "Fellows in the Field: Michael Karnjanaprakorn envisions everyone as student and teacher". TED. July 17, 2012. Retrieved February 4, 2014.
- ^ a b J.J. Colao (August 7, 2012). "Learning By Doing: Skillshare Unveils 'Hybrid' Classes". Forbes. Retrieved February 4, 2014.
- ^ a b c d Brian Anthony Hernandez (April 23, 2012). "How Skillshare Is Transforming Education as We Know It". Mashable. Retrieved February 4, 2014.
- ^ Kanyi Maqubela (April 11, 2012). "Can Online Education Be Both Successful and Good for Us?". The Atlantic. Retrieved February 4, 2014.
- ^ Britney Fitzgerald (August 24, 2012). "Avi Flombaum, Skillshare Teacher, Earns $100K A Year As Tech Educator, Quits Day Job". The Huffington Post. Retrieved February 4, 2014.
- ^ Antonio Neves (October 6, 2011). "Skillshare: A Marketplace for Education". Fox Business. Retrieved February 4, 2014.
- ^ a b Donna Fenn (May 29, 2012). "Skillshare: A New Way to Learn". OPEN forum. Retrieved February 4, 2014.
- ^ Myles Tanzer (November 14, 2012). "Tech Insurgents 2012: Mike Karnjanaprakorn". Beat Beat. Retrieved February 4, 2014.
- ^ Diana Ransom (May 15, 2012). "Skillshare and Changing the Way We Learn". Entrepreneur. Retrieved February 4, 2014.
- ^ Rip Empson (February 28, 2014). "A Year From Launch, Skillshare Lands $6M From USV, Spark To Double Down On Project-Based, Online Classes". TechCrunch. Retrieved March 6, 2014.
- ^ Allie Mahler (April 24, 2012). "A penny for your thoughts: What we learned at the Skillshare Conference". The Next Web. Retrieved February 4, 2014.
- ^ a b April Joyner (April 2, 2013). "Skillshare Takes On the Education Gap". Inc. Retrieved February 4, 2014.
- ^ Ki Mae Heussner (November 28, 2012). "With Skillshare's online classes, instructors get shot at bigger bucks". Gigaom. Retrieved February 4, 2014.
- ^ Tom Vander Ark (August 30, 2012). "5 Lessons K-12 Could Learn From Skillshare". Getting Smart. Retrieved February 4, 2014.
- ^ Joseph Flaherty (March 28, 2013). "Can't Afford Art School? Jump Online for a World-Class Education in Design". Wired. Retrieved February 4, 2014.
- ^ a b Leah Gonzalez (October 1, 2013). "Levi's Hires Creative Experts To Teach Online Classes". PSFK. Retrieved February 4, 2014.
- ^ "Make Your Mark: Skillshare and Levi Team Up To Teach Creativity". DailyTekk. October 2, 2013. Retrieved February 4, 2014.
- ^ Farr, Christina. "Skillshare Debuts New Spotify-like Membership Model for Online Education". VentureBeat. Retrieved 29 April 2014.
- ^ "Skillshare – Make Money Teaching What You Know". Work at Home Adventures. April 15, 2013. Retrieved February 4, 2014.
- ^ a b "Learn Online with Career Step, Lynda, Skillshare and Treehouse". Work From Home. January 9, 2014. Retrieved February 4, 2014.
- ^ Nitasha Tiku (August 14, 2012). "What to Expect From the New-and-Improved Skillshare? Learning By Doing in a 'Hybrid' Classroom". Retrieved February 4, 2014.
- ^ "5 Skillshare Classes We Love". 2930 Creative. October 30, 2013. Retrieved February 4, 2014.
- ^ "Win a Scholarship for Seth Godin's Skillshare Class". Progress Report. Jan 13, 2014. Retrieved Feb 10, 2014.
- ^ "Let Seth Godin help your business do it right first time: 15% off his 11-part video course". The Next Web. Jan 15, 2014. Retrieved Feb 10, 2014.
- ^ "Jessica Hische: Introduction to Lettering". ADC Young Guns. Nov 18, 2013. Retrieved Feb 10, 2014.
- ^ Andres Tardio (August 21, 2013). "Young Guru to Teach $20 Mixing Class Via Skillshare". Hip Hop DX. Retrieved Feb 10, 2014.
- ^ Dan Jackson (Aug 21, 2013). "Young Guru Offers a $20 Mixing Class With Skillshare". XXL Magazine. Retrieved Feb 10, 2014.
- ^ Lauren Nostro (Oct 3, 2013). "Marc Ecko is Using Biggies "10 Crack Commandments" to Teach a Business Course". Complex Music. Retrieved Feb 14, 2014.
- ^ Yohance Kyles (Oct 4, 2013). "Biggie's "10 Crack Commandments" Being Used by Marc Ecko to Teach Business". All Hip Hop. Retrieved Feb 14, 2014.
- ^ Nick West. "Resume Booster: How to Officially Claim You're an "Expert in Social Media."". There Are No Roads. Retrieved Feb 24, 2014.