Through projects like Khan Academy, MIT OpenCourseWare and University of the People, the Internet has made it easier for anyone to be a student. Now it’s also making it easier for anyone to become a teacher.
Several platforms have launched within the last two years that democratize teaching. It’s now possible for anyone to teach anything — whether it’s how to play the Irish whistle or master investing basics — without a teaching contract, special software or a brick-and-mortar classroom.
Here are five ways to get started.
1. Skillshare
Skillshare is an online m arketplace that sells tickets to offline classes. Anyone who knows something others would be interested in learning about can sell tickets to a class on the site.
Skillshare takes a 15% cut of the tickets sold. Right now most classes on the just-launched platform take place in New York City, but it is open everywhere.
2. Sophia
Sophia helps experts curate the social web in a way that reliably explains a topic. Anybody can compile a free "lesson packet" on the platform using slideshows, videos, audio clips and text that they either upload or pull in from sources like YouTube. When it’s published, they’re encouraged to engage with those who view it through an attached Q&A board.
Lessons can be voted “academically sound” by subject experts (users who hold a degree in that field or teach a course on it), which helps sort out good material from the noise of an open platform.
3. Learnable
