Skillshare—Free Online Classes—Learn Design, Photography, & Writing

Skillshare contains hundreds of online courses that users can browse and attend. Each courses consists of multiple videos about a topic taught by a person with significant experience in that skill, craft, or field. Plus, courses are divided by Editor’s Pick, trending, and see all. To enroll in a course, users must first register on the Skillshare network by providing their email address, name, and choosing a password. Next, when users find a course, they can first view the introduction video. If they are still interested in the course after the introduction video, they can tap another video in the course to enroll in it or they can choose to “save for later.” Using the buttons on the bottom of the screen, users can find new courses with the “discover” button, view the courses in which they are enrolled or saved with the “my classes” button, or see their profile information with the “me” button.

Instructional Ideas

1. As an extension project, teachers can preselect courses from this app that students could attend. Teachers can then require students to attend a course. As a summative assessment, teachers can have students complete the assignments in the course (if applicable), summarize each video in the course, and write what they learned from the course in a paper or presentation.
2. After students gain familiarity with the app, they can create a series of video lessons about a topic of interest or area of expertise modeled after the ones found in this app using TouchCast or iMovie. At the conclusion of each video, the student can assign an assignment to be completed by the viewers. The lessons can then be shared by uploading them to a class website, and teachers can require that each student view another student’s course. Finally, the student who created the course can be responsible for grading the work that was assigned.
3. After becoming familiar with this app and the Coursmos app, students can create a presentation or write a paper that compares the two apps and then pick their favorite.

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