Michael Karnjanaprakorn runs a startup that reverses an old adage and turns doers into teachers, letting them sign up to host a class on any skill. Some of his classes are both online and in person, while others are only in person.
“At Skillshare,” he says, “That’s exactly what we’re trying to figure out: how that hybrid model of online and offline actually works. When I taught an online Skillshare class to 500 students, a lot of them were also meeting at in-person study groups to workshop ideas with one another. The connections and trust built through those physical interactions are very powerful.
“… Online learning has evolved around watching videos, which isn’t engaging. Skillshare teachers have learned that teaching isn’t really about teaching. A lot of them will tell students to read articles or watch videos before class, and then they’ll meet for a workshop and sit down with students to make something together. A lot of the classes are very interactive like that, more than just a teacher lecturing.”
Click here to read the full conversation about transforming education online between Karnjanaprakorn and Anka Mulder, President, OpenCourseWare Consortium and No. 19 on our Most Creative People list.
Timeline
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2006
Graduates from VCU Brandcenter
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2007
Moves to New Orleans; works at ad agency Trumpet and volunteers at Idea Village
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2008
Moves to NYC; helps Scott Belsky launch Behance think-tank, 99%
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2008
Launches The Feast Conference with fellow MCP Jerri Chou because he couldn’t afford tickets to TED
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2010
Plays in the World Series of Poker and raises over $125,000 for charity
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2010
Facebook acquires social app Hot Potato, where he led the product team
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2010
Starts Skillshare in November
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2011
Skillshare goes live in April
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2012
Selected as TED Fellow