1/ This article from @guardian on "South Korea’s millionaire, celebrity schoolteachers" is the perfect case study of what's going to happen in online education around the world
As usual, the future is already here, in Asia
theguardian.com/world/2015/jan…
As usual, the future is already here, in Asia
theguardian.com/world/2015/jan…
@guardian 2/ Key points:
These online teacher celebrities emerged from "hagwons," after-school study groups with often unsavory reputations. Similarly in US, online courses emerged from a disreputable wild west frontier with few rules, but a ton of innovation
These online teacher celebrities emerged from "hagwons," after-school study groups with often unsavory reputations. Similarly in US, online courses emerged from a disreputable wild west frontier with few rules, but a ton of innovation
@guardian 3/ Takeaway is that disruptive online education models won't come from traditional institutions; they'll emerge bottom up from adjacent industries like tutoring, entertainment, coaching, online marketing, copywriting, & social media, which are designed to captivate and engage ppl
@guardian 4/ Hagwons have become a $20bn industry, and similarly I believe online education in the West is vastly undercounted because it takes so many forms besides "courses." It's really an industry of industries
@guardian 5/ Article highlights Cha Kil-yong, who started teaching at a hagwon and now makes millions per year teaching up to 300k students at a time, charging $39 for a 20-hour course. Which by the way is far cheaper than traditional, in-person hagwons which can cost $600
@guardian 6/ Besides teaching math subject matter itself, he also teaches tips and shortcuts and systems for passing all-important national exams. Online teachers focus much more on "meta" and systems-level skills because those are higher leverage, harder to copy, and subjective
@guardian 7/ These teachers are "multi-talented entertainers": invest huge amounts in production values, coaches and stylists, multimedia content production, studios and props. As I've said elsewhere, teaching is a performance medium and we should see similar celebrities as movies/music
@guardian 8/ Celebrity teachers in S. Korea make guest appearances at schools, television ads, product endorsements, appearances on TV shows, do partnerships with other celebrities. All of this is coming to the West
@guardian 9/ These teachers have a platform, a loyal audience, many distribution and promotion channels, and financial resources that teachers and even entire schools can't even dream of: "We have money. We can invest in ways that normal schoolteachers cannot."
@guardian 10/ Here's my full notes: evernote.com/l/AMw9vpZjDlVB…
