Education blogger Joanne Jacobs flagged a fascinating story on Udemy, an online course provider that offers classes on subjects ranging from playing the guitar to web development. Just this month, they announced their 10 millionth user. Classes are generally inexpensive (less than $250) and are uploaded to the platform by instructors who then get a cut of the revenue.
The eye-popping fact is that the creator of the most popular course has earned $6.8 million for his efforts. Yep, you read that right: $6.8 million. His name is Rob Percival, and he is a British former high school teacher. As TIME points out, he is the exception, not the rule, but he does show the opportunity available for people to take advantage of this new platform.
How often have you heard that we should pay teachers like professional athletes or movie stars? Well, it turns out that we can, if we break down the barriers that have prevented teachers from reaching as many students as possible. Sure, it’s not for everyone. But for the creative course developer, or the working professional rounding out her skill set to make herself more marketable, or the college student looking to learn material without getting up to his eyeballs in debt, it is an incredible opportunity, and one we should celebrate.
