Let’s start with some nice and crunchy numbers:

From 2009 to 2010 we saw a growth of one million students in online education in the US according to the Sloan Consortium Report. It is the biggest growth measured so far and whereas traditional on-campus classes have been growing at only 2%, online education jumped ahead at a whopping 21% growth-rate. That’s ten times faster!

People had been afraid that this growth would vanish during times of economic difficulty. So far the numbers show that exactly the opposite is the case: While overall business was going down, demand for online classes only increased!

The reason for this is that online education is more affordable and as or even more efficient than in-class education.

Institutions vs Individuals

On the the one hand we see a growing number of institutions like universities providing courses online. On the other hand more and more individuals: teacher and tutors are offering classes online working independently of location or institutions, either part-time or as a full-time commitment.

Those are what I call Guerrilla Educators:

  • They don’t belong to any highly hierarchical staff structure.
  • They don’t adhere to fixed curricula or styles of teaching
  • They sit everywhere around the world:They are globally informed
  • And they’re challenging the very idea of what education is about!

What are We Learning For?

In the factory-approach to education, the conveyor-belt mentality of learning, the raw product (you) goes into the education facility where it is processed and then leaves the factory as a finished product, ready for the market with standardized skillsets.

This is just another way of saying: I’m going to school to get a degree to get a good job to get good money to get a good life.

There isn’t any problem with this, at all, except for the fact that not everybody is the same and our “education system” favors those most willingly conforming to the “factory standard”.

We can also say: There’s temporary periods of learning for a target (degree, job, etc.). And then there’s “life long learning”. The latter is not just somewhat unfashionable it also seems devoid of any rewards and therefore often doesn’t come with that same sense of urgency and importance as passing this or that formal test or course.

But is it really less important?

There are many people who claim that life long learning is actually the key to a happy and fulfilled life! It implies learning in a variety of different ways, inside and outside the classroom, about topics both mundane and abstract, indoors and outdoors, on your own and with a tutor – so the learning and its benefits will never stop!

Professor John Field from the “National Institute of Adult Continuing Education” (England & Whales) states that “a lifelong learning system […] takes well-being as its primary purpose” and “is likely to differ signi?cantly from present models.” (source)

Well-being: Very different from the factory-approach. You’re not a product, anymore. Your individual well-being is now at stake!

Guerrilla Education & Its Evolutionary Advantage

Traditional education is slow to adapt to a changing world that demands more and more education and continuous adaptation in the name of staying competitive. And while there are examples of universities offering courses online, it doesn’t fundamentally change the game.


1. The right private tutor can teach you whatever you need and whenever you need it

2. Courses aren’t build around normative standards but around your individual requirements

3. Private tutoring is the most specialized and personalized way of learning, ever

A university degree may be your entry ticket to that dream job. But once you’re in, new skills and knowledge will be demanded from you. Instead of sitting through classes and books after-hours, waiting for the pieces to come together, go online and find a private tutor who will coach you step by step!