In my last post I talked about the fundamentals of becoming an online teacher without supporting huge investor-fueled teaching platforms or business practices you don’t agree with, don’t understand or simply don’t care about. Today I want to talk further about how you can establish your own legacy instead of indirectly fueling an impersonal brand…
How to Become an Online Teacher Without Selling Your Soul
This is what I asked myself one and a half years ago. I had this deep gut-feeling that it must be possible. The first thing I did was research. Google presented me with a selection of socalled online teaching platforms, websites, where you can sign up as teacher or student, create profiles, courses etc. So, what…
Online Education for Children via Skype
When I started teaching online, I was sceptical. I had been working many years in classrooms with blackboards, carrying books and scrawling remarks with red ink into the margins of exercise sheets. How could all that be possibly replaced by a computer? A lifeless machine? What I found is that it can’t be replaced, instead…
The Rise and Fall of the Product Mindset: From Assembly Lines to the Service Age
In this article I want to share with you an idea that has been occupying me for a few days. Obviously, there’s much more to be said about this than can fit into one article. So we’ll have to do some serious time-jumping, here. Ready? Let’s roll! Rewind… There used to be a time, where…
When Distraction is the Norm
Yesterday I read about a little program called Freedom that forces you to disconnect from the Internet. You set a timer to the desired amount of “offline time” and then you’re unable to connect until the timer runs out or you reboot your computer. (This is supposed to make cheating more difficult) A question that…
The Internet is not a Mass Medium. Or is it?
The term “mass medium” was coined in the early 20th century and referred to magazines, newspapers, radio & television broadcasts. I remember the times when watching an MTV music video on color television fried every teenager’s excitement-circuits, slouched in front of the silverscreen, sucking up the newest trends and fashions through the straw that was…
Eat when Tired, Sleep when Hungry
Do you sometimes do things which aren’t on point? Do you sometimes do the opposite of what you feel you should? Do you sometimes wonder why it seems you want to do one thing and yet you do another? Don’t worry, we all do. There is a famous saying in Zen that goes “Eat when…
Knowledge is Not Enough: An Invitation to Reconsider Common Beliefs
The average amount of time people in the West spend on “education” is huge. (Not to mention the sums of money!) Having a degree is not considered something special, anymore. It has become the norm. (And its absence – a new fear) People pursue degrees for mainly one reason: To get a “good” job. The…
Minimalism: Spiritual Materialism in Disguise or: The New Religion of “Living with 100 things”
When I first heard the word Minimalist it was in context of Techno music. Also I’ve seen it as pertaining to interior design. But did you know that Minimalism is also a full-fledged lifestyle movement? So what do Minimalists do? They get rid of unnecessary stuff (clutter) in their life try to live their lives…