Teachers Network (currently under development) is a collaborative environment for the creation and maintenance of open source curriculum frameworks with initial emphasis on STEM, computer science, and English training. The site will eventually combine electronic learning with social networking, collaboration tools, and a wealth of public education related materials.  Designed to be a fun and clean environment where students and teachers can interact with each other while at the same time providing the tools necessary to build an effective online learning environment.

I have been teaching and helping students on a part-time basis since 2010. Areas include English, Math, Business and Critical Thinking subjects.  The intent is to combine my teaching experience with my technical and business background to build better learning environments.

All work is being done under the Jade umbrella using Jade Networks Data Center Services.  Open sourced support materials including student mobile applications, presentation material, video tutorials, and other digital material will be hosted as needed. What follows is our vision for the site and areas we are currently working on.

Teachers Network revenue will be mainly derived through online class sales.  Additional sources will be identified as we sort this out.  Target markets are, at least initially, English speaking markets, namely the United States, UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.  English being an International language may also open doors to other markets depending on the subject material.  TEFL English is one for instance.  Certain local resources such as an existing media lab and a basic electronics lab are also at our disposal if and when needed.

Core Subjects and Resources

Most of our efforts as we build this new service are with the design, testing and initial roll-out of basic services.  As we don’t have infinite resources the first courses will be in subject areas we are most familiar with: computer science, electronics, IoT and English.

English Training

We have many years experience in teaching English at all levels and working with student, parents, and training centers.   Most of this experience is directly applicable to TN, not only in the area of English training but in how to structure classes and programs for students, groups, and schools.

With our direct writing classes, we used the Online Writing Lab for both individual and collaborative writing projects.  This included the ability of the teacher and other group members to review and comment on progress.  The versioning authoring system allows for version comparison and rollback.   It is an invaluable tool for writing classes.

There are many ways to structure classes for English learners and we are evaluating the options and priorities at this time.

Electronics and Computer Engineering

The Electronics and Computer Engineering (ECE) courses introduce young students to the fields of electronics and computer science.  These hands-on, project based STEAM courses not only teach students about the various technologies, but just as importantly, unlock the creative spirit in every student.  Courses are designed to be fun and encourage students to engage in “what if” types of questions.  Independent exploration and team collaboration is actively encouraged.

The initial course hierarchy consists of 13 courses across 3 main focus tracks:

  • Electronics: basic concepts for the beginner through modern IoT systems.  This includes micro-controller and single board computer based design.
  • Computer Science: modern programming languages from ScratchJr for the very young learners through object oriented high level languages such as Python and JavaScript for the more advanced students.
  • Web Development: introduction and application of HTML/CSS for modern web design for students and adults wishing to get involved in this area.  Advanced server based topics covered for students who also have the programming (computer science) course prerequisites in later courses.

We are currently designing course kits to compliment the electronics and computer science courses.  The first specification of workstation and accessories kits for schools and students include our own packaging of several of the more popular Raspberry Pi OS distributions and compatible hardware.  This is currently under review and likely will shift to a more standard mini-pc based solution as the cost/benefit calculation with RPI based solutions has changed.

Learning Environment

Teachers Network is a tiered membership site.  Basic membership is free but must be associated with a confirmed real person.  This is enforced for security and member safety reasons.  Different member types exist, the most common being ‘student’, ‘teacher’ and ‘parent’.   Each can have different roles, usually tied to a paid subscription.  A teacher leading a specific class will have access rights for administrating that class.  Likewise students and/or parents signed for that class will have different access and visibility into the class.  Members can have access to multiple and different resources with different roles as needed.

The current working prototype has the role and permission system in place and working.  Additional work needs to be done on member signup procedures though.  We had to disable the automatic signup system due to massive floods of fraudlent member requests.  A working system needs to be implemented to confirm identities.  Anonymous access cannot be supported due to Internet fraud and the need to protect students, especially minors.

Learning Management System (LMS)

The Learning Management System (LMS) is the core classroom environment.  It is where classes are developed, provided and makes up the actual online classroom environment.  Class resources including the lesson components, supplementary class material and online meeting resources live here.  Teachers give homework, quizes and tests as well as grading.

LMS’s are a huge software base which we will not be writing.   Currently several open source LMS candidates are under evaluation for possible integration into our environment.  Many issues are involved (too many to detail here) so the possibility of integrating a non-open source solution is still an option.

Teacher Support

The main source of revenue for Teachers Network is the sale of online classes.  While TN staff may initially be involved in classroom training, this is not the long term strategy.  Instead, revenue sharing models between teachers, TN, and potential partners (LMS provider, meeting room providers and others) will drive growth.  Most teachers are not business people and just want a place they can work.  For these, packaged courses, student management (student contract management, payments) and electronic payment for classes given are essential.  Other teachers may want to develop their own classes for either their own exclusive use and/or to provide access to others.  Several revenue models will be established to cover most use cases.

For TN to be attractive to teachers, margins on classes need to be reasonable for everyone.  TN will supply the environment, overall promotion, student contract management and payment process for both students and teachers.  More investigation is needed related to other TN added services including sales, student services, and other teacher promotion strategies.

Student Support

This is an area we are working to better articulate.  Need to cover 1-on-1 classes, group classes, course counseling and coordination, parental monitoring and subject material.  Of particular importance is teacher accreditation and feedback.  There are many wonderful and responsible teachers, but not all fit this description unfortunately.  We need a way to evaluate and rate teachers, both initially regularly and over time.

All classes are to be fully transparent and focus ONLY on subject material.   NO STUDENT INDOCTRINATION WILL BE ALLOWED UNDER ANY CONDITIONS.

Other Issues

There are a lot of other issues not brought up in this introductory document.  The design of the LMS components, their relationship with revenue sharing models, class creation (original content) issues, and a whole world of issues related to the marketing and sales of these services.  Many of these we have experience with in our direct teaching experience.   Policies have been written and have gone through the first drafts and iteration of peer review.  This is actually critical to the successful operation of any organization such as this and we are off to a good start there.   But a lot of work still remains.

Packaged Courses

Developing course materials is a very time consuming, iterative, and resource intensive process.  There are cases where internal development of our own course material makes a lot of sense.   Even more if there can be identified ways where these courses could be leased to other platforms.  Conversely there are many good reasons for integrating third-party course material into our platform.  Standardized classes, and getting access to appropriate training material is essential.   This is no different from how schools operate now – unless you are at the university level and dealing with specialized subjects, course material (books, class materials, quizzes, tests, etc) are almost always sourced from publishers of educational material.  Our strategy in this regard needs further work, and how it works with the various revenue models, licensing, and IP protection, needs to be fully understood.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Education

Everywhere you look these days people are talking about AI.  No marketing or sales campaign dare to not connect whatever they are doing to AI for fear of being out of touch with the modern world.  The number of self-appointed AI experts are mind boggling.   Most of these ‘experts’ have no idea what the technologies are, direction, or limitations.  But that does not matter when one is trying to ‘wow’ customers.   You can’t even buy a coffee maker these days without being bombarded by all of this rubbish.

Does that mean we are anti-AI?   Not at all – but it is important to realize that the technologies represent tools that can be used for good or bad.  The number of end user tools is huge and growing rapidly.  Growth in AI Assistant related areas is huge.  Most of this is good, but none of this represents a magic pill that will either save or destroy the world.   How we use these tools and recognize the problems that improper use of them represent, the more successful we will be.

One area we need a clear strategy for us plagiarism from AI sourced material by both students and teachers alike.  There are many that believe that AI is a magic wand that will allow computers to do all the work people normally do and we can all just sit back and collect the money.  This is of course nonsense.   Even if AI was that good (it isn’t) then why would anyone pay a person for work they can get done from and independent bot?  Our experience in using AI bots for doing technical research has been very helpful, but not without errors.  The old computer science concept of GIGO – Garbage In, Garbage Out most definitely applies to most AI models.

As educators our focus must remain on teaching concepts and skills to our students that prepare them for a career and long term employment.  AI Prompt Engineering is important to understand, however MUST never become the focus for educators trying to help students.  Class plans, materials and other teaching materials need to be reviewed for accuracy and plagiarism.   The same applies to student material.  There are businesses everywhere these days it seems to help people ‘create’ more and more AI-generated content.  And almost as many companies now starting to appear to detect such content.

Our experience has been that AI is a great tool when used for doing research, regardless of field.  It is not always completely accurate, but is a massive time saver in getting a research project going.  In the market (where people work), those most vulnerable are those who provide the lowest level of input to problem solving.   Those who understand big picture issues and how to evaluate and put the pieces together will continue to have a bright (brighter?) future with the assistance of AI tools.  These are the people we need to be educating and preparing for industry.

Notes:

  • Images: review existing slide shows and create new ones.   Remove all old page builder and slideshow plugins.
  • Image possibilities: maker / electronic components, scratch, robot car, classroom, lab
  • Need new logo
  • The TN site needs cleanup and fixing as well as full content review