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Peter’s Conference Report

Last week AERO finished it’s first-ever 4 – day online conference.  By all accounts it was a resounding success and far exceeded expectations.  

When the COVID-19 virus made the decision for us that we would be having the conference online we were pretty nervous about it.  

We had planned to have the conference in Minneapolis, Minnesota which would have been another first for us.  The virus had other plans.  

We had to suddenly rethink the conference and ditch a good deal of the planning we had already done in preparation for Minneapolis.  

In the beginning, the idea of the online conference didn’t quite catch on.  We wondered if our numbers would stay on the low end.  With a little less than a month to go to the conference, the numbers started to pick up significantly. 

Then a day before the conference we had 475 people registered with more trying to get in!  

Thursday morning started with online school visits with our friends from Sri Aria in Malaysia and Liberated Learners leading the way.  The conference officially kicked off with a welcome from Jerry and Peter.  

Many people had a chance to introduce themselves and then were put into  Zoom breakout rooms to network and get to know each other more. 

One thing we were worried about was networking. Networking is the backbone of the AERO conference and AERO. 

We put a lot of thought into making space for that to happen at this year’s conference but weren’t sure how it would go.   In true AERO fashion, the community stepped up and took every opportunity to network and connect.  It was beautiful to watch.  

One reason that networking was so effective was that our friend Kristy Cheng, from Sri Aria school in Malaysia, kept the main room open for our community members in different time zones.  This was one of the highlights of the conference as many reported on the amazing conversations/connections that happened during these hours..  

In the afternoon our set of 20-minute talks started with Gina Riley, followed by Mara Linaberger, Zoe Greenhouse and ending with Andrew Pudewa’s.

Then the series of over 45 workshops began.  

After a short break, students Kat Farr and Walker Meyn were interviewed by Peter Berg.  The interview focused on mental health in education.  

The evening concluded with a keynote from Peter Gray.  The main room remained open during the overnight hours.  

Friday kicked off with another set of amazing workshops.  Many participants stayed in the main room during the lunch break for the launch of The Quest for a Just Society petition (see article). 

Another set of workshops got us going again after the break.  

Then Wayne Jennings delivered a keynote speech on some of his pioneering involvement with public alternatives.

A panel with Brian Connor, Jacob Dennis, and Walker Meyn from the National Youth Rights Association on youth rights in education was next.  They described the scope of work NYRA is doing and about how each of them individually contributes to it. 

After a break, we all watched the documentary Unschooled.  When we came back to the main room to hear people’s thoughts we had an unexpected treat.  Taylor Wildenhaus, Associate Producer on the film joined the chat and spent about 30 minutes with us answering questions. 

Kristy kept the conversation going all night.  Some of us went to bed so we could rest up for the over 15 hours of programming on Saturday.  

Saturday began with more networking and discussion in the main room.  Another set of incredible workshops took place in the morning.  After a break in the afternoon, a long evening began with another set of incredible workshops.   From there we had the pleasure of listening to an International Youth Panel on consent in education.  Anna, Katherine, Mike, and Sofia took us through their journey through self-directed education.  They then showed us their campaign for SDE for all, focused on student rights and consent in education. 

Shortly after, Amir Nathoo, founder of Outschool.com presented on how the online marketplace can support self -directed education.  He took us through some possibilities and also the latest happenings with Outschool. Outschool has gone from 8000 students to 300,000 during the pandemic.

After a break, we came back to hear Catherine Fraise, founder ofWorkspace Education. Right after that, professor, author and education critic Yong Zhao presented. Adler Yang and Ozzie Su joined Yong in a short panel discussion.  Adler and Ozzie continued with their presentation describing pioneering work in Taiwan. It was quite a long day filled with so many amazing perspectives, ideas, and calls to action.   

Many of us were pretty tired by the end of this long day 3.  We were excited for day 4 but a little sad that this was the last day of the conference.  

Sunday began with the documentary CaRabA, about what would happen if the court decided that compulsory education was unconstitutional, followed by a discussion with the filmmakers.  There was also networking and discussion in the main room.  Our last set of incredible workshops rounded out the morning session.  Public superintendent of schools Dr. Michael Hynes and Kate Robinson, daughter of Sir Ken Robinson made the culminating workshop.  

Sadly, it was time to close out the conference and say “see you later” not goodbye to all of our friends from around the world.  Jerry and Peter asked for feedback and suggestions during a short evaluation session and ended the conference with thank you’s to all the volunteers and participants.

Throughout the entire conference, there were impromptu pop-up sessions and discussions many of them are still continuing.  One of these topics is titled The Elephant in the Room: “The protests in the United States of America and around the world are highlighting the gross inequities based on the amount of a chemical (melanin) in a person’s skin.  The absence of this issue at the conference is deafening, especially since the AERO conference was to be held in Minneapolis this year.”   This has raised deep, critical discussion.  

This was a truly global conference with people from 6 continents and over 30 different countries.  We are still on high from the conference, processing all that happened, carefully considering feedback, and recuperating. Thank you again to all of you who were a part of the conference and thank you to all of you for being a part of AERO.  

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Discovering Teaching at Outschool

Amongst the AERO Network, there are many members discovering that they can teach as Independent Contractors on the Outschool platform, a marketplace of classes for ages 3-18.   Whether Instructors choose to make teaching online a career or are suddenly thrown into needing to financially support their family, Outschool has provided the opportunity to help make a difference in their lives.  

Here is a few reasons from the AERO Network of Outschool Instructors:

  •   “I wanted to leave my career in education and find something where I can stay at home with family.”
  • “My husband just got laid off.  I am a homeschool mom who has a lot that I can teach.”
  • “I just want to make some extra money.”   

It was about a 3 week process to get listed with Outschool; some people say it takes longer, but 3 weeks seems to be the minimum.  Many people get frustrated by the process and do not complete the steps.  One of the tasks involves creating a class for listing and there are several steps to this.  Here is an outline of what to expect in creating a class:  

Title: Give your course a catchy and descriptive name.

Summary: Write a one sentence summary of the course.  Keep in mind that many people are not going to read beyond this summary and never read your course description beyond 2 lines and so the short summary needs to truly encompass what will be taught

Subject: Choose one (arts, coding & tech, English, Health & Wellness, Life Skills, Math, Music, Science & Nature, Social Studies or World Languages)

Course type:

  • One-Time – these classes meet by video chat a single time. Discussion may occur by messaging on the classroom page before or after class.
  • Multi-Day – These courses meet by video chat over multiple days. Discussion occurs by messaging on the classroom page between meetings.
  • Ongoing – Learners subscribe to these classes, which meet by video chat on a weekly schedule. Learners can join or leave at any time.
  • Flexible Schedule – These classes occur using asynchronous messaging on the Outschool platform, and do not meet by video chat.

  They have to be 4 weeks long or longer in length and each week the Instructor posts a pre-recorded lesson, announcement, assignment, and/or communication between the teacher and parent/learner. Other learning tools can be accessed through our classroom, including quizzes, forums, group activities that are brought back to the classroom, or other interactive software.  All materials must be accessible to Outschool staff without a login or password. The description needs to be clear about how that interaction will take place such as through discussion questions, challenge activities, or sharing work.   

Course Format:

  • Age range: (must be within a 5 year age grouping) from 3 to 18.  For example, 3-6 or 10-14.
  • Class size: Outschool recommends small classes in general and especially for younger students. For ages 6 and below, up to 6 learners. For ages 6-12, up to 9 learners. For ages 12 and above, up to 12 learners.  However, the maximum class size is 18.
  • Course Duration: how often and how long will the class meet?  

      Course Description – Descriptions that are well-written and highly detailed will help set expectations and get enrollments.  

  • Class experience – How will students learn? How will they interact with the teacher and each other? How is class time structured? What topics will be covered?
  • Learning goals (optional) – What will students learn? Be as specific as possible.
  • Homework (optional) – What kind of homework is assigned, if any?
  • Assessment (optional) – How is learner progress assessed?

    The joys of Outschool and how to be highly successful:   You set your own prices.  Outschool recommends $10-15USD/ hour/ learner.  If you charge way less, you may build a following, but you also underestimate your worth and expertise and you will risk burn out.  If you charge too much, you may have small, intimate classes and still make money or you will not get enrolment.   Describe your expertise and include your social media links.  Many charter schools and other companies are always looking for highly qualified people in many subject areas.  While they are discouraged from messaging you directly through Outschool, they can find you on social media. 

Also, many families looking for Tutors will message you directly through Outschool if their learner was highly engaged in your class and they love your teaching style and personality.  You can charge up to $40 USD/ hour / learner on the Outschool platform; you can lead them to your external website…

Some people designate days for one-on-one in their schedule and write in their course descriptions that they are open to one-on-one work.    Pricing is based on the price per learner, class size, course duration, and the 30% Outschool service fee.  Sometimes this seems like a lot of money to be paying for the service fee.   You can run your own courses with the same content off your own websites as long as you charge the same fee as Outschool; in this aspect, many Instructors with unique skill sets schedule on Outschool for their intro type courses, but direct learners elsewhere for their series types and eliminate the 30% fee.   Learn about Outschool’s happiness refund policy and refer families to Outschool if they have had tech challenges, are no shows, etc.    

Still thinking about diving into teaching on Outschool?  Let Jerry or Peter know so they can submit a referral online.  Provide them with an email address, the one that you would like to receive Outschool communication from.  Each successful referral can end up giving AERO a $200 USD donation.  

Not sure what to teach?  This week, Outschool received 197 requests for courses. Here are some ideas of what parents and learners are looking for:  

  1. “Phonics to Fluency— Teach basics of reading” for age 5.  
  2. “Film school in two months” for age 11.
  3. “Baking like macaroons or other delicious desserts” for age 13.
  4. “Federal Bureau of Investigation” for age 15.
  5. “Canada, Social studies for grades 5 and 6 particularly relating to British Columbia” for age 11.
  6. “horse speak 101 how to understand body language of horses” for age 11.
  7. “Learning the Greek language” for age 9.
  8. “How To Play Pokemon for Beginners” for age 6.
  9. “Modern dance or ballet” for age 8.
  10. “Marine Biology, animals in the deepest parts of the ocean” for age 7.
  11. “Greater than and less than” for age 6.
  12. “How to play Yu-Gi-Ho (card game)” for age 10.
  13. “English prose class 8th chapter 1” for age 14.
  14. “Flamenco dance (intro.)” for age 7. 15.   “Learning Java for kids” for age 10.

By An AERO Member (Better attribution coming soon.)

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Update on the AERO Conference!

By now you have heard that, as a result of the Corona virus outbreak, this year’s AERO conference will be completely online. We believe that is the most socially responsible thing to do. We understand why you may be adopting a wait and see approach.

Here are some things you should know: The hotel is asking AERO for a $12,000 penalty for cancelling the in person conference in Minneapolis. We’re trying to fight it but they have been adamant so far. The AERO conference will still happen June 25-28. It will be virtual but much like the in person one, maybe better, capitalizing on the opportunities that having it online give us. We will have good networking, drop in rooms, and chances for individual networking.

So, AERO needs your support now! Not only does this include registration, but we are interested in any suggestions you might have about the upcoming conference. Among other things we are now a clearinghouse for people looking for elementary through higher education virtual connections (see article below).
We already have a great lineup of keynoters and workshops. We’d like to add more events and activities, especially for students.

Of course this would give the opportunity this year for people everywhere on the planet to participate in an AERO Conference. We need your help to spread the word.
We are leaning in the direction of using Zoom for the 4-day virtual conference. We used it successfully with our past two AEROx Virtual Conferences and think it will serve our needs nicely once we add a few features that Zoom offers. 

If you have suggestions for other platforms and or features you would like to see us implement during the conference please contact peter – peter@educationrevolution.org, jerry – jerryaero@aol.com. We want to make this as user-friendly as possible. If we would like to be a part of the planning. You can join our slack channel by clicking here.  One major thing we can use is connections to sponsors since this is now a virtual conference.
We will be organing a series of Zoom meetings for open discussions and networking leading up to the conference. This will probably be announced in the e news, but. let us know if you want to be specifically informed.
So there will be an AERO conference this year. It will be a venue of many different kinds of presentation and a lot of networking and interaction.
You can register now HERE.

New Teenage SDE Presenter
We’re excited to announce that teenage unschooler Zoe Greenhouse will be a presenter at this year’s AERO Conference. She is about to undertake a massive challenge to accomplish something that has never been done before.

She has just written an article published by the Alliance of Self Directed Education:
One person’s decision to direct their own education and why doing it should be the norm.
“Sixteen thousand. That’s the average number of hours kids spend at school from Pre-K through high school. Sixteen thousand hours learning things they often forget after the test. Things they may not use in the future. Things that may not interest them. They spend seven hours a day at school, then typically go home to spend three more hours doing homework. Their lives are taken up by work that means nothing to them, and they become accustomed to living that way.I’ve experienced first-hand how many kids talk about hating school……”
Read the whole article HERE

AERO is Now a Clearinghouse for Learner-centered Virtual Education
AERO is now a clearinghouse for people looking for a learner-centered virtual provider because their school has been closed because of the corona virus or they want to avoid it. This includes schools and programs from elementary through college.

We are providing free consultations for people looking for options. Please let anyone know who could use this service. Also, if you have resources to help people, let us know.
To set up a free consultation, write to JerryAERO@AOL.com