Skillshare Help Center

Introducing New Policies & Processes for Ensuring Quality Content on Skillshare (April 2023)

Starting May 1, 2023, we are introducing a few changes to the teaching experience on Skillshare with the goal of creating the highest-quality learning experience for our community. Read on for more details about these upcoming changes and how they may impact you as a current teacher on Skillshare.

Application for First-Time Teachers

Starting May 1, first-time teachers will be required to apply to teach and be approved by our team in order to launch their first class on the platform. Any current teacher, as of May 1, 2023, with one or more published classes on Skillshare will not be impacted by this change and will not have to apply to teach additional classes.

Updates to Permitted Languages and Categories

Starting May 1, we will also be making updates to the languages and categories that teachers are permitted to teach in. These changes will apply to both newly accepted and current teachers. Find more information below on what languages and categories will be permitted. Classes that do not fall into permitted languages and categories may be subject to removal.

Why Skillshare is Making These Changes

These updates are a part of a larger strategy to deliver value to Skillshare members. Through research, we have continually heard from our community that the volume of classes on Skillshare can be overwhelming and that quality can be inconsistent. We’ve taken a number of steps over the past year to address this feedback, including our updated class performance requirement and additional investments into our teacher programs. 

Our continued efforts to improve the member experience are directly tied to our goal of improving the teacher experience. By addressing our members’ quality concerns, we hope to see improvements in member retention and revenue, with the ultimate goal of increasing the value Skillshare delivers and growing teacher earnings over time. In addition, we believe that adding more specificity and guardrails to what can be taught on Skillshare will ultimately create a better opportunity for high-quality classes to get discovered, unlocking greater teacher success. 

 

Check out these FAQs for more specific information on what is changing: 

Do I need to apply to teach if I already have a published class available on Skillshare?

No. Current teachers will not need to apply to continue publishing classes. If you have at least one published class on Skillshare before May 1, 2023, you will not need to apply. 

If you previously published classes to Skillshare but they are no longer available on the site as of May 1, 2023, you will need to apply to begin teaching again.

How will the application process work?

The application process for first-time teachers will be similar to the application process that already exists on Skillshare for admission into our programs for new teachers. Through a form available on skillshare.com/teach, prospective teachers will be asked to share information about what they are interested in teaching, and the experience and approach they would bring to teaching. They will also be required to submit a short sample teaching video. Our goal will be to assess applicants’ ability and potential to create a class that is digestible, actionable, accessible, and fulfilling. 

Applicants will typically hear back from our team within 2 weeks. Applicants who are approved will be invited to join one of our new teacher programs. Applicants who are not approved will have the opportunity to apply again in the future.

How will Skillshare ensure that the process to teach remains fair and equitable?

At Skillshare, we believe in building a diverse and inclusive community — this applies to our team, our partners, our teachers, and our community at large. Ensuring that teaching on Skillshare remains accessible to people from a wide variety of backgrounds — regardless of race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, disability, and economic status  — is a top priority. 

Here are the steps we are taking to prevent selection bias and ensure fairness in the application review process: 

  • Establishing a detailed, content-based scoring rubric so that all applications are assessed against a shared standard 
  • Ensuring that multiple team members are involved in the review of every submitted application that proposes a permitted class topic before a decision is made to deny the application
  • Implementing ongoing quality assurance processes to ensure applications are being scored appropriately 
  • Providing our application review team with ongoing training and close support and supervision

In addition, building equity into the teaching process will continue to be an ongoing priority. We will continue to proactively recruit teachers from diverse backgrounds to participate in our Teach Lab Residency program and programs for rising and established teachers, as well as to partner with on our Skillshare Original content.

What languages will teachers be allowed to teach in once these changes go into effect?

Starting on May 1, 2023, Skillshare will only accept new classes taught in English, French, German, Portuguese, or Spanish. These are the languages that represent a vast majority of our non-English audience and are the languages in which members can currently experience the Skillshare site. 

We believe that aligning the languages that classes can be taught in with the languages in which the Skillshare site can be experienced will best serve our audience of students and teachers at this time.

What categories will teachers be allowed to teach in once these changes go into effect?

Starting on May 1, 2023: 

  • Skillshare will no longer accept new classes from newly accepted or current teachers in the following categories: Gaming, Home Business, IT Security, Accounting, and Sales. 
  • Skillshare will only accept new classes in the following categories from teachers in our Rising Teacher or Top Teacher programs: Web Development, Mobile Development, Human Resources, Product Management, Business Analytics, Finance, Data Science, Leadership & Management, and Teaching. 
  • Skillshare will continue to accept new classes from newly accepted and current teachers in the following categories, as long as they adhere to our Class Quality Guidelines: Illustration, Fine Art, Graphic Design, Photography, Film & Video, Crafts, Music, Animation, Marketing, Freelance & Entrepreneurship, UI/UX Design, Game Design, Productivity, Creative Writing, Culinary, Home & Garden, and Self Care & Personal Development. 

In tightening the categories that are permitted on Skillshare, we aim to ensure that our catalog is relevant to our community and reflective of the ways in which the Skillshare brand has evolved over the past several years.

What will happen to my existing classes if I previously taught in a language or category that is no longer permitted?

For classes published before May 1, 2023 in languages or categories that are no longer permitted, we will be taking a gradual and curated approach to determining what classes may be subject to removal, taking into account our class performance requirement and our Curation team’s assessment of class quality. If your class is subject to removal, you will be notified directly by our Moderation team in the coming weeks.

How will these changes affect teacher earnings?

Initially, we do not anticipate that these changes will have a significant impact on teacher earnings. Over time, we expect that the new process and policies will slow the influx of lower-quality classes and classes that are not relevant to our member community. Longterm, our vision is that these changes will positively impact teacher earnings in a few ways:

  • Our goal with these changes is to improve member retention, which will likely increase as students have an easier time finding classes they love, resulting in an increase in revenue to Skillshare. Ultimately, we hope this outcome leads to our ability to grow the Skillshare Teacher Fund. 
  • Teachers with high-quality classes may have an easier time getting discovered, enabling them to capture higher minutes-watched and earn more of the Skillshare Teacher Fund. 
  • The teacher community is likely to continue growing but at a slower rate than it has historically, decreasing the ratio of teachers to revenue (in the Skillshare Teacher Fund), which we expect will result in higher average earnings.

 

Have questions or feedback? Email us at teach@skillshare.com, and we’ll get back to you as soon as possible!