Increase engagement by using some of the platform’s built-in tools to communicate with your students and followers.
In this article:
- Know Your Audiences: Students and Followers
- Using Class Discussions With Your Students
- Using General Discussions With Your Followers
- Best Practices for Engaging Discussions
- Discussion Examples
- Go Further
Know Your Audiences: Students and Followers
As a teacher, you cultivate two different kinds of audiences on Skillshare:
- A student is any member who is currently enrolled in your class — or in other words, has watched beyond the first lesson, or introduction, in that specific class. You can use a class discussion to communicate with students within a class; review the section Using Class Discussions With Your Students in this article to learn more.
- A follower is a user who has actively followed your profile on Skillshare, generally to stay in the loop on your activities on Skillshare. Each follower receives an automatic notification each time you publish a new class, unless they have unsubscribed to stop receiving these notifications from you. You can send a general discussion from your teacher profile to communicate with your followers; review the section Using General Discussions With Your Followers in this article to learn more.
Keep in mind that for each teacher there might be overlap between these audiences, or none. You may have students from a class that may follow you as well, and the same group of students may not necessarily be the same from class to class. It’s important to keep this in mind when sharing (and emailing!) discussion-based content within classes or from your teacher profile. Rather than posting the same information in every class and from your profile, consider:
- What information would be most valuable to each group, and
- When you send it to ensure you get the most impact and not overwhelm your audience.
Read on to learn specific ideas on what content to share through class discussions or general discussions.
Using Class Discussions With Your Students
Class discussions are a way for students to ask questions, chat with each other, and share tips and resources within your class. The more students collaborate with one another, the more enriching their class experience becomes! As a teacher, you can use this space to spark engagement with your students through discussion questions or prompts, by calling out student projects you love, by casually chatting with your students, or by posting your own tips or resources.
Head to How do I post a discussion in my class or to my followers? for step-by-step instructions on how to post a discussion in your class.
Using General Discussions Announcements With Your Followers
General discussions work similarly to class discussions but instead of communicating with students within a single class, you are sending a message to the Skillshare community members that follow your profile. For that reason, general discussions are a great tool to augment your teacher brand, share updates about upcoming classes, or announce giveaways.
Head to How do I post a discussion in my class or to my followers? for step-by-step instructions on how to post a general discussion to your followers from your teacher profile.
Best Practices for Engaging Discussions
Make the most out of discussions by following these best practices.
Share Discussions that Add Value
To help you connect with your students and followers, it helps if you’re offering them content that complements what you teach and is useful to where they are in their learning journey. Some ideas:
- Link to a supplemental or bonus resource that complements the class or class project, such as a free or open source resource, or a relevant article.
- Talk about classes on Skillshare that you’ve been enjoying lately, and why they are relevant to your practice or what you teach.
- Loop your students in on changes in your discipline. If the software you teach recently launched an upgrade, share it out and talk about the pros and cons of the new version. Or maybe you’re excited about a new line of paints or a particular sketchbook — either way, students who enjoy learning from you are eager to hear from you directly!
Pose Open-ended Questions
People love to talk about themselves! Find ways to pose questions that link the class content to your students’ personal lives or experiences — bringing in diverse perspectives is a great way to invigorate a class community. Alternatively, use discussions to ask your students for their opinions, such as what class topic you should teach next, or which of your draft designs they like better.
Make it Personal
Discussions don’t always need to be promotional. From time to time, use discussions to find ways to connect with your audience and build community around what you teach. You could prompt your students or followers around a goal-setting exercise, or share something that’s meaningful to you.
Share Timely Information
Use class discussions to announce new bonus material within the class or let your previous students know when you are launching a new class on Skillshare. You might also structure a post around a seasonal theme or shared event. For example, if you teach a class on card making, you might consider sending a general discussion to your followers about revisiting your class to make a card to celebrate the season, no matter what holiday tradition they observe.
Check In Regularly
Check in every 1-2 days to reply to unanswered student questions with your helpful tips and insights.
To help with managing student and class activity, if there is activity across any of your classes you’ll receive a class activity report, sent by email. This email provides a link to the Student Activity page in the Teacher Hub, which tracks all activity, including class discussions and replies, new projects, updated projects, and project feedback, across your account.
Discussion Examples
Go Further
- Teacher Tips: Use General Discussions to Engage Your Community on Skillshare: This post on the Skillshare blog gives specific tips for when and how to use General Discussions with your followers.