Written and Published on Feb 19 2017 by Tiago Forte - https://fortelabs.co/blog/the-future-of-online-learning-steves-short-tiny-exclusive-virtual-experiences/
The basic question is: how do I know what I’m creating is useful, valuable, and worth-paying-for for enough people to make the effort worthwhile?
1. BALANCE BETWEEN OPTIONALITY AND ACCOUNTABILITY
How do you create forms of accountability that exert a helpful pressure to complete the course, while also allowing for more flexible and needs-driven forms of interaction?
2. EXERCISES AND ACTIVITIES
How do you structure exercises and activities to convince participants to complete them, building to a final outcome while also delivering immediate value?
3. FOLLOW-THROUGH AND SUPPORT
How do you provide ongoing support and follow-through to people who complete online bootcamps, in a way that is both effective and sustainable for everyone involved?
STEVES
I call this third wave Short Tiny Exclusive Virtual Experiences (STEVEs). They deploy a wide range of tactics to bring accountability back into the process.
Short: anything that is supposed to last a long time must necessarily be low intensity, which is exactly the opposite of what we’re going for. Anything that can be done at any time, tends to get done at no time.
Tiny: scale breeds anonymity, which is the arch-nemesis of accountability. These courses offer either limited enrollment that allows personal interaction with the instructor, or peer or small group structures that allow interaction with mentors or fellow learners.
Exclusive: a quirk of human psychology is that we don’t value anything that is available in abundance. Exclusivity, through high prices, application and selection processes, time-limited enrollment, or referral-only is a powerful signal that cuts through ambivalence.
Virtual: these courses still take place online, but using a whole new generation of collaboration and creation tools.
Experiences: this new generation steps away from the pure efficiency of highly condensed media, instead combining the unpredictability, humanity, and connection of live interaction with qualities borrowed from bootcamps: short, very intense, skill-based, forces you out of your comfort zone, develops camaraderie, and…you have to perform to stay in.