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What is Outschool?
How do Outschool Classes Work?
How do Outschool Classes Work?

Different kinds of online classes and how they are run

Updated over a week ago

Outschool offers a wide range of online classes with different formats. Most classes on Outschool are live online classes.

Live online classes

Live online classes include live meetings over video chat at scheduled times. A class could meet just once, or many times over a semester. Classes are more than the live meetings - most classes also involve independent work before or after the live meetings.

Here's an example of a live online class:

Flexible schedule classes

Outschool also supports 'flexible schedule' classes that don't involve scheduled live meetings. These classes have a specific start and end date and lots of learner-teacher and learner-learner interaction. The interaction is focused on asynchronous messaging using the Outschool classroom, games and activities, discussion and in-depth analysis, and occasional video chats that are arranged on a custom basis.

Class Length: One-Time, Short, Semester, Ongoing

One-Time Classes

One-time classes meet once in a video chat session. One-time classes are great for exploring new interests and discovering whether a teacher's style works well for your learner before committing to a longer course.

Short Courses

Short courses meet 1 or more times each week for 2-7 weeks. Short courses are great for developing a new skill or diving deep into a topic, even if your schedule doesn't permit a full, semester course.

Camps

Camps are multi-day classes that meet two or more times within the same week. The new “camps” option on the Find Classes page helps families discover more camp-style classes for learners who want to dive into their favorite topics multiple days a week. Explore all multi-day camps.

Semester Courses

Semester courses meet 1 or more times each week for 8 or more weeks. Longer courses create more opportunities for real-time activities, engaging projects, and interaction with diverse classmates from other states and countries.

Ongoing Classes

Ongoing classes meet weekly and are charged weekly as a subscription on Sunday mornings. Ongoing classes provide a way for learners to study a certain topic with the same teacher without a set end date. This class type works well for art classes, book clubs, music lessons, and other topics that can always use further study. You can learn more about ongoing classes here.

Groups

Outschool Groups are online communities that allow learners to pursue their interests and connect with other learners anytime, anywhere. Groups are similar to a forum and are fully “asynchronous” - learners can participate whenever they’d like, perfect for families with busy schedules. Learn more about Groups here.

Online Classrooms

Outschool provides a homepage for each class - the Outschool Classroom. It's a place for teachers and learners to interact. Teachers can post announcements and start discussions, and learners can participate.

For live meetings, Outschool integrates with the video conferencing tool, Zoom. We will send you the link to the online classroom for each class. Most classes on Outschool use built-in tools. For classes with Zoom, you don't need to worry about logging in - it's handled automatically.

Teachers may use a variety of other tools to help run their classes, like Canvas, Edmodo, Khan Academy, Remind, or others, with approval. In that case, the teacher will provide guidance on how to get access to the class.

Tips for your first live online class

Ready to get started? See our video of tips for your first class.


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