Educator Qualifications
In the Group format, you can facilitate a discussion forum centered on a topic that you are both expert in and passionate about. Learners can then join in the discussion to share ideas, inspire one another, ask and generate questions, and share some fantastic projects. Once you have completed at least 1 section of a live class, with at least one 5 star rating, you may host a Group, provided you meet the approvals criteria below.
Requirements for Groups class listing approval
Groups is a format you can create from the Groups tab of your dashboard, then requesting your listing, as you would with any other class type. Below are the specific requirements you will need to meet for approval:
Groups will not have a maximum enrollment capacity; as many learners as interested can join a Group.
Groups are open to learners ages 8 and above.
As with other class types, Groups may have a listed age range of up to 5 years. Educators have the discretion to designate a Group’s age range as flexible or strict, provided that the Group meets the age requirement for Groups.
Class descriptions should include sample topics, themes, and/or projects (where applicable) that the Group will cover. You should clearly state how and how often learners should expect to interact with you and with other learners. You are encouraged to regularly engage with learner content on a weekly basis. The most successful Groups have higher levels of educator engagement (2-3 times per week, depending on the number of learners in the Group).
There are two new elements to Groups class listings that you should be aware of:
Group Participation Guidelines: This section will auto-populate with our standard learner expectations. You may adjust the section to suit their needs, provided you still describe the expected interaction and conduct for learners in the Group.
Example Post: This should be relevant to your Group’s theme and spark interest for learners in joining your Group. Consider asking a thought-provoking question or inviting learners to share their work.
A Group cannot be free. It can be a minimum of $1. Groups are recommended to start at $5-$10 a month per learner.
While not required at this time, your Teacher Expertise section should ideally indicate a demonstrated ability to lead a Groups-like experience (e.g., you have led a social club on Outschool; you have led a school-based or other club/group; you have experience in a content moderation capacity; or you have lived experience that correlates to the ability to create an engaging, asynchronous experience for learners of any age). If you do not have this experience yet, please ensure that you give extra attention to your class description section with as much detail as possible surrounding your Group’s content, topics, engagement standards, and moderation expectations.
Our regular Teacher Expertise requirements per content area also apply to Groups.
Ending your Group
When you want to close out a Group, you must do so by notifying families that the Group is coming to a close at least 2 weeks in advance of the next month’s subscription. Groups can only end at the end of a month, regardless of when the Group was launched, except in cases where there is an emergency. To start the process of ending your Group, please reach out to Support.
Content Creation and Moderation
All existing policies that apply to other class formats apply to Groups; particularly our class content policy and intellectual property and copyright policies. Learner-generated and platform-wide content will be moderated as normal. Otherwise, please stay consistent with existing policy and practice across the platform. If you choose to set your own content moderation policies, Outschool is not responsible for enforcing them if they do not align with our content moderation policies.
You will be expected to moderate and engage with content on a regular basis, ideally a few times a week or more, often depending on how many learners are in the Group. For Organizations, you have the option to assign multiple educators to a Group to moderate but at least a minimum of one educator needs to be assigned to a Group. Educators who moderate a Group are also expected to follow existing policies, moderate, and engage with content on a consistent and regular basis. If educators are not posting and engaging with learner content on a weekly basis, parents are eligible for a full refund upon request.
Your Group may be removed if you or educators associated with an Organization are found to have stopped moderating the group entirely, or you or educators associated with an Organization are not meeting the expectations set in the class description for engagement and moderation. Individual educators or Organizations may be removed from the platform entirely for violations of our policies.
Advertising your other classes
Because Groups are intended to be a gateway to Outschool classes, you are permitted to advertise your other Outschool classes within the following limits:
No more than 1 advertisement/week as a Group post
Responses to posts that are advertisements should only be done when relevant to the learner content (ex: a learner posts about how they wish they could dive deeper into photography, and you share that you have an advanced photography techniques class)
No spamming of learner families via direct message