New! I am now hosting Online Classes!
I am happy to announce that I am now hosting online classes! This is something that has been in my plan for a while, I just wasn’t sure how I was going to do it. A few things had to happen. Can I teach online competently? How do I set this up on my site? Is it going to take away from my tutorials? As a one-man operation, I needed clear answers for these questions, as well as other questions.
How I started down this Path
Let’s rewind to a year ago. Back in May of 2020, I started hosting Ask Me Anything Webinars through Zoom. I’ve been hosting these AMA’s about every two weeks. I’ll admit it was a little rough in the beginning, but the more I did them, the more comfortable I was. I was able to manage hosting, share screens from my Mac, my iPad, and my iPhone as needed.
Then the requests started coming in from various Apple and Mac User Groups asking me to present to their members. Most of these presentations have been an extension of my AMAs. I’ve been presenting to user groups for several years now, but the past year has been a record year in the number of them that I have done. This was not all me though, the pandemic forced us to reach out to each other through new methods – online. We all were getting more comfortable with this medium of meeting online.
I was then asked to teach a class on Photos for a user group in January. The class was well attended and was 2 hours long. Everyone learned a lot, including myself. How well did it go over? The same user group asked if I would do another class on Zoom and FaceTime a couple weeks later. Of course I said yes. I am penciled in for next years classes already.
On a different level, I started creating a few websites for some User Groups. I wanted to keep them simple for both me and the user groups. This required me to create the event management portion of the site myself instead of using a plugin that had far more features than was needed. After numerous hours of watching YouTube, and lots of experimenting, I found a solution I liked. What does this have to do with my classes? I took what what I learned from these sites I created and added them to my membership site. You’ll see a new section for events that include my Webinars, Classes, and Apple Events.
Then a few months ago, Zoom added the ability to host online classes on their platform. This was a big piece to the puzzle. I wanted both my members and non-members to be able to attend these classes. I needed something simple for registrations. In came Zoom with a new platform for online classes – OnZoom. With this new platform, Zoom handles the registrations and payments, I handle the class. Non-members pay a small fee, while my members can attend as part of there membership to my site. I applied to be a speaker, I was approved, and the pieces to the puzzle came together.
What are these Classes?
They are classes on how to use specific Apple technology. I am starting out with Photos on the Mac, but that is only the beginning. In the future I may have one on iMovie, Tap Forms 5, or on the new features of iOS or iPadOS in the fall!
What does this mean for my tutorials? Nothing! I’ve been hosting webinars for the last year, I know how those work. I’ve taught a few classes, and in all honesty, they are just an extension of my webinars. Instead of taking questions, I flip it around and help people with a specific software or device. I have the site automated to help manage my events, and OnZoom handles registration and payments for attendees. This all gives me the confidence to continue with my tutorials! Think of these classes as the icing on the cake.
The classes are open to non-members as well as members. Non-members will have to pay a small fee, while any of my members will be able to attend them for free! I do have some other plans in the works, so this may change in the future.
- Online Classes on Apple Software and Hardware.
- Attendees do not need to be a member to attend.
- Members attend for Free.
- Classes are recorded for viewing at a later date.
- Only available in the US (this is a Zoom restriction, they will be adding more countries in the future).
Check out my first class – Photos for the Mac, and if you have any feedback, please do not hesitate to share it with me.
Thanks! -Dan
