Idea I've had for an educational resource website...

Lord TSC

So, realising that unemployment is quite possible for a long period of time with little hope of a job on the horizon despite my best efforts, I figured I’d best get up off my lazy ass and actually try and contribute something to the education system, even if not in the traditional method. I have had an idea, one which I personally think could have a lot of potential, but it’s not something that I could do on my own. And given the nature of the idea and the fact I’ve seen many a people on here complaining about finding it hard to locate a job, I thought I’d post this here to seek advice, feedback and some aid...

Basically, I was thinking of trying to launch a website aimed at the students of Ireland. I’m not 100% sure what direction it would go down yet, and it would obviously be heavily influenced by those who opted to come on board and contribute. However what I was thinking was a sort of blogging site whereby teachers would be able to post “Online Lessons”, so to speak. It wouldn’t be something to replace actual teachers, obviously, nor would I want to simply create a site where students could simply copy and paste answers for homework or the likes. The idea would be that it could expand on different areas and subjects and act as an additional resource for students.

So, for example, if students had been studying Hamlet in class, their teacher would be able to point to this website as a place where they can read up more on it (with a specific aim of focusing on what would be needed in an Irish exam situation, as opposed to Wikipedia which simply offers summations). In Maths, further examples could be given on different topics. On Geography or History, the site would be able to expand on the basics, and possibly offer other resources to students wishing to conduct further studies on whatever they had been studying.

First and foremost, it would be an additional resource for students, not a replacement to the teacher. It would be a site which would add to their education, not detract, which would encourage, not offer a lazy and easy option. It would be a resource teachers would be proud and happy to point their students in the direction of. A site where teachers would be able to offer their experience and expertise, even if they aren’t in an actual teaching post at the moment.

Of course, saying that, it’s not that I would reject seasoned veterans of the educational system. I’d be foolish to do so. More, I realise that right now, there is a huge chunk of unemployed teachers coming through the system, frustrated with not being able to offer their knowledge. It would be as much an outlet for them as it would be a resource for the student.

Thus, my idea would involve the recruitment of teachers willing to write (for example) weekly or bi-weekly (or whatever time frame suited) articles and blogs on topics of their choosing within their particular subject. Over time, it would build up into a massive database of information for the students, probably focusing on third and sixth years who are about to start studying for their exams and would like all the additional help they can get. Furthermore, the site could have a calendar of important dates, information that could be helpful to students in a variety of ways, a Twitter account connected so they would receive updates when new blogs were posted, a (strictly monitored) forum where they could discuss different subjects and work together on homework assignments (though again, not blatant copying or cheating) and a load of other features. It would be a site which would encourage students to visit regularly to benefit their own education.

Sadly, this would obviously have to be a voluntary project to start off with. I would be more than willing to invest in buying the domain and the hosting for the site, and I’d be able to take care of administrative side of things. But as for those writing, it would be a free service and would probably require a chunk of time in the actual writing of the articles. All I can do there is say that if the site took off, there could be the possibility in the long run of getting ads on the site and making a little amount for contributions. Even then though, it would be minimal. Rather, this would probably be driven by the desire to help students and to provide them with an expanded viewpoint. I also guess it would look ok on a CV; show you are trying to teach even when not an employed teacher.

So yeah, that’s the idea so far. Obviously, it would grow and evolve, led by those who wished to help launch the site. We would have to come up with a more definitive mission statement and ideology behind the direction we wanted to take. But what do people think? Would be people be willing to get behind such a venture? Would anyone wish to offer help? For now, I’m open to suggestions and contributions, and even if you decide not to actually get involved directly, I’d love to hear from teachers in terms of what they would like to see from a website aimed at students like this., Any and all replying comments would be appreciated.

Also, feel free to drop me a private message here if there's anything you'd like to discuss in private about the idea

Dionysus

Great idea. Huge gap in the market for a centralised online resource for Irish secondary students. The number of online resources specifically designed for Irish students are slim to none. I have similar ideas for my own subject, where a massive gap exists in terms of the resources I can send my students to.

You are right, though: it will need a few of us to get together and push it. Given the financial situation of the state, we'll have to offer our work for free and get official recognition thereafter. I'm OK with that.

spurious

OP - I removed your email as it's against the charter to post personal info.
People can contact you by Private Message.

Good idea re the site - it would be important to get a good domain name and to not let advertising dominate the site. I presume that's how you'd make money, advertising?

Lord TSC

spurious - Thanks. Didn't realise about the email thing. Fair enough. As for the domain name, I'll buy a .com once we decided on a name. With the advertising, I'd hope to not have any for quite a while; launching the site, I don't want it to appear as if I'm just launching it as a make money quick site. Once it got successful, we could examine the path (as I said in the OP), but even then, I wouldn't want to completly dominate the site with ads.

Dionysus - Hehe, the idea of offical recognition is a nice one, and would certainly make a long term goal worth setting. Mind if I ask what your subject is?

Lord TSC

Gonna give this a bump up. Had hoped for more replies tbh