While she was training to be a landscape gardener, tech entrepreneur Elspeth Briscoe thought it would be helpful to set up an online community for her class. Subsequently, their tutor claimed they were the course’s best performing group in twenty-five years. It was clear to Briscoe that she was on to something with virtual classrooms – so, in 2015, she launched Learning With Experts.
She says: “We think learning has lost some of its magic. We believe that magic happens in small tribal learning communities. Our online way of working unites experts with the community, creating a productive learning environment wherever you are.”
The site offers online courses – taught by expert tutors – in areas such as gardening, food and drink, jewellery, photography, floristry and antiques.
Courses cost from £29. You can start whenever you want and complete your course at your own pace (which can literally be over a lifetime if you like). Lessons take place in a friendly and secure online classroom. Each lesson begins with a video from your expert tutor (the renowned florist Paula Pryke teaches flower arranging, for example). That tutor is also available to provide personalised feedback.
You then consolidate what you’ve learned in each lesson with an assignment, which you can share and discuss with your classmates. Plus, if you have chosen the Expert option when signing up for your course, you will receive a Learning with Experts Certificate of Completion when you’ve finished.
Want to become a craft beer expert? Fancy an introduction to wine appreciation? Interested in a jewellery foundation course? With Learning With Experts, you can pick up all of these skills and more from the comfort of your own home.
August 2018