2019 Annual Report: How We Are Achieving Our Mission 

Newlane is committed to publishing results on how we are completing our mission. The information we draw from includes a survey that all community members are encouraged to complete focused on the mission and manifesto, as well as questions from End of Course evaluations that are tied to specific tenets of the manifesto. We are young and small, so the results should not be considered “data”, but rather a snapshot of the Newlane community’s views and experiences related to the mission and manifesto. For any questions related to this report, or the Newlane Mission, please contact Ben Blair: ben@newlaneuniversity.com

*Note: The Teachur Manifesto was written in June, 2016. Newlane University was registered as a DBA for Teachur, Inc. in 2019. We are in a transitional period with our name, and have not yet decided whether we will rename the Teachur Manifesto to the Newlane Manifesto, or retain the name “Teachur Manifesto”, or something else. Likewise, we may at some point change the wording of some questions on surveys to refer to Newlane University rather than Teachur–references to Teachur as an institution should be understood as synonymous with Newlane University. Newlane University is a DBA designation for Teachur, Inc. and Newlane University references the Teachur Manifesto as its own mission and Manifesto.

Here are the results from this year:

From the Mission/Manifesto Survey:

Have you read the Teachur Manifesto? 

100% Yes

Do you believe the Manifesto reflects a dedication and a belief in the goals of Teachur? 

100% Yes

Do you feel the goals presented in the Manifesto are attainable? 

50% Yes, 50% Maybe (admittedly, we have some pretty audacious goals).

Do you feel that Teachur does a good job of using these goals as a guide for strategic planning? 

83% Yes, 16% Maybe

Do you feel appropriate resources are committed to successfully implement our Manifesto? 

83% Yes, 16% No

From the End of Course Evaluation Form (evaluations were gathered from a range of courses, but these questions on the form are directly tied to one or more tenet from the manifesto, and not contingent on the particular course in question):

I felt that I was assessed according to my own understanding of the course goals and objectives, not in competition with other students. In other words, I didn’t feel competitive with other students. 

100% Very Strongly Agree

I could work according to my own pace in this course, and spend more (or less) time on particular lessons, depending on how well I felt I understood. 

100% Very Strongly Agree

I was assessed on my mastery of the course goals and objectives, and felt I could use any instructional resources to that end. 

100% Very Strongly Agree

My learning was a higher priority than institutional timelines, convenience, etc. 

14% Strongly Agree; 85% Very Strongly Agree

I could work on this course according to my schedule (vs. having to work according to the school’s or professor’s schedule). 

100% Very Strongly Agree

My geographic location was not a key factor in my ability to complete this course. (In other words, you didn’t have to live in a particular city or country or in proximity to a specific location–like a physical college–in order to complete the course.) 

100% Very Strongly Agree

We also have Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) that we developed as a Mission review committee. We monitor these, and below are some of the efforts we have made to address the manifesto:

Education should be available and accessible to every person on earth; making quality education inaccessible or exclusive is immoral. Education belongs in the same category as shelter, clean water, and basic food.

• KPI: Expand availability and accessibility (in any way).
  • We currently have students and/or experts in the following countries: U.S.A., Mexico, Canada, South Africa, Zambia, Italy, Austria, China, Thailand, Singapore, Australia. We aren’t targeting specific countries, but we are encouraged by the confirmation that students in so many different countries find value in our platform. We anticipate this number of countries expanding.
  • We have worked to open up payment options so people can use a credit card or Alipay to pay for their tuition.

Education should be disconnected from geography. Students should be able to learn anything from anywhere on earth. With few exceptions, tying education to geography is a form of exclusion.

• KPI: Continue to expand geographic availability in any way. 
  • Student responses on end of course evaluations convey that geography was not a key factor trending up.
    • Rate on a scale of 1-5 “My geographic location was not a key factor in my ability to complete this course. (In other words, you didn’t have to live in a particular city or country or in proximity to a specific location–like a physical college–in order to complete the course.)”

Education should be disconnected from a schedule. The most effective time to learn something is when the student is ready, not when the teacher or institution is available.

• KPI: Student responses on end of course evaluations conveying that they could work according to their own schedule trending up. 
  • Rate on a scale from 1-5 “I could work on this course according to my schedule (vs. having to work according to the school’s or professor’s schedule).”

Education should not have a prescribed completion time. The amount of time it takes to learn something shouldn’t be decided before hand; some students can learn something in minutes that will take others days or years to learn.

• KPI: Student responses on end of course evaluations conveying that they could work according to their own schedule (and spend more or less time on particular lessons, depending on their understanding) trending up.
  • Rate on a scale from 1-5 “I could work on this course according to my schedule (vs. having to work according to the school’s or professor’s schedule).”
  • Rate on a scale from 1-5 “I could work according to my own pace in this course, and spend more (or less) time on particular lessons, depending on how well I felt I understood.”

Education should not be competitive or judged by other students’ achievements. Students should only be assessed on whether they have mastered the stated objective or ‘not yet’. Removing competition takes away many of the incentives for cheating or cutting corners.

• KPI: student responses on end of course evaluation form that they don’t feel competitive with other students trending up.
  • Rate on a scale from 1-5 “I felt that I was assessed according to my own understanding of the course goals and objectives, not in competition with other students. In other words, I didn’t feel competitive with other students.”

Education should not have a prescribed way of teaching. Prevalent teaching approaches are often culturally, gender or socio-economically biased. While clear and explicit learning objectives can be universally agreed upon, the manner in which these are achieved should be as diverse as the student body. 

• KPI: Growing library of high quality instructional resources.
• KPI: Student feedback on their sense that they could use any instructional resources trending up.
  • Rate on a scale from 1-5 “I was assessed on my mastery of the course goals and objectives, and felt I could use any instructional resources to that end.”

Education should not be at the service of institutions, but at the service of learning. Organizing education around institutional timelines, schedules, expertise, records, and convenience is efficient for institutions, but limits the student, and by extension humanity’s potential.

• KPI: Student feedback on end of course evaluation convey that we value student learning over institutional timelines, schedules, etc. trending up.
  • Rate on a scale from 1-5 “My learning was a higher priority than institutional timelines, convenience, etc.”

Here are a couple illustrative comments from respondents:

“The fact that it’s an easy to navigate platform that truly removes the restrictions of location, cost, and schedule as opposed to the typical education models of the modern era is outstanding. Even with my short time with the platform, I see the successful implementation of the mission that Teachur puts forth in its manifesto.”

“The work to specify KPIs directly tied to the Manifesto shows commitment!”

Our efforts to collect feedback from community members on the manifesto are ongoing. To date, we don’t have anything like a consensus from the community on specific priorities for improvement, but we’ll continue to solicit and monitor their feedback. Given our small size, it’s premature to draw any firm conclusions from the responses we have gathered from community members, but so far, they seem to be sending positive signals on our efforts and alignment toward our mission and manifesto. We continue to be committed to the vision of education articulated by our manifesto, and working to realize it.

We are still gathering information from the community, so this report may be updated. We’ll publish the final, updated report in September.

For any questions related to this report, or the Newlane Mission, please contact Ben Blair: ben@newlaneuniversity.com