Our Model

The Learning Pirates Fellowship 

Our Business Model 

This is a self-regulating open-source community and international 21st century learning laboratory where every apprentice and mentor participates actively in the development of the communitagogy.  

We are a social entrepreneurs at heart and we've developed a hybrid business model that enables us to reinvest all profits into the community and keep operating costs extremely low. 

We plan to break down the barriers between nations and make this an equal opportunity learning community. 

The site and services will always be free to use. If you choose to donate or invest money in the project, it will be used to purchase equipment for those in need and to provide internet access for underserved communities.

Volunteers 

All your talents and ideas are welcomed and encouraged. The more you contribute in a positive way, the more authority you will gain in the community.


Invest - Sponsor - Donate
We are actively looking for benefactors or local green businesses to sponsor learning projects, both on and offline, or invest in a problem solving activity of your choice.  

Corporate partnerships
We are eager to creating partnerships with local, national and international companies who would be willing to give a portion of their sales back to our community every time a purchase is made through the Learning Pirates Shop. Companies will be screened for ethical and green practices and will be evaluated by all members of the community before being approved.

We are also eager to partner with Google, the Khan Academy and other forward thinking tech companies and think tanks who are the leaders in the development of 21st Century educational tools.

Launching strategy

We plan to target homeschoolers, unschoolers, alternative learning communities, virtual schools and digital learners who already embrace technology and regularly use the internet, e-learning and mobile learning websites and apps and invite them to join our self regulated, international learning lab.

We will all start as apprentices and work our way up to becoming mentors based on the appreciation results we will obtain from members of the fellowship.

We do not plan to replace current educational models (at least in the short term), but to provide a complementary resource and support system for those who are ready to take the leap.


Scalability

This will be an organic process that will require us to apply all the 21st century skills we will collectively learn and master. Instead of reinventing the technological wheel, using Google services allows us to rely on a stable platform which already hosts millions of interactions each day. Rather than trying to attract a following, we will simply be present where our target users congregate naturally.

From humble beginnings, we can easily scale this project to an international level. The mentoring sessions will be created on a needs only basis and can run for up to 10 participants in a hangout to an unlimited number of participants via live streaming on YouTube. 

By using the free Google family of services our operating costs will never increase. All sessions will be recorded and added to a YouTube channel for later viewing. 

Apprentices and Mentors can vote on the quality of the session ensuring that the sessions are educationally sound.  A wiki or repository of best practices and resources will also be created for the benefit of all digital learners. 

Accessibility

Google services are cross platform (PC, MAC, Linux) and are available on mobile devices (Tablet, Iphones and Android devices) and progress in terms of greater accessibility is being made each day. Please see how Google+ Adds Full-Size Photo Uploads, Hangout Support for Low Bandwidths, and More 

Google services are available in every language and in virtually every country in the world. (We are aware of restrictions in totalitarian states, but we have no control over this situation.) 

Google's mission is also to make the world's information universally accessible and they are committed to making their services accessible to people with disabilities. Using the Google + Platform for our community will help us to ensure that people with specific disabilities will be able to use the tools at their disposal to access the community in the manner that best suits them. 

We are conscious of the fact that certain people and populations do not have access to devices or a reliable internet connection. We will use our network, skills, funds and influence to come to the aid of those who are ready and willing to join the Learning Pirates fellowship.