What types of community events can I host, and where should I host them?

Context

Schoolhouse's mission is to connect the world through learning. There are two major parts to our learning community: connecting and learning. They go hand-in-hand. For example, Schoolhouse is not a place for people to connect and play games without any learning going on. Likewise, it's not a place for students to learn individually without any support from others. Rather, Schoolhouse is a place to combine both connecting and learning. We learn better when we do so together, and we connect better when we have a shared goal. That is the magic of Schoolhouse.

What is the purpose of community events?

Community events play an important role at Schoolhouse. While many sessions and series are focused solely on academics (e.g. an Algebra 2 review session), community events are focused on growing friendships and building connections within the community, while doing so with some learning goal in mind (see below). This strengthens the community.

Where do community events go?

Every subworld has its own community events as a way to foster community within that specific subworld. When creating a community event, first think about which subworld you want to host it in. Want to do a meet and greet for new Algebra II learners on the platform? Host it in Algebra II.

Within a subworld, when you go to host a session, you'll see the option of "Community Event" and you should choose that as the topic.

What counts as a community event?

Community events are focused on growing the community, but they should also have a learning goal. That learning goal can be a ride range of things. See some examples below. If you're not sure about your own idea, please contact one of the subworld's mods to confirm.

Examples of Community Events:
Meet-and-greet session for new members to the subworlds (Learning Goal: Learn more about the subworld and get to know other members)
Q&A hosted by tutors in the subworld on how one can become a contributor/tutor (Learning Goal: Learn about the tutor journey)
Study Spaces for learners who want accountability groups to study together (Learning Goal: Hold one another accountable as you learn/study together)
Tutor Learning Circles within the Tutor Subworld for tutors to exchange best practices (Learning Goal: Improve your tutoring skills)
Game sessions with a focus on academic learning, e.g. a chemistry-themed trivia (Learning Goal: Learn more about chemistry while having fun)
Game sessions with a focus on intentionally meeting other people, e.g. a skribbl.io session with time dedicated to introductions and sharing what motivated each person to join the subworld (Learning Goal: Learn more about other members of the subworld)
Clubs, e.g. an astronomy enthusiast club in the Physics Subworld (Learning Goal: Learn more about astronomy while connecting with others interested in astronomy)
Tournaments, e.g. a integration bee in Calculus Subworld (Learning Goal: Learn more about integration in a fun way)

Note: Some of these types of community events (Study Spaces and Tutor Learning Circles) have their own categories that you can select as the "topic" when creating a session within a subworld. The rest should use "Community Events" as the topic.

Not Allowed on Schoolhouse:
Movie watching sessions (which also go against copyright policy — see What content can Schoolhouse sessions cover?)
Game sessions without any intentional focus on learning or building community

Allowed on Schoolhouse, but Not a Community Event:
Enrichment sessions (e.g. a history book club, a drawing session, a chess club) — These are great, but should go in the Enrichment subworld and be assigned the topic "Enrichment".

Volunteer hours?

Because community events can vary a lot, you will not receive volunteer hours for community events. Please see Can I receive volunteer hours for hosting community events or study spaces?


Last updated at: June 21, 2023.

Updated on: 23/06/2023