Open Source High

the online school where students are the teachers

Open Source High was a project that ran from the fall of 2014 to the end of 2016. I hoped to utilize student-made video lessons to launch a digital community of young self-directed learners who would support one another in liberating themselves from the school system.

In practice, Open Source High devolved into something that closely resembled school. I would run contests, judge the best videos, and award prizes to the winners. Nobody created videos for the site without the external incentive of a contest or prize. Some students even created their videos for an actual grade as part of their school coursework.

Open Source High, though incredibly cool and a ton of fun, was not going to end up freeing anyone from the school system. As a result, I stopped running contests and the site came to its natural conclusion.

In memory of the good times, I've posted my favorite videos from the contests we ran below.

Thank you to everyone who participated. If you are interested in the "second draft" in my efforts to liberate young people from school, please check out the Peer Unschooling Network.

- Jim Flannery