Value explodes with membership, and the value explosion sucks in more
members, compounding the result. Industrial economies of scale stem
from the Herculean efforts of a single organization. In information
economies increasing returns are created and shared by the entire
network. -Kevin Kelly, Wired Magazine

Building a world of free and open education for everyone requires real investment and work. The OWL Institute focuses on practical and effective ways to help people and groups succeed in using digital technology for learning and teaching. To help us continue to offer the best in free and open education, OWL offers a number of fee-based services.

OWL Home Education Consulting

Post-industrial education means going beyond same place, same time, same material for teaching and learning. Advances in digital technology are making home and community education easier and more effective. OWL Home Education supports families, teachers, and groups in making the digital revolution work for everyone.

Working closely with clients to define practical goals and effective strategies for achieving them, OWL's consulting and curriculum services assess client's educational resources and opportunities, provide learning profiles, and offer sound and proven methods for achieving lasting success. Dedicated to fostering the love of learning, OWL Home Education helps to build an open world of learning.
Fees: $50/hour (income and needs-based rates available; free, initial consultation)

OWL Educator: Custom Course Development

Many organizations lack the internal capacity to benefit from digital technologies for training and education. To address this need, OWL designs academic and vocational courses for schools and community-based organizations.

For schools—Creating, maintaining and
expanding computer-based resources for classroom education are
difficult goals when faced with shrinking budgets. OWL works with
teachers to make first-class digital support for classroom instruction
quick and easy.

For the community— A chapter of the Girl
Scouts wishes to offer training to leaders and a safe high-quality
learning portal for the scouts. OWL works with the group to create
courses for training adult leaders and portal to help the girls
progress in scouting.

Fees:
Basic Course, 8 units ($1,600)
Deluxe Course, 16 units ($3,200)
(non-profit organizations receive 30% discount).

OWL Educator: Professional Development

Professional educators often lack the skills and knowledge for the effective use of digital technology. To address this need, OWL provides on-location and in-house training and workshops.

Example 1
Harbor City International School, a charter
high-school located in Duluth, MN, contracts OWL staff to run a series
of workshops to train their teachers in the use of digital technology.

Example 2
Tom Wilkens, a high-school social science teacher, walks into the
OWLab, OWL’s community-based research and development laboratory for
using digital technology in education located in Duluth, MN, and
receives assistance in designing and developing computer-based
resources for use in his teaching practice.

Fees:
-Workshops—$100-$500, depending on size and duration
-Individual Training—$50/hour (free, initial consultation; OWL members receive 30% discount for classes and individual
training)
-Classes—$35-$50, per class

OWL Educator: Tutoring & Teaching Services

To assist students and home educators, OWL offers tutoring and teaching services in a variety of subject areas. Tutoring provides assistance for students with their existing curriculum; teaching services provide development and delivery of curriculum to meet the needs of the client.

Example 1
A public high-school student uses the OWL Portal to obtain tutoring assistance.

Example 2
A home schooling parent is unable to provide their child with adaquate
assistance in learning mathematics. To remedy this problem, the parent
contracts with OWL to receive math curriculum development, delivery and
instruction.

Fees:
Tutoring—Free (volunteer-based)
Teaching—$100/per student/per course/per month (income and needs-adjusted rates available)