This year’s Best of Show winner was selected from the 2016 Horizon Interactive Awards Web Site - Education and Training category and was won by Masterclass.com from San Francisco, California. The “MasterClass.com” website represented a unique take for online learning that we have not seen in the Horizon Interactive Awards competition before. The blending of star-power Hollywood celebrities and other giant names within their respective industries, with online learning offers an engaging and truly one-of-a-kind educational opportunity for the general public.
With us today to talk more about the site, we have David Rogier, CEO and Co-Founder of MasterClass.com to discuss the outstanding work and the Best of Show award.
HIA: David, so what does it mean to your company and team to receive this award distinction?
David (MasterClass): We want to help people learn from the very best. It’s an honor to be recognized for the work we’ve done so far to deliver on this mission for our students
HIA: MasterClass is such an original concept in terms of combining the level of access to proven experts in the various fields with the general public. Tell us more about this project and the back story that led up to the great work.
David (MasterClass): We talked to a lot of people with experience in education outside the normal school system. We found out that people just really want to learn. Unfortunately, at a lot of continuing education and online schools, people were getting ripped off. My co-founder and I thought: What’s the best possible version of online education you could have? Well, you could learn acting from Dustin Hoffman, learning from the best person in the world at that thing. We conducted market testing on this idea and it became clear that this was a big idea.
HIA: One of the really unique features of the website is the ability to directly record questions with your own web cam setup and have a video response where the instructor is seemingly talking directly to you. Talk more about how you were able to assure commitments from the various course instructors.
David (MasterClass): We’ve found our instructors really love interacting with their students. You know that situation in the classroom when someone raises their hand and asks a really good question? Not only do they get the benefit of the answer, but the whole class does.
Serena Williams teaches a class and she got sent a video from a student and she was basically like, “Oh my god, you are incredible. If you’re ever in Florida here is my personal contact information, I want to hit with you.” We’ve had several of our instructors do live Q&As with their students. The interactions, and the learning that comes from them, are always incredible.
HIA: Talk about the other features of the site and how they play a role in the online learning.
David (MasterClass): Each class offers a unique learning experience which includes video lessons from the instructor, interactive exercises, course materials, peer interaction, and more. Each class is a little different. One interactive exercise we built in conjunction with Christina Aguilera’s class on singing is the Vocal Range Finder. The technology we developed helps students measure their vocal range.
HIA: Tell us more about the people involved in the project. We assume that there is a creative team behind the site doing the programming, design and overall architecture. We would even love to gain some insight on what drives them, how they stay creative, etc.
David (MasterClass): We built a very diverse team. And everyone on our team, from creative producers to software engineers, is naturally curious and inspired by our mission. As a result, we’re always looking to improve and try new things to deliver a better experience for our students.
HIA: Where do you see the MasterClass website going in the future?
David (MasterClass): In the short term, we’re excited to increase the development of new classes across a wider range of subjects. Longer term, we look forward to exploring new formats and experiences that can help accelerate learning and the transfer of knowledge. An example could be classes done in AR or VR!
HIA: What has been the biggest challenge with launching this project?
David (MasterClass): Finding great people to grow our team fast enough! We’re hiring: careers.masterclass.com.
HIA: What is your favorite course and why?
David (MasterClass): Dustin’s class makes me cry. Steve Martin’s makes me laugh. Aaron Sorkin was always one of my dream instructors for MasterClass. There is music in his words. Seeing his process for writing a new West Wing episode was...amazing
HIA: Where do you see the future of online learning going?
David (MasterClass): We launched MasterClass with belief that everyone should be able to learn from the best and a hope that if we could do that we had a chance to make the world just a little more equal. Online learning levels the playing field for students all over the world. We’re excited to find new ways to deliver upon on our mission.
HIA: David, thank you very much for taking the time to talk more about this award and for sharing the great work with our competition. We sincerely wish you the best in the future with the site.