Becoming an Educator

Start your journey as a course creator on SkillRise

Overview

SkillRise enables anyone with expertise to become an educator and share knowledge with students worldwide. The platform provides all the tools you need to create, publish, and monetize your courses.

Prerequisites

Before you can start creating courses, you need:

• A verified SkillRise account
• Subject matter expertise in your teaching area
• Content ready for at least one complete course
• Video content hosted on supported platforms (YouTube, Vimeo, or direct links)

Getting Started

1. Account Setup

Every SkillRise user account has access to educator features. Simply navigate to the educator dashboard to begin creating courses.

Your user profile information (name, email, profile image) is managed through Clerk authentication and will be displayed on your courses.

2. Accessing the Educator Dashboard

The educator interface provides a dedicated workspace for managing your teaching activities:

/educator/dashboard - Overview of your performance
/educator/add-course - Create new courses
/educator/courses - Manage existing courses
/educator/students - View enrolled students

Educator Layout

The educator interface features:

• Navigation Sidebar - Quick access to all educator functions
• Top Navbar - Account settings and notifications
• Main Content Area - Your workspace for course management
• Footer - Additional resources and links

Educator Dashboard Features

Once you access the educator area, you’ll see:

Key Metrics

Total Enrollments

Track how many students have enrolled across all your courses

Published Courses

See your total number of active courses on the platform

Total Earnings

Monitor your revenue from course sales (in ₹)

Latest Enrollments Table

View recent student enrollments with:

• Student name and profile picture
• Course they enrolled in
• Real-time updates as new students join

Quiz Insights (Optional)

If you’ve added quizzes to your course chapters, you’ll see:

• Average performance percentage per chapter
• Number of quiz attempts
• Student distribution across performance categories:
  • Needs Review (struggling students)
  • On Track (progressing students)
  • Mastered (high performers)

Understanding the Data Structure

When you create courses, the backend stores your educator ID with each course:

const course = {
  educatorId: req.auth.userId, // Your unique user ID
  courseTitle: "Your Course Title",
  courseDescription: "Markdown-formatted description",
  coursePrice: 4999, // Price in ₹
  discount: 20, // Percentage discount
  isPublished: true,
  courseContent: [
    {
      chapterId: "unique-id",
      chapterTitle: "Chapter 1: Introduction",
      chapterOrder: 1,
      chapterContent: [
        {
          lectureId: "unique-id",
          lectureTitle: "Welcome to the Course",
          lectureDuration: 15, // minutes
          lectureUrl: "https://youtube.com/watch?v=...",
          isPreviewFree: true,
          lectureOrder: 1
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  totalLectures: 1,
  totalDurationMinutes: 15,
  enrolledStudents: [], // Student IDs
  averageRating: 0,
  totalRatings: 0
}

All calculations for total lectures, duration, and enrolled student counts are handled automatically by the backend.

Revenue Model

Your earnings are calculated based on:

1. Course Price - Base price you set (in ₹)
2. Discount - Optional percentage discount (0-100%)
3. Final Price - coursePrice - (discount × coursePrice / 100)
4. Total Earnings - Sum of all completed purchases

// Example calculation
const coursePrice = 4999
const discount = 20
const finalPrice = Math.floor(coursePrice - (discount * coursePrice / 100))
// finalPrice = ₹3999

// If 10 students enroll:
const totalEarnings = 10 * finalPrice // ₹39,990

API Endpoints

The educator system uses these authenticated endpoints:

Endpoint	Method	Description
/api/educator/add-course	POST	Create a new course
/api/educator/courses	GET	Get all your courses
/api/educator/dashboard	GET	Get dashboard analytics
/api/educator/enrolled-students	GET	Get student enrollment data

All educator endpoints require authentication. The Authorization header must include a valid JWT token from Clerk.

Next Steps

Now that you understand the educator platform, you’re ready to:

Create Your First Course

Learn how to use the course builder

Manage Content

Organize chapters and lectures

Track Analytics

Monitor your performance

View Students

See who’s enrolled

Best Practices

Content Quality

• Ensure videos are high quality (720p or better)
• Write clear, descriptive titles and descriptions
• Structure courses logically from beginner to advanced
• Test all video links before publishing

Pricing Strategy

• Research competitor pricing in your niche
• Use discounts strategically for promotions
• Consider value provided vs. course length
• Update pricing based on student feedback

Student Engagement

• Respond to student questions promptly
• Update courses with new content regularly
• Monitor quiz insights to identify struggling students
• Maintain consistent upload schedules

Support

If you encounter issues or have questions:

• Check the documentation for detailed guides
• Review the dashboard for real-time metrics
• Ensure all required fields are completed when creating courses
• Verify video URLs are accessible and properly formatted