One out of three students want to be a YouTube star. The downward costs of video meeting technology have made it easier and more productive for the student to become the teacher. If students are empowered with the right leadership from their caretaker, environment from school, technology tools to make great videos, and a systematic process to educate others about their interests, then it’s possible to create a YouTube channel, gain a following, and build a community to support their brand. My son, Harry Devitre, a six-year-old Minecraft expert and YouTube star with 92 subscribers, is social proof there isn’t an age limitation on your participation. The biggest limiting factor is your desire to get started today.
Before Harry approached me about Minecraft, I didn’t know what it was, how it worked, or if allowing him to play was a good idea or not. Once I discovered the educational benefit, he had my full support as long as some simple rules were followed that we created as a team. I learned how to program a Raspberry Pi, start a Minecraft server on AWS, and found out how to allow other kids to participate without being in the same room. They didn’t teach those things in kindergarten, and I didn’t learn them in college either.
At first, it takes a lot for a small child to power on a computer, turn on the lights, turn on the soundboard, set up the gaming console, open Amazon Web Services, enter in the one-time password, enter in the user authentication code, open up the Minecraft server terminal window, type the script to start the server, prepare the gaming console for recording videos, start recording, transition between scenes, and stop recording. After deliberate practice, coping with emotions while making mistakes, and repetition, my son doesn’t need my intervention until he wants help with his build.
It didn’t stop with the video recording studio. To summarize the learning activities we did at home that schools don’t include in their curriculum, we self-published the 101 Homeschooling Activities on Kindle from a design we created on Canva. This list is categorized between experiential learning activities, exercise, enterprise, entertainment, and local eats. When the editor asked, “Daddy, why are there two number 66s?” I knew I needed to pay closer attention to the details. This content. These creations. All of them cost nothing except for the labor of learning new skills to create value for the community that can be passed onto the next generation of leaders.
In 2021, Harry and I created a startup called Build Buddy where we are advancing the future of civilizations today while empowering the workforce of tomorrow. Our startup places a strong emphasis on working with and helping community-based organizations gain awareness of their objectives by designing our curriculum to help students acquire new skills they can implement to support community projects. Our goal to teach students how to deliver superior education experiences by video and during live meetings helps build resumes, relationships, and intrinsic awards they can share with others. This company becomes the school of schools without the limitation of solutions that can be collectively created without having to outsource talent overseas. They just don’t teach that in kindergarten today. Most, if not all, of the homework is thrown away.
There is no direct path to talent development. Each course, each skill, each project, each implementation, and each failure represent a test of your resolve to pursue whatever path you decide to lead in the future. In my experience, my son has become my greatest teacher, and it’s not because he reminds me of it every day but because he holds me accountable. He wants me to teach him the best path that one can build given their resources. Because if I don’t show him the steps, who will? When we build together, we learn together.
Bottom line: If a six-year-old can create high-quality training content and host engaging virtual sessions with their online community, you can too.
For a deeper dive, join me February 10, 2022, during the ATD TechKnowledge Conference for the session What They Don't Teach You in Kindergarten.
