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The 101 covenant — these six are not negotiable

Free forever, with no paywall and no upsell inside the lessons. No prerequisites of any kind. Between five and ten short lessons. Hosted on a public platform, not on this site. Knowledge checks optional, ungraded, and never a gate. No certificate is issued at 101-level — that begins at 200.

Section 1

Course Identity

The facts that go on your course page and into our records.

Course code
[[e.g. AI 101, TR 101, FIN 101, ENT 101 — we assign the number, you pick the School prefix]]
Course title
[[Six words or fewer. Say the outcome, not the subject. "Read a Blueprint" beats "Introduction to Construction Documents".]]
School
[[Applied Intelligence / Enterprise & Entrepreneurship / Financial Independence & Wealth Building / Skilled Trades & Systems]]
Professor
[[Your name as you want it printed, and one line on what you actually did in this field]]
Lessons
[[5–10]] lessons, [[8–15]] minutes each
Total time
[[Honest number, including exercises. Round up, never down.]]
Prerequisites
None. This is fixed at 101-level. If your course needs one, it is a 200.
Pace
Self-paced, always available. [[Optional: a live Zoom Q&A, day and cadence]]
Cost
$0. Fixed. Public, no login, no email wall, no "free trial".
Section 2

The One-Sentence Promise

Finish this sentence and you have the whole course. If you cannot finish it in one breath, the course is too big — cut it in half and make the other half a second course.

By the end of this course you will be able to [[do one specific, checkable thing]], even if you have [[never done the obvious prerequisite thing]].

Who this is for

[[Describe them plainly, in their situation, not in demographics. "Somebody who got laid off at 45 and has never written a resume." "A parent who wants to stop being afraid of the breaker box."]]

Who this is not for

[[Name them kindly. Saving someone eight wasted minutes is a service. "If you already weld, skip this and wait for TR 210."]]

Section 3

Learning Outcomes

Four to six, each starting with a verb the student could be watched doing. Not "understand," not "be aware of," not "appreciate" — those cannot be checked.

  • [[Verb + object. "Wire a three-way switch." "Price a small job without losing money."]]
  • [[Outcome 2]]
  • [[Outcome 3]]
  • [[Outcome 4]]
  • [[Outcome 5 — optional]]
  • [[Outcome 6 — optional]]

The test for a good outcome

Could a stranger watch the student and say yes or no? If not, rewrite it until they could.

Section 4

The Lesson Plan

One block per lesson. Duplicate or delete blocks to land between five and ten. Every lesson answers: what changes for the student by the end of it?

1

[[Lesson title — plain words]]

What changes: [[The student can now do X, or has stopped believing Y.]]
Covered: [[Three or four beats, not a paragraph.]]
Format: [[Talking head / screen share / on-site demo / whiteboard]] · [[Platform]] · [[minutes]]
Student takes away: [[Worksheet, checklist, tool list, or nothing — say which.]]

2

[[Lesson title]]

What changes: [[ ]]
Covered: [[ ]]
Format: [[ ]]
Student takes away: [[ ]]

3

[[Lesson title]]

What changes: [[ ]]
Covered: [[ ]]
Format: [[ ]]
Student takes away: [[ ]]

4

[[Lesson title]]

What changes: [[ ]]
Covered: [[ ]]
Format: [[ ]]
Student takes away: [[ ]]

5

[[Lesson title — and if you stop here, make this one land]]

What changes: [[ ]]
Covered: [[ ]]
Format: [[ ]]
Student takes away: [[ ]]

6

[[Optional — delete through 10 if your course is shorter]]

What changes: [[ ]]
Covered: [[ ]]
Format: [[ ]]
Student takes away: [[ ]]

Lesson one has one job

Get the student a small, real win inside the first ten minutes — something they can do by the end of the first video. People who have been failed by school do not stay for the payoff in week three. Give them proof it works on day one.

Section 5

Knowledge Checks

Optional at this level, and never a gate. Nothing is locked, nothing is scored publicly, nothing is required to continue.

  • Per lesson: [[One or two questions, or a "try this now" task. Say which.]]
  • Where they live: [[YouTube pinned comment, Google Form, Discord thread, worksheet]]
  • Answers shown: [[Immediately, with the reasoning — not just right/wrong]]
  • Retries: Unlimited. Always.

Open question — confirm with the Dean

Current standard: no certificate at 101-level. If a foundational certificate is later approved for this course, the criteria go here.

Section 6

Materials

Everything a student needs, and everything they will be tempted to buy. Be honest about cost — a "free" course that needs $300 of tools is not free.

  • Required to have: [[Or write "nothing but a phone" — the best answer.]]
  • Costs money: [[List it with real prices, or write "nothing".]]
  • Downloads you provide: [[Worksheets, checklists, slides, templates.]]
  • Where downloads live: [[Drive folder or Notion page, public link.]]
  • Anything you sell: [[Disclose it here. It may not be promoted inside the lessons.]]
Section 7

Where It Lives and How Students Reach You

Fill these in and we can build your course page. See the Platform Guide for the access settings.

Lessons
[[Platform + public link. YouTube playlist is the default at 101.]]
Community
[[Discord invite, open channel — or "none", which is a valid answer]]
Live sessions
[[Zoom link and cadence, or "none"]]
Materials
[[Public Drive or Notion link]]
Short-form
[[TikTok / Shorts handle, if you make clips that point back here]]
Questions
[[How a student asks you something, and roughly how fast you answer]]
Section 8

The Next Step You Offer

A 101 is the front door. Tell the student honestly what is on the other side of it — and make it just as honest if the answer is "nothing yet".

  • The 200-level course this leads to: [[Title, or "planned", or "none"]]
  • What the 200 adds: [[Assignments, feedback from you, certificate]]
  • Other 101s that pair with this: [[Yours or another professor's]]
  • What a student can go do right now, for free: [[The real answer.]]

Say the scholarship line

Whenever you mention the $14.99 tier, mention that scholarships exist and that no proof of hardship is required. Someone always needs to hear it and will not ask.

Section 9

Pre-Flight Check

Run this before you send the syllabus to the Dean. Every line must be true.

  • Every outcome starts with a verb someone could be watched doing.
  • Lesson one delivers a real win inside ten minutes.
  • Nothing in the course is behind an email, a login, or a payment.
  • Captions are on, or a transcript is posted. Why this is required.
  • Nothing promises a job, an income, a license, or a legal outcome.
  • Every image, clip, and track is yours or licensed to you.
  • You have read the Content Standards end to end.
  • A friend outside your field read the syllabus and understood what the course is.
Send it to the Dean See the 200 template