On Line Instructor

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College Professors Chatboard

On Line Instructor

by FMT

Dec 28, 2011

Just wondering if anyone could give me some info on becoming an online instructor on the college level. I am a teacher and nearing retirement. Is it something that anyone has done? Is it rewarding?, low paying?

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M I love it but it would not pay the bills. I still teach full time and also teach 1-2 courses per semester online. Pay is infrequent and depends on the number of enrolled students. At my university 3 credit courses pay about 1800. If they are 16 week courses, I get paid twice in 3 months. If they are 8 week, not until the end of the 8 weeks. It requ...See MoreI love it but it would not pay the bills. I still teach full time and also teach 1-2 courses per semester online. Pay is infrequent and depends on the number of enrolled students. At my university 3 credit courses pay about 1800. If they are 16 week courses, I get paid twice in 3 months. If they are 8 week, not until the end of the 8 weeks. It requires some skills in online course software. My university required that instructors take an online course on the topic of teaching online (at my expense - later reimbursed but not for 3 months!) Finding courses to teach is a struggle. As someone not full time at the university, I don't attend faculty meetings or sit on committees. Therefore, I do not know the people who assign courses and I am pretty low on the totem pole. This semester I have no courses to teach but may be given a class if there is an overflow in the registration for an existing class and they have to open a second section. Since I have taught the course before, it's not a big deal, but if I were unfamiliar with the content and assigned the course in the eleventh hour, it would be stressful. You can't talk to the person who wrote the syllabus and designed the course to find out what they meant. Also, getting desk copies (reviewer copies) of the text book in time to read it and be an expert on it for your students is also challenging. I hate being stuck with a dud for a textbook that is incredibly expensive and impractical for students. The text is something you may not have control of but it will still be part of the course evaluation. And, I have had a few students who I suspect had big time issues (possible mental illness). One harassed and threatened me. Then (and I'm sure it was her) on the course evaluation, I was given the lowest possible ratings even though I bent over backwards to help her. She wrote comments like, "Instructor refused to help." I found this situation very stressful. Other students seem to lack the ability to write or perhaps have issues with time management and don't get assignments in on time. Not being able to talk with a student face-to-face means you don't know whether they are spinning a yarn (grandma died) or if they really have legitimate excuses for being late with work. Just my two cents - do it as a hobby but don't expect to be able to live off of what you make.

Jan 1, 2013

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bernoulli On 1/01/13, M wrote: > I love it but it would not pay the bills. I still teach > full time and also teach 1-2 courses per semester online. Pay > is infrequent and depends on the number of enrolled students. > At my university 3 credit courses pay about 1800. If they are > 16 week courses, I get paid twice in 3 months. If they are 8 &...See MoreOn 1/01/13, M wrote: > I love it but it would not pay the bills. I still teach > full time and also teach 1-2 courses per semester online. Pay > is infrequent and depends on the number of enrolled students. > At my university 3 credit courses pay about 1800. If they are > 16 week courses, I get paid twice in 3 months. If they are 8 > week, not until the end of the 8 weeks. > It requires some skills in online course software. My > university required that instructors take an online course on > the topic of teaching online (at my expense - later reimbursed > but not for 3 months!) > Finding courses to teach is a struggle. As someone not > full time at the university, I don't attend faculty meetings or > sit on committees. Therefore, I do not know the people who > assign courses and I am pretty low on the totem pole. This > semester I have no courses to teach but may be given a class if > there is an overflow in the registration for an existing class > and they have to open a second section. Since I have taught > the course before, it's not a big deal, but if I were > unfamiliar with the content and assigned the course in the > eleventh hour, it would be stressful. You can't talk to the > person who wrote the syllabus and designed the course to find > out what they meant. > Also, getting desk copies (reviewer copies) of the text > book in time to read it and be an expert on it for your > students is also challenging. I hate being stuck with a dud > for a textbook that is incredibly expensive and impractical for > students. The text is something you may not have control of > but it will still be part of the course evaluation. > And, I have had a few students who I suspect had big time > issues (possible mental illness). One harassed and threatened > me. Then (and I'm sure it was her) on the course evaluation, I > was given the lowest possible ratings even though I bent over > backwards to help her. She wrote comments like, "Instructor > refused to help." I found this situation very stressful. > Other students seem to lack the ability to write or perhaps > have issues with time management and don't get assignments in > on time. Not being able to talk with a student face-to-face > means you don't know whether they are spinning a yarn (grandma > died) or if they really have legitimate excuses for being late > with work. > Just my two cents - do it as a hobby but don't expect to > be able to live off of what you make.

The previous post gives a good reality check. I have taught hybrid courses at my regular university where I am tenured and really enjoyed it. However, I was given assigned time to develop the materials. I also taught a two-course sequence in a fully on-line MBA program at another university. Thankfully, I was compensated for developing the materials (37 narrated powerpoint presentations). Then I taught the sequence three times over a two year period. The teaching pay was very low and I did not find it enjoyable. I love messing with technology, but find the stimulation of face-to-face classes to be more rewarding.

Thankfully I took an on-line course in on-line teaching before I taught any of my hybrid or on-line courses. This is a MUST.

Threaded discussions are one of the mainstays of on-line teaching. There are a myriad of things you can do. Search around for ideas using threaded discussions.

Not mentioned yet--but very important--is to be responsive to on- line students. If they send you an email or text message, try to respond as immediately as you can with a thoughtful, helpful response. I always ended with something like: "I hope this helps...please let me know how it works out for you." The more immediate the responses, the more they appreciate it.

Sadly, many on-line degree programs admit unqualified students because they want the tuition revenue. Each case is different, but one seemingly common problem with those students is they have a tendency to not read your suggestions or follow them. Then later the act like they never got any feedback or knew there was anything wrong. Having some sort of points tracking system that very easily shows deficiencies is probably wise.

Try it but don't expect good pay per hour invested.

Jan 7, 2013

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