How to Make Money As an Online College Instructor
There
are over eighteen million students attending community colleges,
four-year colleges, state universities and for-profit online
post-secondary academic institutions today, and more and more of those
college students require an online college instructor to lead their
classes. Distance education technology has matured to the point that it
would be hard to imagine a school that is not offering online college
classes to its new and returning students.
In
fact, it is almost guaranteed that the lower cost of offering online
college classes will force colleges and universities to move as many of
their undergraduate classes online as possible in the next few years.
The migration from traditional, on-ground education to
digitally-accessed education represents a major shift in how a college
education will be earned, and it concurrently represents a major shift
in how almost anyone with a graduate degree in a core area of academic
study such as English, math, history, psychology or Information
Technology can find ample opportunities to earn a very nice living by
teaching in multiple part time online teaching positions. It should go
without saying that the first step to landing an online teaching
position is to become familiar with the needs of the over five thousand
institutions of higher learning.
First
and foremost, the schools are almost literally being overrun with new
and returning college students who have become unemployed or know with
relative certainty that they stand a very good chance of becoming
unemployed. These students want to improve their chances of earning a
decent living again when the recession lifts, and they plan on making
that happen by attending college in order to earn a degree or by
attending a community college in order to acquire technical training. In
either case, it is absolutely necessary that they take a certain number
of core college classes.
The
person with a graduate degree in these core areas of study can
certainly take advantage of the growing need for instructors who can use
a computer hooked to the Internet to teach college students taking
these requisite courses. This growing need for education professionals
with technology and academic skill sets is creating a very definite
career path for those seeking to become an online college instructor.
Online College Instructor Income Potential
Obviously,
each school will have its own formula for deciding how much to pay an
online adjunct instructor to teach a course and anyone who teaches
online for any length of time will realize that there isn't any arguing
the point with the school's administrators. The only real option for an
online adjunct teaching math or English, and it is these two core
academic subjects that will have the vast majority of new and returning
students, is to decide if a school that pays fifteen hundred dollars to
teach an online college class for fifteen weeks is a better deal than a
school that pays two thousand two hundred dollars to teach the same
course for eight weeks.
Much
of the evaluation process for one or another school depends on the
demands of the course. Eventually, the alert online adjunct instructor
will learn to teach at multiple accredited online degree programs at
once so that if one academic institution becomes too demanding it can be
replaced by another school that is more profitable for the adjunct. In
general, it is possible to make fifty to sixty thousand dollars a year
through online adjunct faculty employment, and there are those online
instructors who laser-focused time management skills and cutting edge
technology abilities that can earn in the six-figure range, but they do
not sleep at lot. Online teaching can be lucrative in a variety of ways
not directly related to the actual teaching.
For
example, online adjunct instruction does not require a personal vehicle
and there are no public transportation, streetcars and buses, necessary
to manage the online classes. The best way to quantify this economic
aspect of online instruction is to add up how much money is spent
driving a car to and from the various college campuses every day. If a
college instructor teaches at several traditional institutions that are
some distance from each other a pretty penny of the money earned from
teaching is eaten up in sheer transportation costs. An online faculty
member only needs a computer and an Internet connection to function in
the classroom.
Today,
a perfectly serviceable laptop can be had for less than four hundred
dollars and almost any coffee shop of public library has free wireless
Internet service. Now compare that cost of teaching online with the
almost endless expense of owning and maintaining an automobile that is
sure to break down from all the miles put on it driving from one campus
to the next. Another economic benefit to being an online college adjunct
is that of geographic mobility. This mobility is of paramount
importance since it can transcend geography, which means the adjunct can
move about the globe freely and still earn a living wage. This
geographic mobility could become very important if and when the area I
which the adjunct lives become too expensive or is prone to natural
disasters like hurricanes or earthquakes. Thus, the income potential of
online adjunct faculty employment should be measure in more than just
the payment for teaching an online college class.
Online College Instructor Application Strategy
While
it is true that teaching online college classes for a distance learning
online college requires a minimum of a graduate degree, it is also true
that one needs to be hired to teach online in order to start earning
money from it. Therefore, an application strategy is quite important to
the overall process, and the application strategy is one that will be
ongoing since the number of community colleges and other post-secondary
institutions offering online classes will only grow over time.
First,
gather all the documentation you will need during the application
process. This includes a cover letter that contains an expressed intent
to teach online undergraduate classes since it is these classes that
have the most students in them. Along with the cover letter, a resume,
not a vita, is a necessary element of the process. A third and very
important element is scanned in unofficial copies of all graduate
transcripts. All three of these application elements should be kept in a
handy place on the computer's desktop since they need to be in motion,
so to speak, at all times.
The
academic job boards are always a good place to search for possible
online college course to teach, but it is a better idea to apply
directly to each of the over five thousand academic institutions that
have web sites on the Internet. Just keep submitting applications to
teach online as an adjunct and sooner or later a positive response will
be generated by the effort to make contact. Keep in mind that the
schools have a lot more students than teachers who can master the
digital classroom and teach college materials in a professional manner.
Sooner or later, it will become easier to see the outstanding
opportunities that being an online college instructor for multiple
colleges online offers those with graduate degrees in need of a decent
living.
Michael
Greene has taught as an online college instructor for the last five
years. He unreservedly recommends online college teaching jobs
[http://onlinefacultyposition.com/online-faculty-position-needs-graduate-degree]
to everyone with a graduate degree needing to earn a decent living and
work toward a brighter future during these difficult economic times.
Article Source: https://EzineArticles.com/expert/Michael_Greene/255523
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