When someone mentions jobs in education, it is natural to think of teachers and administrators. However, these days, there are many other opportunities available. One of these is the role of adjunct faculty, specifically, online instructor.
To be an online instructor, you will need at least a bachelor’s degree, although many institutions require a master’s; universities often demand a doctorate. To teach online, you will also need to be able to use modern technology. Most classes will be asynchronous, but it’s still a good idea to know about chatting.
It is especially important to be accessible to students, who may send an email query at any time. Ideally, an online instructor will monitor his or her email no less often than once in the morning, once in the afternoon, and once in the evening. When email is received, it should be replied to immediately if possible.
To really succeed in this venue, in addition to the above, it can be a great help to students if you use more than one method to impart learning. For example, the addition of a PowerPoint lecture to a unit of a course can add a visual reinforcement to the text students have been reading. Likewise, links to additional sources of information and other resources can be quite helpful.
An advantage to teaching online is the opportunity to work from home, generally at the hours of one’s choosing. It’s a great way to pick up some extra money, although it can be difficult to find enough courses to end up teaching on a full-time basis. Besides the general unavailability of full-time employment, another drawback is the lack of benefits. Adjunct faculty are usually classified as 1099, independent contractor. Consequently, healthcare is usually not offered, although some employers will make stock and retirement options available.
Online teaching is just one of the ways that education jobs are opening up for the 21st century
Tags: education jobs, online teaching
