How to get experience teaching online
Posted by virtualprof on January 1, 2008
The key to getting started in online teaching seems to be a no-brainer - take anything and everything you’re offered. Work hard in the online training provided to new online faculty at your school and above all, make the very best impression you can in the training courses.
While you’re waiting for the first offer, you can make yourself more marketable by gaining experience in designing and teaching some courses. You probably won’t get paid for it but it counts as experience and shows motivation, persistence, and initiative. Ten years ago I taught online for free for the experience and learned A LOT in the process!!
Here are a few places to check out for teaching, creating, writing, designing, and getting experience!! Be creative and show them what you can do!! (Experience counts as course design, teaching online, technology skills)
Free Courses (you can create and post a course here)
Global PBG (Design your own class free)
HP Online Classes (no link for instructors but you can contact and ask about teaching)
Yahoo Pipes (still in beta with some problems to be worked out)
Google Presentations
January 20, 2008 at 5:01 am
Maybe not everything you’re offered.
I was very excited to get my first online teaching job at a virtual high school. They offered me $13 per hour and said that I could work as many hours as I wanted. My position was facilitating upper-level high school math courses. I would need to check my e-mail a couple of times each day, grade assignments, and hold a couple of 1-hour chats each week. The courses and assignments had already been created. This job seemed to be the “no-brainer” that you referred to. In retrospect, I think I should have used my brains a little more before accepting this position.
The check that I received for my first month bounced. A month later, after many e-mails, excuses, and apologies from the school, I finally received a new check to cover the bounced check plus the next month’s pay. The total amount, however, was almost $200 short. I’m currently trying to reach the school’s director to got this resolved. To add some leverage, I filed a complaint with the local Better Business Bureau. This was not the first complaint that they had received about this school.
On the plus side, a new school split from the original school. The director at the new school was impressed by my work ethic and offered me all of the math courses. I will be leaving the first school, whether or not I am ever paid. Like you, teaching for free has led to an invaluable experience. I guess you were right after all in saying “take anything and everything you’re offered.”
January 20, 2008 at 11:13 am
Thanks for sharing your experiences!! Even though it turned out not so good, as you say, you learned from it and the experience (if not the pay!!) was valuable. The online world is indeed smaller than we think — never discount the value of networking. Your current director never would have known you had it not been for the bad experience at the first school.