Why do people laugh when I say I would like to teach distance education classes??!!!

Everytime I try to tell my friends and family memebers what I would like to do with my life. Teaching distance education classes. Especially on the internet. I think I would be great with it. I still don't see what is so funny about it. I would like to get my masters and doctorate from a school that fits my needs. I would like to get in on a school that is growing or perhaps a state university. The old school way of going to school is going down.

I really want to do this. Any tips?!?!

 

Well, first and foremost, finish at least your Master's degree. That will get your foot in the door at the 2-year and (after some teaching experience) some 4-year college programs.

I don't think your ambition is funny, just a bit unrealistic. I don't know of anyone who has made a living strictly from teaching DL courses. I'm not saying it's impossible, it's just that I have never heard of it.

Perhaps in the future there might be a market for full-time DL-only instructors, but not right now. Just about every DL course I've seen has been taught by either a full-time faculty member of the "brick & mortar" school, or an adjunct who is paid for their time only, no benefits.

I do wish you the best in your search, and if you find info contrary to what I've said, please do post it.

Bruce

 

Bruce, it is not particularly common, but I have a friend who is at the $64,000 yr income exclusively from distance ed earnings. Not workshops or seminars. Strictly teaching and course development.

Paul C.

 

Paul, does he/she receive benefits from the school(s)? 64K is a nice piece of change, but if you're paying 100% health insurance, dental, etc., that would cut into it quite a bit.

Bruce (who took benefits for granted until I got married & am now expecting twins)

 

Your comment points out one of the concerns that many academics have with DL programs. The basic economic equation that drives many of the large DL programs is quite simple - lots of students and lowly paid adjuncts. Where I teach full-time, we figure part-time instructors cost 30% or less than full-timers with benefits.

You can try to make a living teaching DL - but you'll struggle to make a go of it. Benefits and professional development are two items that you typically won't get from employers.

Part-timers are a valuable addition to many programs. They bring vitality and industry experience to the classroom. However, they don't provide the "glue" that holds an academic program together. They tend to show up, teach and disappear. Who plans curriculum developments? Who advises students? Who conducts research? Who ensures that classes have the right mix of theory and practice?

Thanks - Andy

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Andy Borchers, DBA
NSU (1996)

 

No benefits.

 

This is an interesting topic.

Contemplating a career as a DL professor at the current time seems to be a little like speculating in the stock market. A slow-motion horse race where you're trying to put your money on a winner.

I think that the field is still very immature. What we see right now are the early entrants, and I expect that the mature industry will look very different.

Right now there seem to basically be two kinds of DL institution: The proprietary school like Phoenix, and the conventional 'bricks-and-mortar' college with a few new DL programs (most often MBA's). The former seem to prefer part-time adjuncts for economic reasons, the latter seem to draw more on their own faculty.

But at some point institutions will probably move into the middle. We will see more Open University or UNISA type things, real distance education universities. When they appear we will see real distance education faculty positions.

I'm not an expert on this, but my feeling is that if somebody wants to break into DL teaching now, as a f/t career and not as an p/t adjunct, the best way would be to follow a traditional on-campus teaching path, but supplement it with some DL teaching and instructional IT courses. Then try to get hired at a conventional school that is expanding aggressively into distance education.

That would mean playing the academic game, attending an on-campus doctoral program that is well known in your field, publishing and speaking at conferences, cultivating big name mentors that can promote you etc. I'm not sure if there is any real non-traditional route into non-traditional teaching at the present time.

Probably there will be in 20 years, but that doesn't help much right now.

Frankly, I'm not sure if university teaching is the right career choice for most people. The competition is fierce and unemployment high. Pay is low compared to the work it takes to break in. It's definitely a calling, like becoming a monk.

It might be more realistic to pursue a career in business or something, get a respectable but perhaps less intense graduate degree, then slip back into teaching by becoming an adjunct on the basis of your real-world experience. But keep the day job.

That's probably the kind of 'non-traditional' route into university teaching that exists now. Not something that is DL medium specific.

 

Have to agree with you on the "calling" aspect.

The market varies greatly by field. In business, especially the Information Systems arena where I teach, there is a dramatic shortfall. Folks can make more in industry - so few go into teaching.

Traditional fields like the liberal arts and sciences are quite different. You are right here - there is lots of unemployment or under employment. Of late, however, there have been a large waive of retirements so that this may change some.

Thanks - Andy

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Andy Borchers, DBA
NSU (1996)

 

Go for it!!! I teach distance education courses and the demand in this field will grow tremendously in the next 10 years thanks to the internet. I can suggest you to specialize in Business or Information technology since are the fields with higher demand. A PhD in educational technology could be a good background for this purpose but is not a rule, the only drawback is that most of the universities in the distance education field hire only on a part time basis but this will change in the future when it becomes more popular.

 

Do a search in the Chronicle in the distance education job section and you will find some opportunities for DL professors. Most of them part time but some full time with benefits.

 

Without looking again. I believe that Jason Baker (Baker's Guide) is an Assistant Professor at Regent University in their DL program. They have DL from M.A. through several doctortates. He was a student in the Ph.D. program (which he recently completed) and began some teaching/development work for them. I realize he is an exception but maybe the wave of the future. Regent is a well endowed University with everything from government & leadership schools to an ABA accredited law school.
http://www.bakersguide.com

North

 

Might as well include Regent University's web site.
http://www.regent.edu

North

 

Here is his faculty page:
http://www.regent.edu/acad/schcom/faculty/baker/

North