Anyone have any experience teaching online?

I have an opportunity (possibly) to become a part-time faculty member for an on-line institution. Anyone have any experience with this? How much time does it take? Anything pitfalls to be aware of? How much money can you get doing this? Any particular schools to avoid?

thanks in advance for any insight y'all might offer....

Take care all...

Nancy

 

Yes, I have experience teaching online. I would suggest that you stick with RA institutions. The money is comparable to teaching adjunct classes as traditional institutions. Be prepared to spend more time with your students than in traditional classes. Good online courses have good instructor interaction and hence take more instructor time on a continuous basis throughout the course. There are some online courses that take a correspondence model approach -- that is, the student is given an assignment, they ask questions to the instructor, the assignment is graded and returned. Therefore, look into the teaching model from the institution you will be teaching for and determine if you are comfortable with it.

John

 

I've taught on-line for 7 or 8 years now. I've learned a lot from doing this. Here are some points:

1. Don't view on-line as "easy money". You'll spend a lot of time keeping up with on-line students. I'm used to checking in electronically 7 days a week, and I carry a portable everywhere I go.
2. Working with on-line is different than on-ground - you have to learn to relate to people you never see and rarely talk to. I've learned to be very careful what I type - students can take it in a very different light than it was intended.
3. On-line students can be pretty demanding - particularly at institutions that sell them on an easy degree. Some students act as if, "I paid my money, where is my A?".
4. The going rate for 6 week intensive courses at a place like UoP or Baker is about $1,700. You won't get rich doing this - and there aren't any benefits.
5. Watch the subject of intellectual property. If you develop a course, who owns the intellectual output? If they take your material and have other adjuncts use it, will you be compensated?
6. Watch out for academic integrity. Cheating happens everywhere, but it can be a challenge to catch it on-line.

Thanks - Andy