Benefits of online teaching...

Discussion in 'Online & DL Teaching' started by me again, Feb 26, 2014.

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  1. me again

    me again Well-Known Member

    Online teaching is one of the best gigs ever. Will someone get rich doing it? Absolutely not. However, it offers flexibility and a reasonable paycheck. The instructor can do it all from home. There is no driving to work or dressing up in business clothes. The extra time-freedom is tremendous. Shopping and going to the gym become much easier. Making appointments becomes easier. The online instructor can hopefully offer years of industry experience to the students, in conjunction with having the necessary academic credentials for the university. However, it's not for everyone. There is much to do with multiple deadlines that must be promptly and consistently met.
     
  2. graymatter

    graymatter Member

    I agree - at least in part. Teaching online helped me to pay cash for my doctorate, complete my dissertation - even homeschool my 5 children when my wife was on bed-rest for 5 months.
     
  3. me again

    me again Well-Known Member

    Yes, it makes devotion to family much easier. During one survey, hospice patients on their deathbed were asked the 10 top things they regretted most about their lives. One of the top regrets was working too much, causing them to be away from their loved ones. Conversely, almost everyone has to work.

    Being an online professor is also a sedentary job, which could prove to be dangerous, according to recent studies that show that sitting in a chair too much can lead to an early death i.e. watching TV, surfing the internet, playing video games, etc. I love my recliner. LOL. It's subsequently important to do some form of physical activity every single day.
     
  4. SteveFoerster

    SteveFoerster Resident Gadfly Staff Member

    That's true. One can always consider using a standing desk. Some people even use them with treadmills.
     
  5. mattbrent

    mattbrent Well-Known Member

    I must be doing it wrong... My online courses require much more work than my face to face courses.

    -Matt
     
  6. Ed Edwards

    Ed Edwards Member

    I use one to power my PC while taking classes online. The faster I run the better my grades.
     
  7. Smirnoff

    Smirnoff New Member

    More work, your kidding? Most of us have interactive classroom software & all we do is press enter only once to execute the program:smashfreakB:.....
     
  8. me again

    me again Well-Known Member

    After finishing an online doctorate, I was burnt crispy and swore I'd never take another online college class -- ever. But I did. :shysmile: I should finish up with an APUS MPA in Fall of 2014 -- and it has been a tiresome marathon. Ugh. That is absolutely my last online degree, unless, of course, I decide to finish a M.Th by the year 2019.
     
  9. mattbrent

    mattbrent Well-Known Member

    Must be nice. I have to design everything myself.

    -Matt
     
  10. suelaine

    suelaine Member

    I wish I could say the same. I completed courses on designing online courses, and was required to go to live training in 2003 when one of my employers first started transitioning to online courses. In my training, I learned the tricks of making a balance of student requirements that kept the course high quality and rigorous, while still keeping the amount of time taken for assessments and interaction with students manageable and reasonable.

    I took that training seriously. As a result the courses I have designed are a pleasure to teach. It takes time to design them initially, but it is well worth it. I wish I could design all the online courses I teach within some given parameters by the employer.

    Some that I did not design are not bad, but others are extreme in the amount of time required by the instructor just to facilitate the course reasonably. I think to myself, obviously that designer did not take the same training I had, or that designer thinks all professors want to spend almost 24/7 on their computers facilitating their classes, because they don't mind doing that themselves.

    As for the original topic idea of the benefits of online teaching, I love it because of the flexibility. I have close to the same freedoms I would have if retired, and I'm going on a cruise next week even though I get no official vacations from my work. Even if there is a break with one employer, there is overlap with others so I never can truly say I have a full time inverval to call a vacation. I will do as much as I can before going to minimize the work load on the cruise but I've traveled quite a bit through the years of online teaching. I love that I can pick up and go whenever I want because the work can go with me. I don't like the lack of stability and lack of job security but have decided I would rather continue just teaching online than working at a B&M University. I tried that for one year after earning my doctorate but went back to making my entire living teaching online.
     
  11. me again

    me again Well-Known Member

    Totally agreed.

    Is internet connection on a cruise expensive?

    Yes, the perceived lack of job security is interesting, but conversely, isn't it that way with any job? (excluding tenure or union protection or civil service regulations)
     
  12. SteveFoerster

    SteveFoerster Resident Gadfly Staff Member

  13. Randell1234

    Randell1234 Moderator

    I did it one time to teach but I was only teaching two classes. It was not that bad.
     
  14. RFValve

    RFValve Well-Known Member

    Online schools can go bankrupt easily, I experienced one bankruptcy and another closed its IT department in a matter of 5 years. Yes, any school can go bankrupt but my guess is that the online for profits have a much better chance to vanish.

    The other issue is trying to get a job at a regular University when you resume has Walden, UoP, etc as the only place of employment. I spent two years working for profits and it was not an easy sell after I wanted a job in a B&M school with benefits, etc. Few interviews didn't go well because of online for profits in my resume, I eventually deleted them from my resume but it was not easy at the beginning as it was my only source of income for almost two years and couldn't have a gap.

    My advice is to do this as a second job for extra income but not as a career. It is good for someone that is home stay mom that relies on the income of the husband or for a person that is retired or semi retired but too risky for a person under 40 to do as a full time career and with the responsibility to support a family.

    As you mentioned, the full time online adjunct career is not for everyone, I tried it for almost two years but I don't miss it, I rather my present job with benefits, union, stability, etc than my hectic career as an online adjunct.

    I still do it for one school but mainly to learn new things and keep myself up to date with changes and not so much for the money.
     
  15. suelaine

    suelaine Member

    Yes, the Internet is relatively expensive on cruise ships but not all that unreliable. This will be my 4th cruise where I have had to take my online teaching with me so I know what I'm up against. I just factor the cost in with the other costs of the trip. I get caught up as much as possible before leaving, but check in with my classes and emails every day, usually in the early hours before all the other fun of the day starts. I've always been an early riser (raised on a dairy farm) so this is not a problem for me.

    As for job security, I've been doing this since 2002 and still working for the same two colleges I started with back then, these particular two are not going to go bankrupt in my life time though they too struggle with decreasing enrollments. One is a non-profit state university and I do get benefits including insurance. I have added another to my list in the past year, and that one is not going to go bankrupt either. I don't like listing my employers, so I won't but the three I work for are huge, and very established RA universities, only one of them for-profit if that matters.

    Still, I would like more assurance of my work load from term to term and things like that. I feel it is "less secure" than other jobs I have had...such as teaching high school math at a public school. Every single time I get a contract it states right on it how this is no guarantee beyond the term, may be cancelled if too few students enroll, blah blah blah.

    As for me, I have had plenty of work experience to list on resumes along with my work for online colleges but it seems that the one B&M job that I landed after getting my doctorate from Northcentral was impressed with my online teaching. When they interviewed me, they talked like they wanted me to teach online there too since they do offer online programs in education. Yet, they only let me teach one online class and all the tenured professors scooped up most of them quickly. I was assigned to do more supervising student teachers than anything else. I liked that work but didn't like the travel, especially in my area (bad winters). I like what I am currently doing but like everything, it has its down-side.
     
  16. ojasdhawan

    ojasdhawan New Member

    Online teaching has many benefits like- reliability, comfortability, no wastage of time etc. As these days many online courses available a per the need.
     
  17. VOLTS

    VOLTS New Member

    I agree with this post! Especially with the EXTRA TIME FREEDOM part. Thanks for posting! :)
     
  18. ZuluKid

    ZuluKid New Member

    Gray,
    Planning to do the same-teaching online to complete my DBA. Any recommendation please.
     

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