Career in Online Education (without being a certified teacher)

Hello everyone,

I am currently a curriculum developer for a for-profit organization that provides online education for adult learners, mostly in the way of professional development and certification programs. My job is to write many of the course materials, edit audio, write some of the marketing material and course descriptions, etc. I hold a B.A. in English.

I enjoy the work I do, but I feel that i need more education to take things further in my career. I was considering a Master's program in Instructional Technology, but I have some questions. It appears that these degrees might be designed for former school teachers who either want to enter Instructional Design, or apply technology to their current classroom. Would this be a degree that would allow me to move up as as an online facilitator?

Beyond what I do now, what are some other avenues that I could work with a degree such as this? Are there multiple career paths that this degree would allow? And is the world of online education geared more towards former teachers? Thanks!

 

I'd suggest maybe an MEd in Adult Learning (that's the route I took with a similar job description), coupled with maybe a certificate in online learning. I believe it is University of Wisconsin offers a really interesting looking certificate program. And there are a ton of MEd programs with adult, corporate learning or non-traditional emphasis areas.

Instructional design is a great specialty, and there are some strong programs out there. I would agree that most of them seem to be K-12 centered at first glance.

 

Welcome to the board! My first advice is to hold on tightly to the job you have. Don't leave it until you have something else in the bag. I say this because the teaching industry is in a shambles. It is extremely difficult to get any sort of teaching job in the current environment. There are many who hold master's and doctor's degrees that are not able to find work. This is true in the K - 12 areas and in higher education. However, you might have a good chance with the school you currently work for, so there is some hope with that.

I have a master's in Educational Technology and it has enabled me to land the K-12 teaching job I currently hold. So I believe a masters in Ed Tech would open doors, if there are any to open.

When I was getting the degree, I did not find much of anything in the curriculum that someone without teaching experience would have any trouble with, so you should have no problem. It was not teacher specific. Hope that helps.

 

The University of Wyoming has some interesting programs and they are very inexpensive.

adult education:
Adult Education - Outreach Credit Programs - Online Degrees in Education

adult learning and technology:
UW: Adult Learning and Technology

 

Thanks for all the helpful replies. Mainly what I am looking for is versatility. I would like the option to be able to work in school setting, for-profit educational organization, or a corporate training environment. If I were to complete a Master's program, then once I was finished I would have more than 3 years experience in online education as well as a degree to back it up. Does this seem like a good plan for this field?

 

I cannot comment on the intricacies of the education industry. However, I can tell you that my (soon to be) alma mater, Bellevue University, offers an online MS in Instructional Design and Development.

In addition, The University of North Dakota offers an online MEd/MS in Instructional Design & Technology.
Best of luck,