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 The niche in a nutshell:
An online
professor
is essentially someone who fills the role of a college professor over
the internet. More and more colleges are adding online
courses to
their curriculum, some colleges are 100% online, and they
don’t have
enough full-time faculty to teach the courses. By having a
high
speed internet connection, a college degree, good communication skills,
and a desire to teach, you can join this wonderful profession, taking
on as little or as much work as you can handle. The work can
be
done on your schedule and the pay is great. This is ideal for
stay-at-home parents, retirees, disabled, military who relocate
regularly, and business professionals or teachers just looking to make
extra money in their free time. To learn more, pick up a copy
of
my informative book MAKE
MONEY TEACHING ONLINE, published by John Wiley.
Top 5 Services Provided in this
Niche
- Teaching online courses
- Developing online courses
- Mentoring online students
one-on-one
- Quality auditing of online
courses
- Training others to teach
online courses
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Top 5 Hiring Markets
- 100% online universities
(e.g., Capella University, Northcentral University)
- For-profit universities
(e.g., University of Phoenix, Northcentral University)
- Not-for-profit,
nontraditional universities (e.g., Webster University)
- Not-for-profit, traditional
universities (e.g., Boston University)
- Online high schools
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Pay Range for this Niche
- Pay
varies
greatly based on several factors such as:
- The school (some just pay
better than others)
- The level of degree
program (i.e., AA, BS, MS, PhD)
- Your credentials (your
education and experience)
- The size of the class
- The length of the term
- The course (how difficult
is it to find qualified faculty?)
- Pay is explained differently
at each school. Some advertise pay by the student, some by
the
course, some by the credit-hour of the course, some by the week, etc.
- Courses run anywhere from 5
weeks to 16 weeks with varying pay, but on average, you can expect to
earn anywhere from $150 to $500 per week for a single course.
- So teaching just one course
at a time for an entire year can earn an average of about
$10,000. You can expect to devote an average of 3 to 6 hours
per
week to a single course.
- If you quit your full-time
job and devote those 40 work hours into online teaching, it is not
inconceivable to earn well over $100,000 per year.
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Recommended Skillsets
- College degree from a
regionally accredited institution
- Excellent written
communication skills (the main form of communication online)
- 18 credit hours in a single
subject area (could be broad, like Management)
- Desire to teach others (or
why do it)
- Good intentions (teaching is
a big responsibility)
- Responsiveness (patience is
not a virtue in the online world)
- Ability to work alone and
unsupervised (without going stir crazy)
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Niche
Overview
Online
universities
are sprouting up around the world and revolutionizing the way we teach
and learn, and enterprising educators are cashing in on the opportunity
to make extra income from the comfort of their home.
Traditional
universities are offering more courses online, and they need growing
numbers of adjunct faculty to teach them. There are many
types of
schools that need educated individuals with a computer and internet
access to help meet the demand for an online degree.
What
are the benefits?
You are your own boss basically. Yes you work for different
schools, but you are a contractor, and you choose how much or how
little you can handle. The pay is almost limitless
– the more
courses you teach, the more money you can earn. It
isn’t
inconceivable to earn $10,000 to $30,000 as an online teacher while
working a full-time job, and if you devote 40-50 hours per week into
online teaching, you could easily earn more than you do in your
full-time job, thus enabling you to leave the rat race
altogether. Beyond the pay, though, the biggest benefit is
being
a stay-at-home parent who gets to choose the hours you want to work vs.
play with your kids.
What
are the biggest
challenges?
You must have at least a bachelor’s degree from a regionally
accredited
college / university. You are limited to teaching courses
based
on your education level and your transcripts. So with a
Bachelors
Degree, you can teach online high school; with a Masters Degree you can
teach at the Associates or Bachelors degree level in any subject for
which you have 18 graduate credits; and if you have a doctorate, you
can teach at any level in any course for which you have 18 graduate
credits. If you have the education, the hiring process can be
tiring because you must fill out job applications, send transcripts,
and submit letters of reference at each school (which is normal for any
job) AND most schools require you to go through a short online training
that addresses how they do things. It often takes 3-6 months
from
the start of an application to the time you actually get a course with
a school, but once you are in the system, it is on
auto-pilot.
Another
challenge
occurs the first time you teach any course at any school. No
matter how well you know a subject, there is an adjustment period in
getting used to a school’s web platform, their policies, and
the course
design (often you must use what is provided, while other times you have
the freedom to change it). It almost seems like the pay
isn’t
worth the time you put into that first course. The second
time
you teach the course, you will know the ropes and find yourself
anticipating the problems, and setting things up on your computer to
make your life easier. The third time and thereafter that you
teach the course, it becomes almost effortless, as you get the same pay
for the course while investing significantly less time, giving you more
time to teach yet another course. So it behooves you to put
your
best foot forward into a few schools that you enjoy so you get repeat
business vs. spending your time in job hunting and
training.
What
is the best way to
get started?
There is only one book on the market as of yet which answers this
question. MAKE
MONEY TEACHING ONLINE walks you through the steps in great
detail. You definitely need to have your college degree, an
updated resume tailored for teaching, and time to search the web, apply
for positions, and devote to training. Above all else, if you
are
doing this as a way to get rich quick, it is not for you. You
can
make an excellent income, but if you don’t have the passion
to teach or
give of yourself, and you don’t enjoy working at your
computer, then
this is not for you; but most people, after getting a taste of the
profession, get bitten by the teaching bug and want more of
it.
Do
I need teaching
experience?
Incredibly enough, you do not! Most online schools are
seeking
professionals in the fields related to the subjects. It is a
novel approach to teaching which puts students in contact with those
who actually live the subject. If you want to teach in the
classroom too, then you should get some teaching experience at
community colleges where they are most willing to give an inexperienced
educator a chance to get experience.
Parting
words.
Network, network, network. You will find that the majority of
opportunities will come your way via networking. When a
colleague
recommends you into a school, your chances of getting hired are
dramatically higher, depending on his/her credibility. You
likewise can help your colleagues by referring them, but
don’t do this
for just anyone – if your friend turns out to be a bust, your
recommendations will not be taken seriously.
Also, be willing to embrace change. The internet changes
rapidly
and online schools are constantly changing how they do
business.
Don’t be a skeptic until you try it; those who never took an
online
course don’t consider online education to be real or online
faculty to
be real teachers. The truth is that you will get to know your
online students more than most professors get to know their classroom
students. And students will feel as though they worked harder
for
their grade online than they ever would have in a classroom.
It
may have been taboo a decade ago, but online education is here, it is
accredited and, most importantly, it is accepted. So climb
aboard
and ride the wave.
Recommended Reading
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Tools of the Trade - Professional
Designations
- Dependable computer
(preferably a laptop included)
- High speed internet
- Computer backup
- Protection for your computer
(anti-virus, anti-spyware, anti-spam)
- A personal website with
resources for you and your students (www.DrJimMirabella.com)
- Online school websites:
- Chronicle for Higher
Education
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Organizations &
Associations
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Resource Links
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 About Dr. Jim
Mirabella
Dr.
Jim
Mirabella has been teaching part-time for 19 years, at all levels from
Associates to Doctorate, in the classroom as well as online.
Jim
spent nine years in the U.S. Air Force, nine years in Corporate
America, and 3 years in educational administration, but always looked
to teaching as a way to make extra money and do what he really loves
most. Since 2002, he has become a full-time part-timer,
working
as adjunct faculty at multiple universities. He currently
teaches
over 50 courses per year, some in the classroom but mostly
online. His new career enables him to work from home all day
and
spend a lot of time with his wife and two-year-old son. In
fact,
he does the majority of his teaching when his son is asleep so he can
be a full-time daddy.
Jim teaches for Capella University, Jacksonville University,
Northcentral University, Webster University and a few other
places. He mainly teaches Statistics, Research, Quantitative
Analysis and Operations Management. His jobs have also
involved
being a department chair, a course lead faculty, a course developer,
and a quality auditor. He has mentored over a dozen students
toward the completion of their PhD and is working with 20 others
currently. After personally coaching all of his doctoral
advisees
and some of his friends into teaching positions (including five who are
now full-time professors), Jim decided to put his successful advice
into a book, Make
Money Teaching Online.
Jim is available for consulting in survey design & analysis, or
for
coaching for a part-time teaching career. He is also
available
for seminars. He can be reached at jim@teachonlinebook.com.
To learn more about Jim and explore some of his online materials, visit
www.DrJimMirabella.com.
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