tion>
Land Your First Online Teaching Job
Jean E. Sibley
Copyright © 2011 Jean E. Sibley
While the author has used her best efforts in preparing this book, she makes no representations or warranties with respect to the accuracy or completeness of the contents of this book and specifically disclaims any implied warranties or fitness for a particular purpose. No warranty may be created or extended by sales representatives or written sales materials. The advice and strategies contained herein may not be suitable for your situation. You should consult with a professional where appropriate. Neither the publisher nor the author shall be liable for any loss of profit or any commercial damages, including but not limited to special, incidental, consequential or other damages.
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior consent of the publisher.
The Publisher makes no representations or warranties with respect to the accuracy or completeness of the contents of this book and specifically disclaim any implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. Neither the publisher nor author shall be liable for any loss of profit or any commercial damages.
2011-08-29
Dedication
I salute my dad, Dr. William M. Sibley, for his contributions to higher education in Canada and for his lucid teaching style. If he were around today, he’d be very excited about online education!
Acknowledgements
I am grateful to my many online students for bringing their “A” game to online learning! You are pioneers. Thanks also to my online teaching colleagues Arlene Gotshalk and Rebecca Cowan for their encouragement on this book.
Ready to Teach Online?
Online teaching has arrived!
Do you enjoy teaching? Are you looking for more income? How about a way to keep increasing your income over time? Do you want to make better use of your degrees and your professional expertise?
Online teaching could be your ticket!
Today over 5.6 million students in the U.S. are learning online. There are cost savings for schools, student demand is growing, and e-learning technology keeps advancing.
I am Jean Sibley, a successful online educator at several online universities and programs. I formerly worked as a technical writer, trainer, and as a corporate manager in software publications.
My focus today is helping both students and educators gain the skills needed for online education. By reading this practical book, you will learn how to acquire the right skills and knowledge for online teaching.
Obtaining my first online teaching job was exciting, but there were many steps for each school, and I needed to do each phase correctly, as well as keep up the momentum to increase my possibilities. My process worked, and I wrote this book to share it with you.
This book gives you the easy way to find out:
what online teaching requires
how to locate many current job postings
decide your strategy
gather the records you need
create a professional teaching application packet
apply online to jobs,
succeed in your first interview and
pass your first teaching evaluation
You won’t have to do this alone – I am with you throughout, including advanced tips on how to succeed, showing you how to network in this dynamic arena, and providing extra coaching when you need it.
Do it the step-by-step, successful way, not the hard and less successful way, and get started today. I am confident you will land your first online teaching job following the guidance in this eBook.
Here’s to your upcoming success in online teaching!
Where are the opportunities?
In this book I focus on professional, systematically-structured distance learning organized and hosted by an educational institution or program over the internet. Many of these schools are degree-granting and have a ‘brick-and-mortar’ campus, while some are exclusively online.
According to the Sloan Consortium’s 2009 report on over 2500 U.S. colleges and universities, online education has grown almost 20% each year since 2002, a pace which did not slow down during the recession. The 2010 Sloan Survey of Online Learning reported that enrollment rose by almost one million students from 2009.
This report mentioned that higher education has 80% of the online education opportunities. This includes private universities, public universities, community colleges, and for-profit universities. However, we are seeing rapid evolution in 6-12 distance learning. Some qualified teachers teach online in both higher education and 6-12.
Many teachers who want to find opportunities ask me how they can find jobs. I have noticed that not everyone uses a search engine effectively. Once you do, you will see hundreds of job listings pop up. For example, if your field is History, go to a search engine such as yahoo or google. Enter a search like ”adjunct teaching jobs history” or ”online teaching jobs history.” Watch what happens!
There are numerous job boards and university and college website job listings, as well as online high school websites that you can explore.
Middle and high schools
I Q Academy home page
The growth in 6-12 distance learning shows us that students in middle school and high school are increasingly demanding the same benefits that students in higher education want. Students who do not reside in a good school district now have great options. Some students may be in a good school district, but want the flexibility that an online school provides.
There are schools that deliver high-quality education to middle school and high school students across the U.S., in both online and correspondence delivery formats.
Online middle and high school teachers need to be certified in the state where they teach. Many schools offer substitute and part time positions with the possibility of moving to full time.
Here are a few examples:
1 iQ
