Supplemental Income: Opportunities

by Evelyn Beck

THOSE OF US who teach on-line courses may not be the ones
who revolutionized education, but we are among those leading
the way as the rest of our peers are pulled with varying levels
of enthusiasm into the brave new world of web learning.

As a result of our place at the head of the line, we have
skills that are valuable and still not widespread. That means
there are opportunities beyond our own institutions for teaching,
mentoring and tutoring, as well as for developing courses.

Teaching

For better or worse, the Internet has commercialized education.
On-line instructors are needed to teach both degree and non-degree,
accredited and non-accredited courses. Traditional colleges
need to expand their adjunct pools to cover distance classes,
and adjuncts can often teach such courses from any location.

One example is Barton County Community College (http://www.barton.cc.ks.us)
in Fort Riley, Kansas. Through its BARTONline program, the
college awards associate’s degrees in dietary management,
military studies, environmental health and safety, criminal
justice and general studies.

Adjuncts need at least a bachelor’s degree, with a master’s
in their subject area preferred. Most instructors are local,
or at least were at some point, though the college has hired
some who live at a distance.

The pay scale is tied to enrollment, ranging from $200 for
a semester-long class with only one student to $1,200 for
a class of six, up to a maximum of $2,100 for a class of twenty.
If you’re wondering about the likelihood of a course with
a single enrollee, BARTONline program director Wynn Butler
says it’s possible.

“We don’t cancel (on-line) classes even if there’s only one
student,” he says.

To apply, write to humres@barton.cc.ks.us
for an application packet.

In contrast, Cardean University (http://www.cardean.edu)
is a totally on-line, non-accredited program which offers
business courses such as Writing for Results and Introduction
to On-line Privacy for companies and individuals. Faculty
are employed at three levels: adjuncts, advisory and senior.
The adjuncts, who must have a master’s degree and business
experience, actually teach the classes and are supervised
and mentored by advisory faculty. The senior faculty oversee
the program. The time commitment for adjuncts is about 10-15
hours per week for one course. To apply, send a statement
of interest and a resume to faculty@cardean.edu.

A new on-line, accredited program at Jones International
University (http://www.jonesinternational.edu)
is also seeking instructors. An on-line
application is available.

Then there are courses like those offered by Powered (http://www.powered.com),
which coined the term “educommerce.” These are free courses
designed to draw visitors to web sites and to stimulate purchases
of such items as books and equipment. For example, at Barnes
& Noble University (one of Powered’s clients), the offerings
include A Parent’s Guide to Talking to Children about Sex,
The Insider’s Guide to the Oscars and Golden Globes and Teaching
Children Literature Using Harry Potter.

Powered is looking not only for instructors but also for
writers of new courses and editors to polish courses created
by others. An on-line
application for teaching is available.
There are also similar applications for writing and editing.

Mentoring

At Florida State University, where three degrees (interdisciplinary
social science, information studies and computer science)
are offered on-line and enrollment in such courses can number
in the hundreds, adjunct instructors can be hired as mentors
(http://connected2.fsu.edu/2+2/mentor).
This is a position responsible for communicating with a group
of up to 25 students, keeping them on task and answering their
questions.

For a commitment of 10 to 15 hours per week for a semester,
mentors are paid $600 per credit hour, or $1,800 for a three-hour
course. They must also attend a May training session in Tallahassee,
Florida, with expenses paid by the university, followed by
some on-line training. Florida State’s distance education
courses have an impressive 85 percent rate of successful completion,
which mentor coordinator Ron Thomas attributes to this program.

“Mostly we want mentors to initiate contact and keep students
on pace with the course, and provide encouragement because
distance education can be a lonely thing,” he says. “It provides
an aspect of interaction and contact which is equally valuable
to content knowledge.”

An on-line
application is available.

Tutoring

If you want to sell your services as a tutor, one site where
you can do that is Tutor.com (http://www.tutor.com).
Tutors set their own pay rates and criteria, and Tutor.com
collects a percentage of the income generated through its
site. Writing

Some publishers need writers to create study guides for on-line
courses. There are also companies that publish on-line study
guides. One example is InstantKnowledge.com (http://www.instantknowledge.com),
which hires professionals to write literary study guides.
The payment is $750 for your first guide, $900 for subsequent
ones. To apply, write to Info@instantknowledge.com.

If you’re looking for ways to supplement your income, investigate
some of the emerging possibilities. Your expertise as a distance-education
instructor may have more applications beyond your current
classroom than you imagined.