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.