How to Start Teaching Online with Minimal Experience
(*Note: This isn’t an ad for any of the companies mentioned in this post, and I don’t get anything for mentioning them, I just think their services sound helpful!)
From time to time I peek in on the conversations within the LinkedIn adjunct groups I belong to, and find some really great advice.
There’s actually a recent conversation thread from one of my groups that I printed out and keep in my planner, in case I ever need to make copies of it or hand it over to a friend trying to break into the online teaching world (at the top I’ve even written ‘BEST ONLINE ADJUNCT ADVICE EVER!’ in all caps- since it’s clear, useful, and written positively (yay!).
The best piece of advice (in my opinion) from that entire thread, is how to break into the online teaching world with little to no online teaching experience, written by someone who has done it. Normally I tell people to try to start in the physical college classroom (as a guest lecturer or in a traditional adjunct position) as a way to get their foot in the door of online teaching, and then slowly gain experience and take on more online teaching positions gradually. However, this doesn’t always sound like the most appealing route to people.
That’s why I loved hearing this new piece of advice:
Go to instructionalconnections.com and check out their website.
I’ve only looked at the website briefly, but in my opinion, it checks out as a reliable way to become an online adjunct (and I’m a very skeptical person!). I’ve never really heard of them, but I know The Babb Group is similar.
If you like what you see on the Instructional Connections website, you may want to follow the advice of the adjunct who commented in the LinkedIn discussion (keep in mind, 1) I have no idea if this costs money- so think carefully before you pay for anything, and 2) this adjunct said she already had some college teaching experience in the college classroom- so you may or may not need to have similar experience to get a position with this company):
- Fill out the application (if you have the qualifications and a masters degree)
- Train with them
- Then they will assign you to a university as an online Academic Coach, and potentially you will continue on as an online Adjunct Instructor (note: I’ve personally worked at institutions that employ Academic Coaches, and they’re essentially the same thing as Adjunct Instructors).
Instructional Connections will also introduce you to videos that teach you how to use various learning platforms that colleges use: Blackboard Learn, Canvas, Moodle, etc. (although you could easily find those on YouTube on your own).
If you have a masters degree and feel like you’d like a side hustle in addition to your full-time job, or you stay at home with your kids and you’re looking for part-time work you can do from home, I encourage you to at least look at the website to get some ideas about how you can start teaching online (with or without the help of Instructional Connections), if that’s something you’re interested in.
Happy learning!