Now, I am a fan of online learning. When it is done right, it can be a very meaningful experience for students. "Doing it right" means students who engage in the content and with their classmates on a regular basis and teachers who do the same.
I was recently offered a contract teaching at an online college that offers masters degrees for educators. During the interview, I was told that the pay was $2300 per course. An amount about 30% less than I earned for teaching at the local community college last fall, but about 25% more than I earned for teaching at a similar online college about a year ago. Well, the fine print of the contract showed that the $2300 is only if the course has 55 or more students! If the course has a reasonable number of students, let's say 20, the pay is less than half what I was told I would earn, and further, this contract is as an independent contractor, so I would be responsible for all taxes.
I did a little math, and found that-- even before I include any additional time for completing the tax documents necessary for being an independent contractor-- if I work the expected number of hours teaching the course (55 which I think is too few to give students reasonable feedback on their work) , I will bring home less money per hour for teaching graduate students in education than my kids do working at the local supermarket.
This makes me think back to when I first started teaching-- in 1988. My salary back then was $15 per week more than I got paid mowing lawns. But that was in take home pay... my school also paid my benefits, so that is not really a fair comparison.
This makes me wonder about the future of online education... as for me, I intend to ignore that contract... I would prefer to donate my services to NELMS than to allow the owners of a for-profit college to make such profits from my work.
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