So You Want to Be (or already are) an Online Educator?

Oh my goodness-- I googled online teaching interview and I've been reading your responses to people since 2009!!!! Sorry to bug you-- I read a lot and couldn't find an answer. I have my online interview doing my 10 minute lesson on Monday-- and I was assuming they would be able to see me in blackboard collaborate, but something told me to read the instruction sheet for a 5th time, and I noticed it only said audio capability. Did you do an online lesson-- and if so- could they see you, or just your "profile." Thanks in advance. CAVA should hire you to soley answer all of our questions!!!

 

I'm glad you asked, because I use my webcam a LOT. They will only be able to see you if you click on the "video" button on your end. I suggest, if you are able to create a profile before your interview, you make that picture count. Either way, make sure you are ready to click on the webcam button. When you're talking to your interviewers, make sure to look at where the camera is and not your own image. It's more challenging than you think.

 

So they did want you to be on video for your interview? Or was it your choice? I'm glad I asked. I was planning on being on video for my lesson, but then it said I just needed audio capabilities, so I stopped stressing so much knowing I could have notes and reference them without having to do it without notes and all of the top of my head!

 

I had my interview in person for the position I'm in, but I once interviewed with two people remotely and one in person. Then, I've had to shift my focus between the camera and the person in the room. I was not given a choice about the camera.

 

Thank you!!!

 

Hi cantfiddle,
I skimmed all the posts but didn't get time to read thoroughly. I was a teacher in my home country.
Now, I am living in Canada. Though I am studying in the computer field, I am fully interested in teaching profession. In my computer project, I made a website for kindergarten students. I really wanted to do something for the kids. How can I help you and also myself?

 

I'm not sure of where to get you started. I'm mostly here to help teachers who want to teach (or are already teaching) online as opposed to in a traditional classroom setting. Your work sounds like it might go better with K teachers in their own classes. Try posting in that sub-forum.

 

No, I am more interested in teaching online. I wanted to teach maths, science and computer. It is an amazing way of teaching. Actually, I didn't hear about it before. I just mentioned my website to give you the idea about making different teaching tools. How can I start teaching? Is it free or paid?

Thanks

 

I teach at an online school, not independently.

 

Does this school maintain different grades? Means grade 1,2 so on. Do the teachers use skype to communicate with the student? Does the school take exams?

 

I have an assignment on an online community. But I didn't know that I will get this amazing information. Now, I can at least dream about teaching. I will continue the interaction with you, but at the end of the August means after my exam, I will research on it. I am just asking you the general questions, as I can't resist myself from knowing the procedure.

 

1. There are different grades, but students may advance mid-year based on the number of earned credits. This may be different at other schools, as mine is only available in Ohio and is not part of a national franchise
2. Skype is not used at my particular school, but we currently use Blackboard as an online platform for teaching. It does allow for real-time conversations and webcams.
3. All students are required to take the state-wide exams as it is a public school.

 

Thank You so much for the reply.

 

Hi Cantfiddle,
How do you feel about your students? It is very easy to interact with the students face to face.
Does it take longer to communicate with the student? Actually, I want to know your feeling about teaching students whom you didn't see even.

 

I love my students! I may not be able to see them, but I develop some very close relationships with my kiddos over the phone and in my live teaching sessions. It's a one-on-one connection because of the individual contacts. Sometimes it takes a little longer to get in touch with some of my students (not everyone has a working phone, and not everyone really WANTS to talk with me), but it's worth the effort.

 

Feelings for your students really amazed me.Now,I got the idea about teacher-student interaction.

 

Hello Everyone- This might be a long shot, but I'm wondering if anyone has recently applied with California Virtual Academies. (California Managed Schools) I completed the application process and did my interview on Monday. I feel like it went pretty good, although I ran out of time right at the end to finish my lesson. They asked me questions for an hour after my lesson, some of which I was able to answer very well, and some were really tough. Anyways, I received and email from them yesterday and they reiterated that they were a enrollment based school, and that after my interview, I was considered and "active applicant" and should any positions arise during the 2016-2017 school year I would be contacted. I knew going in it was enrollment based, and that they likely would be hiring once students registered, etc. But another part of me feels like they must need people now, especially to train them before the year begins, and I was just not chosen. If anyone has applied, and received the same type of letter, could you reach out and let me know if you ever got a job, or were you just left in limbo and never heard anything else! REALLY don't want to apply other places, as this is the perfect fit for me right now, but I know I probably should anyways. Thanks in advance for any info!

 

Yes i'm also interested for this.

 

Read my answers in this thread. It is doable and can be done part time also.

 

FYI, I am leaving virtual education as of next week. That being said, I have seven years of online teaching under my belt and will do my best to continue answering any of your questions as long as my knowledge of technology is still relevant. Working with students, whether online or in person, is a universal talent. We all have it.

 

I'm REALLY interested in pursuing this once I have my certification! I majored in communication with an emphasis in media studies, and the majority of my classes were done online through the university I attended. I loved it and feel my passion for technology and desire to teach would (hopefully) make me an excellent candidate for online teaching!

Thanks so much for this thread and all the super useful tips in here. I'll definitely keep popping back in once I start looking for a job.

 

It is an amazing field! Bear in mind that not every state has online schools, but many have "blended learning" (online opportunities for in-person schools). Do your homework and see what is available in your state. Also see if your school offers an online / blended learning curriculum. I know several in Ohio now offer this.

 

Great to see this thread still alive & well! I posted the following in this thread almost exactly 2 yrs ago:

Since posting the above, I've graduated from my distance learning grad program & had mostly been doing non-education related work remotely for the last 2.5 yrs. Nowadays, I still feel just as strongly or even more so about being an SLP (Speech-Language Pathologist) remotely. This wk, I just started as a new SLP at a B&M (brick & mortar) school again, but only because I have to (one of my last requirements) & want to gain a bit more hands-on experience. Hopefully as early as the 2017-18 yr, I can work remotely!

QUESTION: Anyone know which companies hire SLPs remotely? I know there's a couple or so, but there must be more out there by this point. Feel free to post or PM me.

 

Hi there,
Very glad to have stumbled upon this forum. I have some general questions as a potentially aspiring online teacher. My original intent was to become an educator, however due to personal circumstances I can only work a 4 day work week (if weekends aren't an option). Would online teaching allow for such a schedule? Or do most programs require daily live classes..? And do they always require teaching experience in a physical school...?(I have experience as an online student).
I currently work as a paraprofessional for reading, in an elementary school, and they simple dock my pay and hire a sub for the additional days I miss, however I doubt that is a feasible accommodation for an actual teacher even in the non-SOL younger K-2 grades..... (right?). However, I am determined to pursue my masters degree, (I barely get by on my current earnings and I don't want to settle for mediocrity by saying that my circumstances will keep me from becoming an independent career person). So I just want to know if online teaching is still an option for me or if I should pursue another path (considering MLS/digital library, archives degree) and simply hope for a higher hourly wage part time job, or one allowing weekend hours to make up for the missed weekday. I know some accommodations are made for medical treatments, disabilities, religion, or even sometimes parents with children who have medical issues and appts etc. So I'm trying not to give up hope. We all need some sort of livelihood, but if I can make it a career I actually want to do then so much the better.
Any answers, advice, etc would be appreciated.

Thanks!

 

Excellent question! It probably would depend on the school or the position. If you're looking for something part time, it might be a good fit for you. Online teaching doesn't usually require live instruction every day (I tended to offer it four days a week and then used Friday for enrichment / extra help), and it certainly wasn't for more than 90 minutes at the most. Your time outside of live lessons is usually flexible, although you might work in an office instead of from home.

That being said, I once worked with a teacher who thought she could take her full time job and fit it into a four day week. It didn't go well for her, and it certainly didn't give her students the attention they needed. She didn't last a full semester.

 

Thanks for the fast reply! While I love working with kids in person, I am glad to know that there may still be a viable teaching option. My only concern would be the student teaching requirement for licensure. I know here in VA I have never seen an exception to this, so again with my schedule I'm back to the possibility of a no go..
Given the position I'm in currently, and what exposure and experience I have gained, my ideal career would be as a reading teacher/specialist. And I have indeed seen many opportunities for part time work for reading teachers (and the higher hourly pay would still be better). However it seems there are no masters programs I come across here that will offer it to non-teachers (if you want the license anyway). Are there any straight track reading teacher degrees out there or is a teaching degree a necessary first step? If I were to take this, or any, education program knowing I wouldn't get a license, am I still eligible to afterwards apply for certification etc? I have sifted through so much information and it's a mess trying to sort it all out and the terminology can be sketchy.. it's always nice to hear things said from real people out there instead of just the internet.
I know details can vary by state, but any possible info would be much appreciated!
Ha I also promise this is my last major question to bombard the forum with and I apologize for basically emptying every thought in my mind on here.

 

I apologize in advance if any of the posts here answered this question...
Is anyone here an online high school teacher for CAVA? I am curious what a work day looks like.
I am assuming it is a lot of phone calls to individual students, monitoring course progress, admin tasks/reporting, and teaching? Is the curriculum pre-packaged or is it designed by the teacher? How is it working online all day? Challenges? Are you able to complete tasks in your workday or do you find that it takes extra time (comparable to a traditional setting that requires a lot of outside work hours?)

I don't have children or commitments besides hobbies - so definitely would not do it for family flexibility BUT how flexible would it be to take a doctor's appointment or something during the day if necessary?

 

Hi I used to be a virtual educator, and I loved it. I did 3.5 years at one school, and 0.5 at the other. The one where I did 3.5, the last thing I did before I took a promotion was in addition to keeping up with the academic requirements, I also ran a dim sum trip, donated 500+ books to the learning center in a span of 3 years, and won an employee cooperation award. My leaving was rough and complicated to say the least, but I dealt with it well.

The 0.5 years at the other virtual school could not have gone better except for the fact that the school had to shut down because the state felt that the school was not following its charter basically. My rating form at that school was all 4s and 5s out of 5s for every single category, and I knew I what I was doing. I enjoyed the environment and being able to help people from my own past experiences.

Many cyber schools do not pay well, that is one down side. Another big down side is that many older people particularly do not believe in this style of education. They think that children need to be "social", but the problem with "being social" is that kids bully each other and judge each other, and this gets in the way of learning tremendously. Sure, kids have to face this at some point, but there's always outside of the learning environment to face these kind of factors.

 

Another major issue is the ability (or lack of it) to hold students accountable. It's tough to tell a kiddo to get to work on assignments when he or she can simply turn off the computer and not answer the phone.

 

Hello, My dream is also to be a Lecturer.
I am from Science Field. So to become a Lecturer I have to crack csir net exam.
I have prepared very well for the exam by taking online coaching help from Eduncle. But now waiting for the result.
I strongly support online education. As it is a nice idea for focused learning & time savior.
I can not go every where to teach But by the help of online Lectures, Students can get my help.

 

I live in a state that has a very established online school but until recently I hadn't really considered it. The public education system is getting pretty bad and I think I will start looking into this for next school year. I have really enjoyed reading all the info.

 

Hi Elocin,

I see you posted about your new job in 2014. Are you still working for a visual school? If yes, what is your experience like?

 

I have two more years in a regular classroom before I start a search for online positions in TN/GA. I really, really want to teach full-time, remote high school sciences. I'm slowly building a job-search file with various schools, and it looks like a good majority use the K12 website or Connections Academy.

Is there something major that I'm missing with my Google searches? Thanks--

 

Those are the two major franchises for online charters. Georgia Virtual Learning School appears to be independently run by the state. There are a couple of others in Tennessee, if you look carefully.

 

Thanks so much for all of this information. Catnfiddle, did you return to the brick and mortar classroom, or have you since returned to online?
I'm considering pursuing online teaching in the next year or two. This information has been super helpful.

 

I have returned to a physical classroom, although it's still a non-traditional school model. I'm still in touch with a lot of my online coworkers and a few of my former students, and I miss them. My reasons for leaving have less to do with online teaching as an educational platform and more to do with how I could best serve my community.

 

I will be starting at an online school very soon. I'm really excited! I enjoyed brick and mortar when I did that but I think virtual is a better fit for me for a huge number of reasons. I think the best part about it will be less classroom/behavior management. I will conference with kids/parents 1:1 mostly over video and on the phone.

 

I... put in an application. Here's for luck.