Online Teaching... how do I get there?
May 31, 2018 9:51 AM Subscribe
I've been a creative pro for a long time. Now I'd like to get into teaching online (design, marketing, marketing assistant bootcamp etc). Do you have recommendations on how to go about this? Platforms?
I've looked at Udemy, and Skillshare, and know there are many other options. Is there something that has worked well for you?
I like the idea of creating a multi part class - video form with practical examples etc. Also, I've seen a couple sites that do live teaching environments. I might be interested in that.
Are there options that did not work well for you?
Thanks!
I've looked at Udemy, and Skillshare, and know there are many other options. Is there something that has worked well for you?
I like the idea of creating a multi part class - video form with practical examples etc. Also, I've seen a couple sites that do live teaching environments. I might be interested in that.
Are there options that did not work well for you?
Thanks!
I can't speak from a teaching standpoint, or from a Skillshare type platform, but I can speak from a course development standpoint, as I'm part of the Digital Education Strategies (essentially online course development) team for a small university.
Some small schools, especially ones looking to make their mark through innovation rather than trading on an existing reputation, are very happy to have people with practical industry experience develop and teach online distance/continuing education courses for them. We do it all the time where I work, just so you know it's an option that might be open to you.
We prefer to work with people who live here in the city with us, so I recommend you see if any schools (college/university/maybe even high school) in your area offer that kind of programming and approach someone in the administration--the programs will usually be run by a particular department. Some bonuses of working with an institution like a university or college are that a) you will probably be paired with an instructional designer who has specific expertise in taking your knowledge and helping you turn it into good pedagogy, b) there will be a quality control team (my job) to help you polish it, and c) the pay might not be amazing, but it will be predictable. The caveats are that the pay won't be a lot and it won't scale with the number of students you have, and it will be a slow, slow process. We take 8 months to develop a course here.
posted by Fish Sauce at 10:06 AM on May 31, 2018
Some small schools, especially ones looking to make their mark through innovation rather than trading on an existing reputation, are very happy to have people with practical industry experience develop and teach online distance/continuing education courses for them. We do it all the time where I work, just so you know it's an option that might be open to you.
We prefer to work with people who live here in the city with us, so I recommend you see if any schools (college/university/maybe even high school) in your area offer that kind of programming and approach someone in the administration--the programs will usually be run by a particular department. Some bonuses of working with an institution like a university or college are that a) you will probably be paired with an instructional designer who has specific expertise in taking your knowledge and helping you turn it into good pedagogy, b) there will be a quality control team (my job) to help you polish it, and c) the pay might not be amazing, but it will be predictable. The caveats are that the pay won't be a lot and it won't scale with the number of students you have, and it will be a slow, slow process. We take 8 months to develop a course here.
posted by Fish Sauce at 10:06 AM on May 31, 2018
I buy online classes!
I won't (can't) buy anything that doesn't have properly edited closed captions (auto captioning is usually dreadful) and as the tech-interested generation gets older and more likely to have hearing issues, you might want to consider making cc a priority. It will also help those with circumstantial needs such as busy airports, commuting, noisy children in the background, etc.). And of course you'll have students whose mother tongue is not English who will be delighted to have cc to help their understanding of your content.
I've had conversations with a few Udemy instructors - one has improved his auto cc considerably, another said that captioning was "not a priority at this time". Guess who gets my money.
If you offer live classes, please commit to adding captioning within a few days. It really pisses me off to see companies like CreativeLive offer classes proclaiming "(we believe in) access for everyone". Everyone but the deaf and hearing impaired, it seems. Or worse, accessibility talks with no cc/transcript. Or being offered audio description instead. Yes really.
Anyway, consider adding/editing proper closed captioning and you'll increase your potential market considerably, I believe.
posted by humph at 12:35 PM on May 31, 2018 [1 favorite]
I won't (can't) buy anything that doesn't have properly edited closed captions (auto captioning is usually dreadful) and as the tech-interested generation gets older and more likely to have hearing issues, you might want to consider making cc a priority. It will also help those with circumstantial needs such as busy airports, commuting, noisy children in the background, etc.). And of course you'll have students whose mother tongue is not English who will be delighted to have cc to help their understanding of your content.
I've had conversations with a few Udemy instructors - one has improved his auto cc considerably, another said that captioning was "not a priority at this time". Guess who gets my money.
If you offer live classes, please commit to adding captioning within a few days. It really pisses me off to see companies like CreativeLive offer classes proclaiming "(we believe in) access for everyone". Everyone but the deaf and hearing impaired, it seems. Or worse, accessibility talks with no cc/transcript. Or being offered audio description instead. Yes really.
Anyway, consider adding/editing proper closed captioning and you'll increase your potential market considerably, I believe.
posted by humph at 12:35 PM on May 31, 2018 [1 favorite]
Not a direct answer, but piggybacking off what humph said above: Rev is my go-to CC transcription solution and they're great.
posted by Tiny Bungalow at 6:45 PM on May 31, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by Tiny Bungalow at 6:45 PM on May 31, 2018 [1 favorite]
Instructional design consultant basically does what you are asking for (help you get something you teach and coach you how to make it into an online class). There's a fair amount of freelancers that do this.
posted by typecloud at 4:12 AM on June 3, 2018
posted by typecloud at 4:12 AM on June 3, 2018
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by mochapickle at 9:59 AM on May 31, 2018