Summary:
- Look into your local online teaching schools.
- Build your online teaching skills.
- Check to see if online teaching is for you.
Most teachers worldwide got a taste of online teaching during the pandemic. It can be a huge learning curve going from face-to-face to online teaching. Many teachers were surprised at just how different it could be.
Online teaching requires a specific set of skills that you may not be aware of. Some of these skills are important for all teaching but are extra important when teaching online. Some of these skills many teachers needed to develop from scratch. The most important thing in becoming an online teacher though, is being willing to give it a go.
While online teaching was difficult for many teachers to wrap their heads around, many teachers were surprised at how much they enjoyed it. Some found it much easier to find work-life balance as a teacher while working online, and some found the challenge exhilarating. There are many reasons to consider a job teaching online, so here are a few tips to get you started:
Look into your local online teaching schools.
You will find that most states will have an online learning or distance education school. These schools are designed to cater to rural or remote students who cannot attend a regular face-to-face school. There have always been students who needed these schools, way back when lessons were given over the radio and weekly work was mailed out.
You may find that you have limited options; there usually isn’t enough demand for these schools for there to be more than one in the public system for the state. You may be able to find some online private schools, but these are not very common. Many online schools have seen an increase in enrolments after the pandemic, so their numbers may increase in the future.
Believe it or not, these schools often struggle to find teachers. Online teaching is a unique skill set, and many teachers are hesitant to take the plunge when there are so many other schools that they could work at. In particular, these schools struggle to find relief teachers as many relief teachers are hesitant to embark on this steep learning curve to work at just one school. If online teaching is something that you are seriously interested in, just going to your local online learning or distance education school and introducing yourself is a great first step.
Build your online teaching skills.
Several skills are highly valuable in an online teacher. These include more soft skills that apply to any teaching job but are particularly valuable for online teaching and some specific hard skills related to using particular programs, platforms, and technologies.
If you are building your skills by working in a specific school in mind (as I said, there may only be one or two in your area), it’s worth doing some research to see exactly how they do their online teaching. There can be some significant differences in how different online schools work, and even then, there are more minor differences like the various platforms they use. For example, you could become a specialist in using the Google suite, but this isn’t going to be a lot of help if the online learning school you want to work in uses Microsoft for everything.
The key players in this space are Google and Microsoft, with many smaller platforms also thrown into the mix. Google has a great set of courses for teachers to learn how to use their suite for online teaching. Microsoft also has a great range of professional learning for using their platforms and online teaching more generally. If you’re starting to look for a job in online teaching and are worried that you don’t have the skills, these are great places to start.
See more: How to Present a Great Professional Learning Workshop
Check to see if online teaching is for you.
One thing that I can’t recommend enough is to get a taste of online teaching before you commit to accepting a job. Online teaching isn’t for everyone. If you’re a teacher struggling with the stresses of face-to-face teaching and think that online teaching will have less stress, you may be unpleasantly surprised. Online teaching may have a lot of different demands than face-to-face teaching, but it does have its own unique set of pressures.
You could try tutoring online if you want to taste what it is like interacting with students and parents in online teaching. I would also recommend getting some work as a relief teacher in your local online or distance education school. Some of the expectations placed on online teachers would be difficult to predict until you are in there doing the work.
Getting an online teaching job can be a big change.
Many online learning schools struggle to find teachers because there is a lot of extra learning and skill development required to be an excellent online teacher. There are also some downsides that you may not be expecting. If you want to do online teaching, you will need to find your local online or distance education school, build up your skills, and check to make sure that you are prepared for the change going to teaching online.
