Issues with Online Teaching
Mar 25th, 2008
A recent New York Times article explored several issues with online teaching including the lack of face-to-face interaction and the tendency towards lower pay. Here's a blurb:
"…flexibility can come at a price. Most professors agree that one disadvantage of online learning is a loss of real-time interaction with students…Some in academia also say that online learning has created a second tier of instructors who work hard but are paid less than traditional professors.
"A great number of teachers who do distance learning tend to be part-timers and a full-time professor gets maybe 10 times more to teach a course," Professor Ruth said."
Merrily Stover, a full-time online professor of anthropology for the university of maryland University College in Adelphi, acknowledges that she could make more if she were a tenured professor at a local university teaching regular courses. But she was able to keep her teaching job by working online from home in Oroville, Calif."
Although online teachers can work in their pajamas, they still deserve pay equivalent to their brick-and-mortar counterparts. By paying online teachers fairly, virtual schools will be able to recruit higher caliber instructors who will improve the overall quality of course content.
Did you enjoy this article?
