5 Powerful Reasons Why You Should Teach An Online Course
In this blog post we’re going to explore the exciting and prosperous world of online teaching, and more specifically we’ll dive into the many benefits of being an online teacher.
This is something that I’ve been growing increasingly passionate for as the years pass.
Because more and more, I see that the average human on the planet simply cannot afford a University Education, because it’s far too expensive.
Even small local schools in your local community are tremendously expensive.
I propose, that Online Learning, Distance Education, and E-Learning can be a fantastic, and ridiculously effective way to supplement, or to otherwise replace traditional educational systems outright.
That’s why I’m so excited to share the following content with you, which contains my honest two cents on why you should teach an online course.
Why You Should Teach An Online Course Reason # 1 – Society Benefits As A Result
Because face it, the world of education (especially in The United States Of America) is super expensive, to the point of borderline absurdity. There are cases where students carry student debt for the entirety of their adult lives, which is truly a shameful burden for anyone to endure, especially when the student is simply trying to improve their prospects in life.
That’s the number one reason why I’m a huge fan of online teaching, and why being an online teacher is a tremendously powerful goal that all humans should have; because online learning, or E-Learning can be tremendously cheaper compared to the brick-and-mortar alternative.
Why You Should Teach An Online Course Reason # 2 – It’s Never Been Easier To Teach!
These days, you don’t have to be a computer science guru or a marketing wizard in order to publish online courses.
You also don’t have to raid your local A.V. or I.T. Closet (lol) in order to snatch all of the high tech gear required to produce a course. In truth, you probably already have everything you need to create and launch a course, and if you don’t, then it’s still no big deal.
You can get an inexpensive yet decent USB microphone (like a SamSon GoMic or the Blue Snowball Microphone) for around or under $50 on Amazon.
There are screen recording apps that are ridiculously free or cheap (like Camtasia, or ActivePresenter) and there are a handful of free or cheap apps that you can record your voice lectures too (Audacity is my favorite, and it’s totally free).
All of the aforementioned tools I’ve mentioned are super cheap or free, so the barrier to entry for publishing your own course, is relatively low, especially if you’re passionate and willing to learn these relatively easy tactics.
Why You Should Teach An Online Course Reason # 3 – There Are Tons Of Powerful Teaching Marketplaces
If you do a simple Google search for the best E-Learning marketplaces, you’re sure to find a boatload of them which are eagerly trying to find new instructors to help teach courses!
That’s because, in my humble and honest opinion, the world of E-Learning is going to continually expand into the foreseeable future, because humans from all over our planet are eagerly searching to improve their skills so that they can better compete in our global economy.
As a result, massive online learning marketplaces such as Udemy, SkillSuccess, SkillShare, Lynda, EdEX, and even LinkedIn are becoming more and more popular, and I honestly project that the world of E-Learning and Distance Education are going to continually expand well into the future.
Why You Should Teach An Online Course Reason # 4 – Online Teachers Can Potentially Generate Income
I honestly believe that being an online teacher is an honorable and commendable goal to have! But, of course, we can’t expect teachers to teach simply for the good of humankind without any expectations of other benefits.
That’s the cool thing about being an online teacher, if your courses are popular on some of the major course marketplaces, and if you endeavor to truly create powerful course content for your end users, then it’s indeed possible that you could earn some income if students are enrolling into your courses regularly.
Obviously, there are no guarantees of profits as an online teacher, and never let anyone convince you that being successful at anything is easy; simply publishing your first online course involves a boatload of dedication, work, effort, passion, and of course an abundance of luck. That being said, if you truly love to teach, and if you truly wish to help others, then I honestly believe your teaching efforts will never be a waste of your time.
Besides, even if nobody ever buys your course, you could at the very least, try your best to give away FREE copies of your course. You might be thinking “Why the heck would I give away FREE copies of my course? That’s madness!”. Well, let me explain my honest two cents.
Why You Should Teach An Online Course Reason # 5 – Online Teaching Can Be A Tremendously Powerful Branding Mechanism
The sad fact is that your course might not be popular; what happens if you publish an online course, and then nobody wants to pay for enrollment?
If that’s the case, then I would suggest that perhaps giving your course away for free, might at the very least, be a good branding opportunity.
Even if absolutely nobody buys your online course, the majority of the big online learning marketplaces and platforms will allow you to give away free copies of your course via “free coupons”, or some other mechanism which will allow students to enroll for free.
The reason that this might be a genius idea, is because at the very least, even if nobody wants to pay for your course, you could at least try to help SOMEONE by giving away your course for free.
So you could advertise your free course on social media, on your blog, or you could even give your course away to your colleagues, friends, or your audience if you have one.
And, hopefully, over time, your free course will generate reviews, and social proof that you could potentially leverage down the line.
This is my version of turning a bad situation (no enrollments) into a good situation (hopefully your free students at least review your course, give you honest feedback, and appreciate your efforts).
Because, as an online teacher, I know how frustrating it can be when you publish awesome courses, but then nobody enrolls. It can be the most devastating and saddening thing to ever happen.
That’s why, I propose to you, that giving away your courses for free could be a cool idea, especially if nobody is enrolling in the paid version of your course, because hopefully then at least you can generate some goodwill, prestige, and rapport with your students, which is still a virtuous goal to have!
And, maybe you could show off your course later on to your future clients, prospects, potential employers, or you could simply refer to your course in your resume, so as to not make your time a totally lost effort.
Thanks For Reading This Humble Blog Post, I Owe You The World!
I’m an online teaching advocate, because I honestly believe that you can help to change the world, one student, and one lecture at a time.
Because if you have skills to offer to the world, then it’s your duty to share them with the students who are in all probability chomping at the bit to learn from your experience. Or, at the very least, they will hopefully appreciate your content if they do indeed enroll!
I do hope that you had fun reading this document, because it was fun for me to write. 🙂
I think that teaching rocks, and I honestly believe that the world can definitely use more quality teachers who love to help others!
So, if you have a skill, I challenge you to have the course, to share it with the world!
Thanks again, and please have an amazing day.
Cordially and humbly…
Mike “Ever A Teacher” DeVincent
MrComputerScience.com