When traditional college teachers try to change their economic circumstances by transitioning from the physical college classroom to the online college classroom, there are several pitfalls that are encountered along the way, and if these hurdles are not approached with an understanding of why they are there it is easy to become discourages and give up the pursuit of online schools as a venue for academic and technical skill sets. While this hesitation is understandable, it is a grievous professional error because the increasing employment of distance education technology is rapidly making the presence and availability of accredited online bachelor degree programs and online masters degree programs ubiquitous on the post-secondary landscape. For the individual with an earned doctorate or master’s degree, the primary element for success in online teaching is determination and computer skills.
Every aspect of earning an online bachelor degree or online master degree is, well online, which means the online college degree programs and the online college classes contained within them are on the Internet, and the method by which an online adjunct instructor accesses the digital academy, so to speak, is with a personal computer. While this insistence on superior computer skills for college adjunct instructors wanting to earn a decent living by teaching online for online paralegal programs, for example, it is far too often the primary stumbling block to online teaching success for academics. However, if the computer skills are mastered and there is a change in the perception of the role of accredited online bachelor degrees and accredited online master degrees in the worldview of the college instructor, there is every reason to believe it is possible for a traditional adjunct college professor teaching college students on a physical college or university campus to manage academic change effectively with online instructor positions.
It is possible for an online adjunct instructor to fill an online teaching schedule with numerous online adjunct jobs. Of course, in order to teaching online college courses for online accounting schools that offer the associate degree in accounting online or online business schools that offer a business management degree online, it is first necessary to understand why these sort of academic programs are so popular with new and returning college students. Today’s college students are so familiar with digital navigation on the Internet from their personal computers they are not surprised by the possibility of earning an online business management degree, a criminal justice associate degree online or a bachelor degree online psychology since interaction with practically every other aspect of their lives is a result of some kind of digital interaction.
Adjunct college instructors stuck in physical college classrooms may not have the same level of electronic awareness, so to speak, that their students have now. Still, it is relatively easy to acquire this awareness by simply visiting the websites of the thousands of colleges, universities, technical schools, community colleges and for profit colleges and simply reading about the growing numbers of accredited online college degree programs offered by these post-secondary academic institutions. A serious commitment to learning as much as possible about distanced education technology and its impact on the academic landscape can increase understanding of how to manage academic change effectively with online instructor positions.