Jobs for Baby Boomers – Teaching Part-Time and Online

Mr. GoTo is an adjunct faculty member at a local university.  I teach one course per year.  It pays very little money but I enjoy it very much.  I have been doing it almost continuously since 1986.

A personal trainer I used to work with teaches writing courses for the University of Phoenix.  He has a masters degree in journalism and makes most of his money as a freelance writer.

There are now hundreds of college courses and even entire degree programs being taught online. It is apparent that most of the universities that specialize in online teaching do not have permanent, full-time faculty.  Instead, they use part-time and adjunct teachers like me and my trainer.

All of these factors got me thinking about whether there would be additional opportunities for me and for other baby boomers in the part-time and online teaching community. Education is an industry that is relatively although not completely recession resistant.  You would think that the online and part-time programs which often are lower cost would do well in bad economic times.  This would particularly be the case for baby boomers looking for a new job, a new career, or a way to supplement their income as they transition into retirement mode.  So I began to investigate these online and part-time teaching opportunities further.

One of the first resources I found was a site called Higher Ed Jobs. This site contains hundreds of job listings (teaching and administrative0 that are posted by colleges all around the country.  There is a separate category for adjunct and part-time teaching positions.  Some of them are for online courses.  Depending on the particular academic field and course, some of the teaching positions do not require Ph.D. credentials or even prior teaching experience.  This opens up these jobs to a lot more baby boomers with relevant work experience and/or Masters degrees.

Later, I discovered a Yahoo Group for those interested in making money teaching online. I joined this group so that I could learn more about how to find online teaching jobs, what qualifications are needed, and how to apply for one.  There is a lot of information shared in this group.  The group moderator Dani Babb, Ph.D. has her own site and has written a book about how to make money teaching online.  You will have to join the group to participate but that is easy and free to do.

The University of Phoenix is one of the largest providers of courses for online and part-time college students. They have a section on their website for those interested in joining their part-time faculty.

Anyway, if you are interested in teaching as a way to develop an alternative income source or just because you may like it as a change of pace career, give these sites a look.  You might find something that is perfect for you and for your future students.

UPDATE 1: I recently discovered a blog that provides regular updates of online teaching opportunities.

UPDATE 2: Here is link to another blog I found that provides information and tracks colleges and other organizations that are looking for online teachers.

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