Posted by & filed under School Spotlight.

This week, we posted 6 volunteer online teaching and SME positions from University of the People, a tuition-free, fully online, accredited University open to anyone who wants to pursue a college education.  According to the University’s mission statement, they are “dedicated to opening access to higher education globally for all qualified individuals despite financial, geographic or societal constraints.”

The president of the University of the People, Shai Reshef, gave a TED talk which outlines why he hopes that the University of the People will move higher education away from “a privilege for a few to a basic right, affordable and accessible for all.”

Most online instructors at University of the People are volunteers, and they are currently listing open volunteer positions in the following disciplines:  Computer Science, Biological Sciences, and Business.  See our listings on AdjunctWorld for more information.

Most of the adjunct instructors in our community are looking for paid work.  However, there are a few benefits of pursuing a volunteer teaching opportunity at this philanthropic university.

  1. Be a part of a global humanitarian movement.   The mission of this school sharply contrasts with the controversial for-profit trend and offers an opportunity for instructors to take their expertise and share it with knowledge-hungry students who may not otherwise get such an opportunity.
  2. Gain online teaching experience.  For those of you who are stuck “needing experience to get experience” for paid jobs which require online teaching experience this is a great opportunity to gain it.  This experience in the context of a giving-rather-than-getting mentality would make a good line in an online adjunct’s CV.
  3. Get Moodle LMS training.  The University of thePeople uses Moodle LMS and while they ask for Moodle experience from their applicants, they also mention that they will train instructors on this widely-used learning platform.  Since Moodle experience is a line-item in many online job descriptions, this is certainly a big advantage to working for this school.

If you decide to pursue this opportunity, let us know how it pans out for you and as always, if you’d like to discuss please comment below!

Posted by & filed under School Spotlight.

Walden University is another one of our big suppliers of online job opportunities.  They post jobs in a wide variety of areas and have strong and popular online degree programs – both undergraduate and graduate.  Since it is likely that you will come across a Walden job you are interested in, particularly if you teach in the areas of Education, Psychology, Health Sciences, Business, or Technology we thought we’d shine our spotlight on them this week!

A Bit of History

In 1970, Bernie and Rita Turner endeavored to create a school explicitly for working adults who wanted to pursue doctoral degrees.  Thus Walden University was born, with its stronghold in Naples, Florida.  Their first programs catered to those pursuing their degree in school administration.  The goal was to help students choose dissertation topics, find a research mentor in that area to supervise the dissertation, and have them return home to where they lived and worked to work on those dissertations independently, with the support of their mentor.

In 1979, Walden was licensed by the Minnesota Higher Education Coordinating Board and their headquarters moved to Minneapolis.  By 1990, Walden University was accredited by the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools, which in part allowed them to offer the country’s first fully online master’s degree program in the field of education.

In 2001, Sylvan Learning Systems, Inc. purchased 41% of Walden University and gained controlling interest in 2002.  Sylvan became Laureate Education, Inc in 2004, spearheaded by former president Bill Clinton who remained Honorary Chancellor of all Laureate schools until 2015.  Clinton was succeeded by Ernesto Zedillo, former president of Mexico.  Zedillo is also the current director of the Yale University Center for the Study of Globalization.

Walden is currently listed as a for-profit school and has weathered the controversy over for-profit institutions and their reliance on government supplied student aid quite well.  For profit adversaries have praised Walden for targeting their recruitment at students who already had significant experience in the fields in which they were seeking degrees.  Walden also has a reputation for having a very low loan default rate compared to other for-profit institutions.  It also boasts a high student satisfaction rating (88%).

Walden University is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission in addition to the North Central Association of Colleges and schools and has been since 1990.

Degree Programs Offered

Since its inception, Walden has remained committed to those seeking graduate degrees in the area of education.  They’ve expanded their degree programs as well and now offer baccalaureate, master’s, and doctoral degrees in a wide variety of areas in the following schools:

Richard W. Riley College of Education and Leadership

The College of Education offers 24 degrees, including PhD, EdD, and EdS programs, Master’s of Arts and Science programs, as well as two bachelor’s programs (BS in Child Development and BS in Instructional Design and Technology).

College of Management and Technology

This college also offers a variety of baccalaureate, master’s, and doctoral degrees.  In the area of Leadership, they offer a DBA program and a PHD in Management program in addition to an MBA and several other business-related master’s programs (finance, human resources, marketing to name a few), as well as bachelor’s degrees in accounting, business administration, and communications.  They offer 11 graduate certifications as well.

In the realm of technology, this college offers a DIT program, two master’s programs (Master of Information Systems Management and Master of Information Technology),  two bachelor’s programs, and a graduate certification in information systems.

College of Health Sciences

The College of Health Sciences houses a large nursing program in addition to several doctoral, master’s, and bachelor’s degree programs in the areas of public health, health education and promotion, health services, and healthcare management.  They also offer graduate certifications in clinical research management and public health.

College of Social and Behavioral Sciences

This college is comprised of the School of Counseling, the School of Psychology, the School of Public Policy and Administration, and the School of Social Work and Human Services.  Each school offers programs in a wide variety of sub-disciplines and degree levels.

College of Undergraduate Studies

The College of Undergraduate Studies offers 18 bachelor of science programs in the areas described above including a BSN degree and a BS in Interdisciplinary Studies.

Faculty Information

As Walden University was founded as a graduate degree granting institution, and largely remains as such today, they heavily recruit doctoral degreed instructors to teach their classes.  They pride themselves not only on reviewing an applicants academic credentials, but also on their emphasis on their faculty’s scholarly contributions to their field of study and real-world practical experience.  Walden University requires a strong record of academic and scholarly contribution from its faculty candidates and explicitly lists publications, public engagements, and research in their job requirements.  Walden also hires master’s level faculty to teach in its baccalaureate and certification programs, but demands evidence of scholarly achievement and teaching experience at this level as well.

Walden University makes strong efforts to stay engaged with their faculty members despite its large, global reach and offers 5 honor awards to its faculty for excellence in teaching, mentorship, and scholarly contribution.

Walden adheres to the scholar-practitioner model of education and emphasizes student involvement and engagement in the learning process. They seek to turn out graduates that know how to bridge the gap between research and practice.

Be sure to check out our Walden University listings regularly, especially if you teach in the areas of education, leadership/business, nursing, psychology, and information technology.  If you have any questions or comments about this school, please leave them below!  And, as always, we wish you the best in your job search!

 

Source:  Walden University website

Posted by & filed under Job Listings.

Each week we will summarize all the adjunct jobs we’ve added to AdjunctWorld during the week for easy reference.  If you’d like to be notified moments after we post new jobs, please LIKE our facebook page or follow us on twitter.

So, without further ado, this week we posted 30 new Online Adjunct jobs on AdjunctWorld from 10 different schools. Currently there are a total of 1,959 Online Adjunct jobs listed there.  Click below to see a selection of these recently posted jobs:

 

14 Online positions – Walden University

4 Online positions – Study.com

3 Online positions – The Chicago School of Professional Psychology

AdjunctWorld’s latest 10 Online Adjunct positions

 

…as well as online adjunct positions at Bay Path University, ECPI University, Mojave Community College, The University of Arizona, Touro University Worldwide, UCLA Extension, and University of Maryland University College.

 

Personalized Daily Job Alerts

Would you like to be alerted to the jobs in your discipline(s) right after they are posted on AdjunctWorld, rather than waiting for this weekly summary, or watching for our facebook & twitter posts?  Over the past week we’ve sent out hundreds of daily job alert emails to Premium AdjunctWorld Members.  Click here for a description of all of the Premium Membership benefits and how to subscribe.

 

Thanks! for being a part of the AdjunctWorld Community.

Posted by & filed under Online Teaching Resources.

If you have signed on to teach an online class that is set to begin in the next week or so, you will probably be teaching over the holiday break.  Typically, online programs observe a traditional university break – at least two weeks spanning Christmas and New Years weeks.  The school will probably let students know in a mass email about the holiday schedule.  However, here are a few things you can do to make the break in the term a bit more manageable for you and your online students.

  1. Remind them again, early and often.  Yes, the school will send a reminder and students should calendar themselves, but since online students are separated in space and time from you and the larger university, its fair to throw in reminders.  I’d say once at course start (perhaps even in your welcome email) and once a week before the break, maybe in a post to the announcements thread.  It should also be mentioned in your syllabus or course calendar.
  2. Clarify that you are taking a break, too.  If students are taking two weeks off with no participation or log in requirements, the same goes for you.  Tell students that you will not be looking at the forums or maybe even responding to emails during the break period.
  3. Don’t expect that a break means more time to work. A break is just that – a break.  Its tempting to assign a big project over the break assuming students will have more time to work on it.  This is not completely empathetic to the needs of the adult online learner and undermines the idea of a true holiday break.  
  4. Welcome students back.  A break is a break, but likewise, when its time to come back to class its time to come back.  Before class adjourns for the holiday make it clear when class will resume.  Send out a reminder the say before class is to start, welcoming them back to class and outlining that expectations for participation to begin the next day.

We at AdjunctWorld wish you a happy winter term.  Enjoy the computer-free time!  If you have any other suggestions for making the holiday break smooth for both online instructors and students, please comment below!

Posted by & filed under Job Listings.

Each week we will summarize all the adjunct jobs we’ve added to AdjunctWorld during the week for easy reference.  If you’d like to be notified moments after we post new jobs, please LIKE our facebook page or follow us on twitter.

So, without further ado, this week we posted 26 new Online Adjunctt jobs on AdjunctWorld from 9 different schools. Currently there are a total of 1,921 Online Adjunct jobs listed there.  Click below to see a selection of these recently posted jobs:

 

8 Online positions – Caldwell University

4 Online positions – Colorado Technical University

4 Online positions – St. Thomas University

AdjunctWorld’s latest 10 Online Adjunct positions

 

…as well as online adjunct positions at Concordia College of New York, Mary Baldwin College, Maryville University of Saint Louis, St. Leo University, Walden University, and Western Governors University.

 

Personalized Daily Job Alerts

Would you like to be alerted to the jobs in your discipline(s) right after they are posted on AdjunctWorld, rather than waiting for this weekly summary, or watching for our facebook & twitter posts?  Over the past week we’ve sent out hundreds of daily job alert emails to Premium AdjunctWorld Members.  Click here for a description of all of the Premium Membership benefits and how to subscribe.

 

Thanks! for being a part of the AdjunctWorld Community.

Posted by & filed under Online Teaching Resources.

There are a variety of options for online classroom assignments, each assessing a different level of student learning (see Bloom’s Taxonomy for more information on these levels).  Quizzes and tests assess student knowledge and comprehension.  Discussion board assignments give students a chance to show their analysis and application skills.  Longer written assignments, like essays and presentations best capture higher levels of learning, or their synthesis and evaluation capabilities.

Since presentations are so heavily associated with face-to-face communication, and therefore perhaps less associated with the online classroom, I thought I’d list a few of the benefits of assigning presentations to your online students.

  1. Opportunity for extemporaneous discussion.  Nothing demonstrates a student’s knowledge and critical thinking ability more than extemporaneous conversation.  True, presentations are prepared, but there is at least an opportunity for a dialogue back and forth that is unplanned and that illustrates a student’s deep understanding of a topic and the ability to synthesize the big picture.  This is harder to do online than in the traditional classroom, but there are ways to have students deliver virtual presentations that offer real time Q&A.  Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Adobe Connect, GoToMeeting, and Skype are options.
  2. Gets to the gist.  Students read a lot in the online classroom.  They write a lot.  They watch a lot of videos.  Presentations, especially the bullet pointed slide components of them, allow students to synthesize the gist of all of that information and, in doing so, they show the instructor that they aren’t lost in the weeds.  That they “get it”.  They show you they are listening and know how to listen to the song, so to speak, and not just the drums, the guitar, and the voice depending on which is louder.
  3. They are fun and less intimidating.  While an instructor may still require speaker notes to be cited, referenced, and formatted just like essays, the presentation as an assignment medium can be less intimidating and perhaps more fun than a traditional writing assignment.  Although they are just as complex as essays, they tend to be more approachable and students can have fun talking about their topic creatively, with photos, video clips, jokes, and sidebars.  And, use of all of those devices goes back to point number two – if a student can select a relevant video, tell an appropriately related joke, or chose an image that captures a big idea, he or she is showing you that they have indeed synthesized the gist.
  4. They are interesting to read and fun to grade.  There are three audiences for the presentation assignment:  The student doing the assignment, the rest of the class (if you choose to have the assignment posted publicly), and the instructor.  For the other students in the class, presentations provide an approachable, easy opportunity to see what other students have uncovered in their research (having them read each other’s essays, in other words, wouldn’t be as palatable).  As instructors, it is more fun and engaging to watch, listen to, or read presentations if not simply because of the entertainment value.  Just hearing a student’s voice in a voiceover is a welcome departure from reading, reading, reading.

What are some other benefits of the presentation assignment in the online classroom?  What are some of the technologies and methods you’ve used to help distance learners present their ideas dynamically in the virtual environment?  Please comment below!

Posted by & filed under Job Listings.

Each week we will summarize all the adjunct jobs we’ve added to AdjunctWorld during the week for easy reference.  If you’d like to be notified moments after we post new jobs, please LIKE our facebook page or follow us on twitter.

So, without further ado, this week we posted 39 new Online, On-Campus, and Hybrid Adjunct jobs on AdjunctWorld from 12 different schools. Currently there are a total of 1,978 Online Adjunct jobs listed there.  Click below to see a selection of these recently posted jobs:

 

14 Online positions – Eastern Gateway Community College

8 Online positions – Study.com

7 Online positions – AIU Online 

AdjunctWorld’s latest 10 Online Adjunct positions

 

…as well as online adjunct positions at California Baptist University, The Chicago School of Professional Psychology, Florida Keys Community College, Indiana Wesleyan University, Lesley University, Miami University, Stratford University, University of Northwestern Ohio, and Vatterott Educational Centers.  

 

Personalized Daily Job Alerts

Would you like to be alerted to the jobs in your discipline(s) right after they are posted on AdjunctWorld, rather than waiting for this weekly summary, or watching for our facebook & twitter posts?  Over the past week we’ve sent out hundreds of daily job alert emails to Premium AdjunctWorld Members.  Click here for a description of all of the Premium Membership benefits and how to subscribe.

 

Thanks! for being a part of the AdjunctWorld Community.

Posted by & filed under Job Listings.

Each week we will summarize all the adjunct jobs we’ve added to AdjunctWorld during the week for easy reference.  If you’d like to be notified moments after we post new jobs, please LIKE our facebook page or follow us on twitter.

So, without further ado, this week we posted 67 new Online Adjunct jobs on AdjunctWorld from 12 different schools. Currently there are a total of 1,902 Online Adjunct jobs listed there.  Click below to see a selection of these recently posted jobs:

 

45 Online positions – Minerva Schools at KGI

(Instructor and SME positions in the areas of Social Science, Natural & Earth Science, Arts & Humanities, Business, and Computer Science)

6 Online positions – Walden University

5 Online positions – Western Governors University

AdjunctWorld’s latest 10 Online Adjunct positions

 

…as well as online adjunct positions at Bryant & Stratton College, Concordia College of New York, Herzing University, LIM College, Northwestern College, Rowan University, University of Maryland University College, Washington State University, and Western International University.  

 

Personalized Daily Job Alerts

Would you like to be alerted to the jobs in your discipline(s) right after they are posted on AdjunctWorld, rather than waiting for this weekly summary, or watching for our facebook & twitter posts?  Over the past week we’ve sent out hundreds of daily job alert emails to Premium AdjunctWorld Members.  Click here for a description of all of the Premium Membership benefits and how to subscribe.

 

Thanks! for being a part of the AdjunctWorld Community.

Posted by & filed under Online Teaching Resources.

Untitled 3I’m just finishing grading essays for the online History of Psychology class I am teaching and am again struck by the students’ tendency to stick with a Google search when conducting research rather than go to the rich, online academic journal database the university provides for them.

Access to hundreds of online academic journals is one of the biggest perks of being a college student.  With just a few clicks students have access to full text versions of just about any academic journal article they want, yet students often neglect this opportunity in favor for a quick Google query.

An important part of the college experience, and indeed one that prepares undergraduates for graduate school, is learning how to conduct higher-caliber academic research and integrate that research to make one’s own supported arguments.  But, with how easy it is to conduct a quick web search, this appears to be a dying art (perhaps among academics too, which is scary!).  How can we inspire students to avoid Wikipedia and Google and build stronger research skills by going to the virtual stacks?

Make it a Requirement

This sounds simple enough, but will intimidate new learners.  Which is why numbers two and three are important.

Show Them How

If knowing how to conduct quality research is either a formal or informal learning objective in your class, then it is worth spending time teaching students how to use the stacks.  Write or record a tutorial or conduct a synchronous session where you show students how to use the university’s library page and, in particular, the online journal databases.

Point Them to Resources

The school’s library team may already have a tutorial available, or a help desk that gives students direction.  Provide the contact information or link for this service in your classroom.

Reward and Encourage Effort

If you read a student’s paper and they have made good efforts at using academic resources, make note of it in your feedback and make it clear that they getting a higher grade on their assignment for using this resource over another.

Direct Them to Google Scholar

If students are more comfortable with Google, they can find higher quality research here.  Once they develop this habit, the “stacks” might be more approachable.

Emphasize the Discussion Section

We tend to blossom into better readers of academic journal articles in graduate school.  But for undergrads, the articles themselves can be intimidating.  We can start slow and encourage students to focus on the discussion section of each article to get the main points.  This is a good place to start for them and provides them with more information than the article’s abstract will.

Highlight the Practical Benefits

More and better research gives way to more and better ideas.  This makes the writing process easier and, as an added bonus, it helps students reach that minimum word count.  That might provide some motivation!

I’d love to hear some of your ideas.  Please comment below with them!

Posted by & filed under Job Listings.

Each week we will summarize all the adjunct jobs we’ve added to AdjunctWorld during the week for easy reference.  If you’d like to be notified moments after we post new jobs, please LIKE our facebook page or follow us on twitter.

So, without further ado, this week we posted 21 new Online Adjunct jobs on AdjunctWorld from 7 different schools. Currently there are a total of 1,841 Online Adjunct jobs listed there.  Click below to see a selection of these recently posted jobs:

 

11 Online positions – Western Governors University

4 Online positions – Grand Canyon University

2 Online positions – Pearson Embanet

 

AdjunctWorld’s latest 10 Online Adjunct positions

 

…as well as online adjunct positions at Aspen University, Judson College, Stratford University, and Study.com.

 

Personalized Daily Job Alerts

Would you like to be alerted to the jobs in your discipline(s) right after they are posted on AdjunctWorld, rather than waiting for this weekly summary, or watching for our facebook & twitter posts?  Over the past week we’ve sent out hundreds of daily job alert emails to Premium AdjunctWorld Members.  Click here for a description of all of the Premium Membership benefits and how to subscribe.

 

Thanks! for being a part of the AdjunctWorld Community.