Being an online instructor had been my dream for a long time. Having seen and heard from others on the advantages and gains of working as an instructor, I had my eyes set on becoming the best online instructor possible. Higher education has been the most sought after level of education over the last decade since it opens up opportunities for many students to face the employment scene. This was the reason that drove me into pursuing studies to become an online instructor.
An online instructor has the task of passing information and knowledge to other people through the internet. This is a deviation from the much known class setup. The classical teaching setup, the instructors teach their students in a classroom or a lecture hall. An online instructor has to have the ability to teach people without having the personal touch that other lecturers have with their students (Berg & Boettcher, 2009). The course that I am taking prepares one to have the ability to instill knowledge on others through the online classes. This has been an interesting experience for me as a student since all I thought about being an online instructor was tested. The syllabus taught in class has been very informative and educative and it has opened my eyes to the prospects of developing a career as an online instructor.
The syllabus taught in class has been on point for the preparation of the students to face the professional scene. Having my career goal from the very beginning of my search for a profession has been a positive impact for me. This is because I have exposure to the real life experiences that I will face in the real work place. These have given me the advantage to have an upper hand in my quest to become an online instructor.
My career goal has changed since the time I joined training. This is because I have had the chance to see the real life career I will face if I became an online instructor. Some of the challenges have pushed me to make adjustments towards the decision to adjust my career goals. These include the fact that there are more people seeking to pursue education in a typical classroom rather than have online classes. This means that the classroom setup is still preferred over online studies. For this reason, I feel that I have to be able to teach both online and face-to-face studies. Thus, I have had to broaden my studies to cover both forms of teaching to give me an edge in the work place.
The future of online instructors is still bright since there are more people today who lack the resources to attend typical classroom situations. This is the reason that keeps me positive in knowing that I still have the chance to pursue my dream career. Higher education needs keep growing and it is not possible to have all students afford the money to pay the high fees to enable them attend classes (Palloff, 2011). This leaves the chance and opportunity for us as online instructors to get clients to instruct online. The future is bright for trained instructors since the demand is steadily growing across the world and especially within the numerous developing countries.
I hope that in the near future I will have gained the necessary experience to enable me to take on many students over many subjects and topics. I hope to join hands with other well-trained online instructors to come up with a comprehensive central point for students to access our services. This will be well organized and maintained and in a couple of years would grow to become a one-stop shop for any instructors and students. To get me there I hope to get an instructors job after school to give me the chance to gain the experience and the money to sustain myself. The future is bright for the online instructors who exhibit diligence, patience and for those who work hard. Online instructors have to keep on updating themselves with the new trends and adjust to the needs of the newer generation.
References
Berg, G. & Boettcher, J. (2009). Encyclopedia of distance learning. Hershey, PA: Information Science Reference.
Palloff, R. (2011). The excellent online Instructor : strategies for professional development. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.