Michy
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KSURF E-learning
Compensation: Varies, depending on subject matter, quality, length, and other considerations. Typically, we offer a flat payment of $125-350 or a
royalty based on net enrollment fees. If you write and also teach the course, we offer additional incentives.
Writing lessons.
I don't know anything about them - so please keep me posted if you decide to write for them.
http://ksurf.net/vu/guidelines.html
Love and stuff,
Michy
~~Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations~~
Do just once what others say you can't do, and you will never pay attention to their limitations again." James R. Cook
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sharkbytes
Master Writer
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Now THIS is great. I just submitted a proposal to teach an overview of the Animal Kingdom, fall 2010. Taught it at the community college a couple of
years ago... why let a great lesson plan go to waste, eh? All I had to do was break my existing lecture plans into smaller chunks and type it in!
I'll let you know what they say. They claim they will provide a response as to their interest within 72 hours.
What I couldn't find was what it really means to "teach" the class... how much time one has to be available on line, what kinds of interaction with
students is required, etc.
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sharkbytes
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Just got this (and more) back!
"Thank you for giving us an opportunity to review your proposed course "Introduction to the Animal Kingdom." This course would likely appeal to our
learners at KSURF as we have had many requests for Biology courses. Traditionally, many of our learners have been Baby Boomer age but we are also
interested in attracting a Gen X/Y audience in their 20s to 30s. About 75% of our learners reside in the U.S."
blah, blah
"KSURF pays $125-350 for courses, payable on acceptance of the finished project. Payment depends on popularity of the topic, length and quality of the
course, and other editorial considerations. If you write and also teach the class, you may instead choose to receive a continuing royalty of up to
25% of net enrollment fees for as long as you teach the course. Payment details will be negotiated upon our preliminary approval of the first
lesson."
So... they want me to submit a first lesson, and then they make a final decision.
If this works out, I will be sosososososo happy, Michy!
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Mystress Gaia
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Congrats Joan! 
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sharkbytes
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I'm SO excited about this. Trying to temper that with concerns about the fact that I can find NOTHING about what my responsibilities as a teacher
will be. But I suppose if I don't like the contract I don't have to agree, eh?
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sharkbytes
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She sent me another note. They are working on writing a teacher's guide. Mostly the teaching means answering questions students may have via email.
The lesson length is VERY flexible. I get the impression that they offer both very short courses and more academic ones. Of course this isn't a "real"
college. It's more like continuing education programs.
She sounds pretty eager to see my first plan. I'll need to work on that this week. When I taught this it was all with power points, but I also did
outline handouts for the students, so I'm thinking I can adapt that without too much trouble.
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Michy
Boss(y) Lady / Site Owner / Admin
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Congrats, Joan! I"m excited for you!
Love and stuff,
Michy
~~Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations~~
Do just once what others say you can't do, and you will never pay attention to their limitations again." James R. Cook
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Morecoffee
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Wow, what a great opportunity for you, Joan! Congratulations and good luck. 
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justkat73
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I just sent them a message with a variety of questions. I'm too chicken to apply to print publishers for lesson plans so this is right up my alley!
Omg...if I could publish a curriculum AND teach it...heaven!
Joan, for the record I have quite a few science lesson plans over at BH that you are welcome to modify and incorporte into yours if you like. I don't
think that would be my focus over there anyhow
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Lindsay M
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How wonderful, Joan! What an exciting opportunity!
This sounds like a lot of fun, it's making me wish I had some experience that I could turn into an online class.
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justkat73
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I just thought of something. In the course we write, we can use the textbooks we want. So, for those that have written things like Ebooks on how to
make money online or something, they could use that ebook as the reading for a course on the same topic. Very interesting!
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Theresa
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Wow, that sounds great!!!
I have experience in teaching languages and would like to submit something to them ... however, I'm not sure what exactly a lesson plan should look
like ... can someone of you maybe send me a sample page of yours? (Don't worry, I won't be teaching biology ... )
Joan, congrats!!! *keeping fingers crossed for you*
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sharkbytes
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There is a link from the guideline page to one of their lessons. It's about handling finances... but you can see what format they want.
I could not get a clear answer as to what length each lesson should be. They say they are flexible. However, I found in another place where students
are expected to put in 3-4 hours/ week on reading the course materials and doing homework, so I'm trying to tailor the lesson to that length.
I'm trying to get the first one done today, the one they want for review to decide if they will really offer me the course. I need to have an answer
on whether this will be a go for fall before I begin the summer's hiking madness.
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Theresa
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Ah, ok, I haven't seen that yet ... thanks, Joan. I'll have a close look at the page after I'll have brought my boyfriend to the station later this
evening.
Wish you luck with your course!!!
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justkat73
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I don't know if I missed it or what, but how long are the course supposed to last. I mean..do we have any ideaof how many hours worth of work they
want per class? I'd like to know if it is supposed to be an 8 wk , 2 wk, 12 wk course? That could make a huge difference.
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sharkbytes
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The classes are generally 8 weeks. Students work at their own pace but with suggested deadlines, and are expected to put in 3-4 hours per week. There
is a discussion board for each class where they post their homework (one assignment per lesson, and a 10 question quiz). There is a final exam of 100-
250 multiple choice questions. They must take that before the course time is up.
The teacher monitors the discussion board and answers student questions.
All of this is just my best estimate based on reading the site and one answer from the lady I've been emailing. She did also say that some courses
might be longer, but there are none in the catalog longer than 8 weeks.
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justkat73
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So they want 8 lesson plans for a minimum of $125. That's a little over $15 a lesson plan...at the minmum. I have a couple of ideas, but I need to
polish them up first. I don't think I'm going to try for an acedmic subject unless they are really dying for them.
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Mystress Gaia
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I taught a teen art class briefly but didn't have anything written out for it. We did discuss a lot of art history though. I wonder if I could create
a lesson plan for this website. However, I was a volunteer teacher not accredited or with a degree. I wonder if that matters.... hmmm...
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Theresa
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Well, seems we have quite a few teachers in this forum
Good luck to you all!
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sharkbytes
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Teaching degree does not matter. It never came up. I did teach the bio at a community college (you don't need teaching degrees to teach at colleges,
either). They do ask you why you think you are qualified. I haven't quite finished my plan for Lesson 1. I Really needed to get it done yesterday,
because today is nuts, but o well... I'm almost there.
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sharkbytes
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OK, I just sent off lesson 1. It took a lot of time, even though I already had this material in outline form. I think I would need to go with the
long-term 25% royalty to get a real return on the time. Of course that depends on the enrollment too.
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Theresa
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*fingers crossed*
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sharkbytes
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Thanks!
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justkat73
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Good luck Joan. I was wondering which route would be the best as well. I actually still haven't heard back from them, but I just submitted a message
with questions, not a proposal or anything. I'm interested to see how that works out for you.
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sharkbytes
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They answered me promptly with original questions. Hope they do the same for you. I'm still waiting on the actual lesson review.
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andisaid
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Best of luck, Joan with this adventure. It sounds neat
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sharkbytes
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I was getting worried... but I just got this:
"I spent the weekend reading your first lesson and it looks great! I have submitted your materials to our managing editor for his review and comments
and I should hear something from him before the end of the week."
Whew!!!! And a cautious Whoopie!
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sharkbytes
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Well, now for a dose of reality. KSURF finally got back to me. They like the lesson plan with some tweaks. They want me to find a whole bunch of
legal-to-use photos. I can't use the ones that I did when I taught the course, because for those lessons it was ok to use most any graphics for
educational purposes in an accredited college. KSURF isn't one of those.
Here's the bad news. Once again, there isn't much of any way to recoup my time investment. If I sell the material to them it might be at the high end
of their scale since it's an academic course. That would be $350. (But at a possible 60 hours of prep that's less than $6 an hour.) If I choose to
teach it and take the 25% commission, it will take forever and who knows how much time to make enough to cover the amount of work.
I asked how many people usually enroll in classes. Here's the answer: for Computer Classes about 100 per offering. For writing courses- 50, self
improvement 10-25, and academic classes "a handful."
People can sign up at the first of every month. So let's say an average of 5 people sign up a month. Let's be wildly optimistic and say that this is a
course KSURF will charge $15 for. That's $75 a month, of which I would get $18.75. Hmmm. This is not looking as exciting as it was.
I spent about 4 hours getting that first lesson plan in order for them, and they want it massaged even more.
I'm leaving for the first hike of the summer in 6 days, and will then have almost no time until the end of August, so I don't see me getting another
15 lessons done right away.
There MUST be a way to use the things I know something about to make enough money to live on. It's so depressing. I have so much education that I
can't get hired at places like Wal-Mart and Burger King, even if I were willing to stay home and keep a job. (I've applied at a bunch of them)
I thought I had it made when the community college hired me as an adjunct professor a couple of years ago, but that didn't work out... long story- I
think I got shafted, but keep trying to find their point of view in the whole fiasco.
Well, back to KSURF... I'll have to decide what to do. But when they hear that I can't even do the other lessons for months they may not be so excited
either.
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