An Honest Outschool Teacher Review from a Top Earning Teacher

I started working for Outschool in November 2017. I had two class offerings. One was a middle school essay writing course and the other was an art class. My middle school essay course was based on tutoring classes I provided for my private students.  The art class was developed from a summer art program that I used to run.  The middle school class was to meet once a week for four weeks.  The art class met twice a week for the same four weeks.  I no longer teach that art class. One reason, I didn’t want to keep buying supplies and making the same art projects every month.  Plus, my middle school essay writing class took off.  It wasn’t immediate.  My very first essay writing class on Outschool one learner. In the second go-round, I had two learners.   Some new teachers cancel classes with 1-2 learners because it doesn’t meet their class size.  I always tell new teachers not to cancel classes.   It may not seem lucrative to teach a class where you might essentially be making $7 for your time but it allows you to practice, you get familiar with Zoom, and you can determine what changes you need to make to the class.

When I taught that class with just one learner it turned out that his father ran a homeschool co-op. The next month he enrolled every single student in my class.  This was before Outschool started advertising small class sizes.  I was also featured on a mommy blogger’s website that I didn’t know about until another parent had told me. Since I have worked for multiple online platforms, including my own private website, I’ve come to learn that no matter how great the platform is there’s always going to be changes.  As an independent contractor, one always has to be prepared for those changes.  As I’ve seen many independent contractors state, you never want to put all your eggs in one basket. Plainly stated, you could have employment today, and none tomorrow if the company you’re working for decides to change policies or let you go for not following their policies. Around March, when news of COVID started to spread, the online learning world experienced these changes too. Parents were, and still are, looking for alternatives for their children. They’re hoping to catch them up, they want to make sure that they’re not behind when schools may or may not open again in the fall, and they were looking for alternatives for the “just in case” scenarios. Due to this large influx of new families, there was also a surge in the hiring of new teachers.These new teachers have lots of questions.  They wanted to know more about the platform and how they can be successful on the platform. Before I get into my two and a half years of experience teaching on Outschool I want to make it very clear that Outschool provides training for new teachers. When I started, there was no training, there were a few blog articles and posts.  There were live meetings were teacher could discuss their ideas and share and learn from one another. In this sense, Outschool has grown tremendously in ways that support their teachers which in turn provides quality learning to families.Now, there are teacher mentors, training, cohorts, and modules for further training.  There are several Facebook groups as well.  Outschool is definitely making the effort to ensure that new teachers and current teachers are successful on the platform.

Some Changes:

• Outschool cut was increased
• Teacher training has been added
• More detail is given to course approval
• More effective communication between teachers, parents, and learners
• Organizations have been able to join with groups of teachers which drives more traffic to the site

Is Outschool a Scam?

The other thing I want to address it that Outschool is not a scam, it is a legit company. There are no startup costs unless you need a device to teach from. You do not have to work for Outschool to refer teachers and you also don’t, and shouldn’t be, paying anyone to get you hired.  No one at Outschool can pay to get you hired, and you shouldn’t have to split a referral bonus.Finally, I want to mention that mentors are not required. If you come across someone who is attempting to recruit or telling you how to get the hints, tips, and tricks to get hired, there are none. Of course, there are tips that you can take on how to create a great video application but when it comes to developing your classes that’s something that you have to be able to do.Lying on your application about your experience or suggesting “great classes” that you have no intention to teach will not benefit you on the platform. It is understandable, not everyone is a traditionally trained teacher, and creating a lesson plan, building a curriculum, or making a class presentation can be intimidating, but falsifying your application won’t help.  You can ask for help when it comes to developing courses, that’s perfectly fine.  You just don’t want to take someone else’s work and pass it off as your own.I just want to make sure this is very clear that training is provided by Outschool at no cost.

My Honest Review About Working on Outschool.

When I first started Outschool’s cut was 17%. Within a couple of months, after I started, it increased to 30%. Prior to the increase, I did receive an email and survey asking if I thought the increase was fair. I didn’t have any issues with the increase because my classes were full, they do all the marketing, they handle things on the backend that takes up more than my instructional teaching time. Offering my courses on Outschool allows me to teach my classes, still have time to develop new courses, and work on my consultation business.If I had to air out my issues, I only have two. One of which has been resolved. During the start of COVID, the response time from support slowed down.  However, there was constant communication regarding the changes being made to ensure faster response times. Outschool immediately started hiring people to help with technical issues, processing applications, responding to inquiries, all while developing and providing mentor training for new teachers.They make sure they listen to the teachers, who are only independent contractors that work for their platform. They’ve sent out surveys, they make posts asking what they can do to improve, and I’ve been invited to a few Zoom meetings to discuss some of the changes that I think they could make.Do all the changes get made when I want them to, of course not. If I could expedite one change, it would be the learning management system. Right now the communication with the learners and the parents could use some improvements especially when it comes to submitting and receiving work and assignments.The one thing I can say about the platform is that when they make changes they keep the teachers in the loop. I work for other companies where they implement changes and the independent contractors find out the day of the change. The lack of notice isn’t the most efficient way to prepare teachers to start their workday. Being aware of what’s going to change allows me to make decisions about how I’m going to adjust. And, I can understand when a company has over 50,000 teachers who want to see changes.  It takes time to implement.

Some More of the Pros to Teaching on Outschool

Building relationships with the families When you love the work you do it’s especially touching when you have a learner who wants to return and has enjoyed your class. When parents reach out to me and tell me how much I’ve helped boost their child’s confidence or how much their writing has improved, it feels amazing!

Setting my own schedule

As an independent contractor, I get to set my own schedule. I’m not really a big fan of getting up early so none of my classes start before 10 AM. I typically take the summer off and only offer pre-recorded classes. In August I’m only teaching live classes on Tuesdays. Working for Outschool means I get to set the days and times that I want to work. Parents can make requests but it’s my choice to determine which days work best for my lifestyle.

Collecting the coins

The recommended pricing on Outschool is about $12/hour class.  I offer classes below this price range and above it.  My prices are dependent on the content and how much work is required outside of instructional time.Take my essay writing course for example. I charge $72/40 minute session and it meets for four weeks.  My maximum class size is 15.  This class is always fully booked.  After Outschool takes their 30%,  I earn $50.40/learner.  The reason I charge more for this class is due to the amount of work I do once the live session is over as I provide feedback on all submitted work.$50.40 x 15 = $756 for the four week course.  If I want to break that down hourly, it’s approximately, $189/meeting.  For my one time, no assignments classes (which means no outside of classwork on my end) I charge as little as $5-9 and make about $40-50/30 minute meeting.

More Pros:

• Online learning communities
• Great classes to enroll my daughter in
• Opportunities for virtual meetups with other teachers
• Opportunities to work as a teacher and as staff on Outschool
• Getting ideas from families about what types of classes they want to be offered

Don’t Do This If You Are New

One of the other major issues that I would point out is the use of other teacher’s intellectual property. When I sell my curriculum, a teacher can do with it as they please. They could even teach the class. That’s why I develop and sell it.  No teacher is going to match my enthusiasm or teaching style.Also, I recommend my students to other teachers. I think it’s important that they experience different types of teachers with different teaching styles who will give them feedback that’s not going to be the exact same as mine. I provide consultations and develop courses for homeschool families and teachers. The issue is when class descriptions are copied word-for-word and/or credit is given to the creator of the content.Of course, there are core classes that anyone could teach, even niche classes might have multiple teachers teaching the same topic. However, the idea is to come in and teach what you know and what you’re passionate about.   If you’re copying another teacher’s class description or attempting to sneak into their classes, which thankfully Zoom security and the usage of videos make it difficult, or you’re taking their class material, you won’t be successful. The good thing about that is Outschool is cracking down on copy/paste classes.

If You Need Help, Ask!

As a veteran teacher on the platform, I’m constantly getting messages from new teachers asking for help.  If you want assistance or you have a specific question it’s best that you start off with a greeting or a salutation.  If I get a message that just says, “Help,” it will absolutely be ignored. But, also be aware that Outschool provides free training, they have blogs and articles that show step-by-step what needs to be done to create classes, there’s information about copyright, they show you how to market to families, and they provide live training and webinars for new teachers.I would also tell new teachers to find what you’re passionate about to teach and don’t get discouraged if it takes a few weeks or even a few months to build a following. If you’re coming to Outschool thinking it’s a get rich quick scheme then you might not be successful because you’re there for the wrong reasons.And, I don’t want to say it’s the wrong reasons, we all need income. Just pace yourself and don’t compare yourself to what others are doing or how well they’re doing.  If I would have quit after my first month where I made a whopping $34 I wouldn’t be able to say that I now make over $10,000 a month working less than 20 hours a week on the platform (I do still have my other streams of income).If you want more basic information on how to become a virtual educator, on any platform, even your own, check out my ebook.If you’re interested in working on Outschool, feel free to use my referral link.  And remember, you do NOT have to pay anyone for training on the Outschool platform, you do NOT need a mentor to succeed, there is no mandatory requirements for having a mentor, and all training is provided for FREE.

If you are interested in teaching online and making it your business, but don’t know where or how to start, book a Clarity Call.

Even if you have started, but you need to gain some footing to build your business, a Clarity Call is a great place to start.