The coronavirus upended teaching as we know it, forcing us almost overnight to re-evaluate every lesson plan we had in place to look at how we could adapt it to distance learning through virtual classrooms.
Quick as a flash, the teachers become the students. Crash courses on digital learning, eLearning, virtual classrooms, Zoom, Skype, and every other technical product, gadget, and resource available. Never mind the fact that every time we try to use some jazzy video projector screen in class, it inevitably goes wrong. Or maybe that’s just me?
Anyway, a crash course on HOW to deliver online?
Check. Kind of!
On to the next dilemma – WHAT to deliver online?
The meticulous lesson plans you put in place at the beginning of the term, year, week (or the night before for some)? Those became redundant overnight along with half the resources with it.
Hmm…what now? Well, it’s no small wonder that many turned to the internet for help. Teachers Pay Teachers (TPT), where teachers share, sell, and buy educational resources in digital and downloadable format saw searches for distance learning increased by 1400% in mid-March 2020, according to TPT data.
The weekly spend per buyer also increased by 20% from mid-March, so it’s fair to say that COVID-19 has definitely driven people to use services like TPT to support their teaching and to fill an immediate – WHAT AM I GOING TO DO – need.
Yet, as time has gone on, we have become more familiar with online teaching, we’ve worked out what engages our students and what doesn’t, what makes them tick and now we’re getting the chance to integrate both the virtual and the classroom-based learning again.
So, it’s been an uphill struggle to adapt (to put it mildly!), and for many teachers, the resources from sites like TPT have literally kept their students going while they transitioned into distance learning.
But what about now? Are we all whizzes in creating resources for digital learning? Have we mastered the PowerPoint sharing process on Zoom? Well, I’m guessing that most of us are somewhere in the middle with the odd gem of a resource that you have developed and the odd treasure that you found on a site such as TPT, which leads me to question the impact COVID-19 has had on educational resource sites and teachers selling and buying resources.
Let’s start with the buying of resources on TPT
Well, the stat of 1400% increase on searches for digital learning on TPT mid-March says it all. Teachers were tasked with coming up with new resources, literally overnight to keep their classes and lessons going, while trying to wrap their head around headphones, cameras, apps, platforms, and the rest. Well, quite frankly, there’s no point in spending time creating resources if you can’t master the use of the system you are meant to be sharing it on, so time was well spent learning the new ropes of the system while frantically carrying out searches for suitable resources that can be taught online tomorrow.
For some online educational resource sites offered a little respite in a manic moment to let you breathe and believe that you might just get through the next day’s teaching until you found your feet with the process and developed new resources or adapted existing ones to fit your students and curriculum.
For others, they became the all singing and all dancing heroes, removing the need to ever rack your brains creating new resources again, why re-invent the wheel they say, when I can buy it off the shelf?
What Are the Pros and Cons of Buying Resources Online?
Well, let’s start with the pros:
- The resources are designed and created by teachers and educators.
- They give teachers the chance to share best practice to support students
- There are lots of free resources as well as paid ones
And how about the cons:
- Not all resources are created equal, so some will be better than others.
- There’s concern over the legalities of copyright infringement and repackaging products.
- Do teachers plug a square peg in a round hole with ‘that’ll do’ resources? Or create ones that are entirely fit for the purpose of creating a better learning experience?
And then there’s the other side of the coin…
Selling Resources on TPT
Here’s a quick tour of how it works:
- You create an account as a seller and share and sell your original teaching resources. You decide on the price and you upload and sell the products.
- Fees and Payment
You can either set up an account for free as a Basic Seller, and you get 55% of sales
OR
you can set up as a premium seller, which costs $59.95 annually and you get 80% of sales. - Payment is made monthly through PayPal. There you go, simple as that.
Simple is also the reason that everyone has jumped on the bandwagon. With newfound digital learning resources ready, people flocked to make an extra buck on the side.
Who can blame them? They’ve created new resources, right? They’ve got new skills they’re proud of, and everyone is desperately trying to make a buck. The need to support a family who is losing their jobs left, right, and center.
And therein lies the problem. This is a double-edged sword. Some people join sites like TPT because they are genuinely good at creating resources. They want to share lessons that they believe will work for other teachers. And hey, if it tops up the bank account too, then why not? Others, however, haven’t really thought about the quality of the resource, just the opportunity to make money. This can lead to far too many sellers and resources online, with no way to assess how valuable they are, how much care has been taken in their creation, and how successful they will be for your students.
There’s also the additional concern, that some looking to make a quick buck are using the resources of others rather than their own creations, which is a whole other ballgame I’m not going into.
Is TPT at the boom or bust stage?
Well, I’d go as far as to say it is certainly not at the bust stage and is very much still in use and providing a valuable service as a Teacher to Teacher resource.
BUT, and it’s a big BUT, it is worth noting that the seller numbers have skyrocketed and I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again, not all resources, teachers, and sellers are created equal.
So do your homework (pun intended!)
If you’re buying – look into what’s available and be sure it’s well-structured, well-developed, and fit for purpose.
If you’re selling – well don’t quit the day job straight away! Competition is tough on these markets, however, teachers know good resources, so if you have that little gem or treasure, or you excel in creating engaging resources that grab the learner – then go for it, it’s easy and simple to get going.
A basic seller account is free, so think of it as a free way to test the water… and if you get a bite, well that’s the starting point to great reviews, repeat customers, and more interest. At that point you might consider the premium account, the payout is bigger (it shifts from 55% to 80% of your sales). Seriously, some people make real cash on sites like this, there are 6 and 7 figure sellers out there, and all for an outlay that works out at 16 cents per day….so if you’re looking at becoming a teacherpreneur – the TPT basic account to kick off is definitely worth consideration!
References:
TPT Data and Stats: https://mashable.com/article/covid-lesson-plan-marketplace-boom/?europe=true
