How Does EduGig Ed Tech Network Plan to Improve Education One-Gig-at-a-Time?
By focusing on companies who need educational expertise to develop useful educational products, resources, and tools…
Far too many edtech products are solutions in search of problems. Many edtech startup founders and developers acknowledge the need for more teacher voice and teacher involvement from the earliest stages of product development, but they have expressed difficulty in finding the right teachers for their products.
EduGig.com provides a platform where edtech companies, educational publishers, and resource developers can find teachers from all grade levels and all subject areas who are actively seeking involvement in short-term freelance opportunities focused on improving the products, resources, and tools being produced for use in their classrooms.
By focusing on innovative and creative teachers who want to be involved in creating or improving products, resources, and tools while continuing to work in the classroom…
Pulling great teachers out of the classroom to hire them full-time sounds like a great idea at first, but ultimately it results in the loss of experienced teachers in classrooms where they are most needed. EduGig.com focuses on and encourages more freelance opportunities for teachers so they can contribute to developing better tools and resources while they remain in the classroom — serving the students who need great teachers.
EduGig.com provides a win-win solution for teachers who seek supplemental income through engaging freelance opportunities and for companies, organizations, or individuals who need the expertise of experienced and innovative teachers on a short-term basis.
EduGig Ed Tech Network improves education by providing a platform where innovative companies & talented educators can collaborate to create better resources & tools while producing income & funding for teachers and classrooms.
FAQs for Freelancers
Visit Edugig.com/network to begin.
What services can I provide?
The range of services will vary depending on the clients that are on board at any given time. EduGig has been designed to provide flexibility in the types of services that can be listed and provided. The service categories are as listed:
- Curriculum or Instruction or Content Development
- Product Testing or Analysis and Feedback
- Consulting or Coaching or Advisory Board
- Tutoring or Teaching or Professional Development
- Other
We included “Other” to capture any additional services that may emerge as time goes on.
Here are some examples of freelance work provided by EduGig Educators over the past several years (prior to the launch of the EduGig.com platform):
- Manuscript Proposal Review — $50 – $75
- Manuscript review and feedback (during publishing) — $250
- Professional Development Module Development 1 hour in length — $500 per module
- Blog Post Writing — $15-$25
- User Testing & Feedback Call — $40-$60
- Interview & Survey of Working Demo of App — $40-$60
- Single Lesson Plan Development — $40
- Content Writing for eTextbook — $30-$75 (vary by length)
- Curriculum Writing/Development for 8 1-hour lesson plans — $200
- Phone Interview for Teacher Feedback — $20-$30
- Teacher Ambassador Month-to-Month Role — $150 per month
How much money can I make?
Gigs will vary from client to client, with smaller gigs around $10-$15 per service and larger gigs around $100 per service or priced per hour. As the freelancer you also have the ability to negotiate rates with the client when you apply for the gig. If you believe that the requested gig may take longer or may require more extensive research or work than anticipated you can explain this to the client and work to negotiate a more appropriate rate.
You also choose the projects or gigs that you want to apply for, which puts you in control of how often you work and how much money you can make.
EduGig provides a platform that makes it easier for clients and freelancers to find one another. Previously this type of freelance work for educators was much harder to locate and took more time on the freelancer’s part to find clients. Educators who have done this on their own, including the founders of EduGig, have reported annual income from “side gigs” from several hundred dollars to $20,000-$30,000 per year depending on the amount and type of work performed annually. We expect the same range of potential income through the EduGig platform — just minus the extra effort on the freelancer’s part to locate the clients. We will do that for you!
How much does it cost?
EduGig does have to keep the site up and running, but for now as we relaunch the platform we are making it completely FREE and open for everyone to register. At some point we may consider implementing a small registration fee, but if you register now you will have free lifetime access to the platform!
How much time will I need to invest?
You choose the projects or gigs that you want to work on, so how much time you invest is entirely up to you based on your own availability.
How do I price my service?
If you are new to providing freelance work outside of your full-time teaching position, this is an excellent question! We had the same questions when we first started providing freelance consulting work as well.
From our own experience as well as our conversations with other educators who do consulting work, we recommend that you start with your current annual salary and do an estimate of what you earn per hour at that salary. We have seen educators set hourly rates that range from $25 per hour up to (or over) $100 depending on the type of service they are providing, their level of experience and skill, and whether or not additional prep work or travel is involved.
You will also want to consider the fact that freelance work may be reported on a 1099 which will require paying additional self-employment taxes, so you will want to account for this in any rate that you set for your hourly work.
Finally, ask yourself exactly what value you provide in terms of your experience, knowledge, and skill. Does the rate at which you are pricing your services match this value?
How do I get paid?
EduGig provides the platform for networking and allowing educators and companies to find each other. We are not involved as a payment gateway between freelancers and hirers.
As you work on negotiating a fee with any hirer, you will also discuss how to get paid. Many freelancers prefer to share their Paypal or Venmo information to receive payment and some Ed Tech Companies will often also offer to send Visa or MC gift cards in the negotiated amount after the service has been provided.
FAQs for Hirers
Visit Edugig.com/network to begin.
What services can I request?
The range of services will vary depending on your needs. EduGig has been designed to provide flexibility in the types of services that can be listed and provided. The service categories are as listed:
- Curriculum or Instruction or Content Development
- Product Testing or Analysis and Feedback
- Consulting or Coaching or Advisory Board
- Tutoring or Teaching or Professional Development
- Other
We included “Other” to capture any additional services that may emerge as time goes on.
Here are some examples of freelance work provided by EduGig Educators over the past several years (prior to the launch of the EduGig.com platform):
- Manuscript Proposal Review — $50 – $75
- Manuscript review and feedback (during publishing) — $250
- Professional Development Module Development 1 hour in length — $500 per module
- Blog Post Writing — $15-$25
- User Testing & Feedback Call — $40-$60
- Interview & Survey of Working Demo of App — $40-$60
- Single Lesson Plan Development — $40
- Content Writing for eTextbook — $30-$75 (vary by length)
- Curriculum Writing/Development for 8 1-hour lesson plans — $200
- Phone Interview for Teacher Feedback — $20-$30
- Teacher Ambassador Month-to-Month Role — $150 per month
How much does it cost?
EduGig does have to keep the site up and running, but for now as we relaunch the platform we are making it completely FREE and open for everyone to register. At some point we may consider implementing a small registration fee, but if you register now you will have free lifetime access to the platform!
How do I price my service?
From our own experience as well as our conversations with other educators who do consulting work, most freelance educators start with their current annual salary and do an estimate of what they earn per hour at that salary as a baseline for setting their proposed hourly rates. We have seen educators set hourly rates that range from $25 per hour up to (or over) $100 depending on the type of service they are providing, their level of experience and skill, and whether or not additional prep work or travel is involved.
As the hirer you should consider exactly what value any teacher can provide in terms of their experience, knowledge, and skill. Does the rate at which you are pricing your requested services match this value?
How do we pay the freelancers?
EduGig provides the platform for networking and allowing educators and companies to find each other. We are not involved as a payment gateway between freelancers and hirers.
As you work on negotiating a fee with any freelancer, you will also discuss how to submit paid. Many freelancers prefer to share their Paypal or Venmo information to receive payment and some Ed Tech Companies will often also offer to send Visa or MC gift cards in the negotiated amount after the service has been provided.