What do YOU want?

So, I’ve been thinking a lot about this blog lately. I think it’s time for a redesign. I’d love to see a new look, but while I’m at it, how can I make it more useful?

I remember the year I started this blog. I had been freelancing for a year and had landed a job as a project editor for Harcourt’s Randstad division. I searched the Internet constantly for a resource that I could use to help me find freelance jobs focusing on education. Nothing. After a few months of this, I realized that if I was looking for that resource, then so were other people. And in January 2008, this blog was born.  I started by sharing my thoughts on breaking into freelance education writing and by posting leads that I’d found in my daily searches. If they weren’t a good fit for me, then they were a good fit for somebody and it was a shame to waste all that searching.

2008 still has more blog posts than any other year. What I remember most about that year is the sense of community I felt. When I went back into the classroom and couldn’t keep up with the posting, that community took up the slack. Terry, Beth, and Michele started posting leads. Michele is the only volunteer still posting and she's a big part of why this blog is still alive. Thank you, Michele. You are appreciated.

So now what? I know that this blog has become a solid resource for both freelancers and those who hire them. It’s not going away. But it may be time to evolve. I’ve thought about the focus and here’s where I stand: I want to help connect education freelancers with the companies who need them. That’s my focus. If, within that focus, I can help new freelancers get started or experienced freelancers move into new market areas then so much the better.

I know that this blog has about 1,000 email subscribers. (Wow! I remember how excited I was when we hit 200!). Most of those are job seekers, but some of them are people who hire freelancers. With this post going out to 1,000 subscribers, I should get some solid feedback.

So here’s what I need from you. What do YOU want out of this site?

We currently have:

• blog with job leads
• discussion board
• small list of writers

Are these effective? Do they need to change?

I’ve been thinking about:

• guest blog posts from freelancers
• guest blog posts those who hire them
• interviews with freelancers
• interviews with those who hire them
• a writer page with short profiles of our freelancers
• a company page with short profiles of companies who hire freelancers

What do you think about these? Are they too much? Is there something missing? I need feedback!

I would love to hear from you on this. If you want to share your thoughts with the community, go to the post and comment directly there. If you want to respond to this post by email, I'll be the only one who receives it. If you give me permission, I can add it to the comments as submitted by a subscriber. Reading your ideas might generate more ideas. Post links if you have examples of what you'd like to see here.  I found that the more people involved in the conversation, the more people will get involved.

I look forward to hearing from you!

Laura Coulter

Education-Related Leads for Mon, May 18

• Instructional Designer (Seal Beach) (Anyone an instructional designer and with automotive knowledge?)
• Math Item Writer 
• Need Help Creating Math/Science Problems and Curriculum (Anywhere)

Good luck!

Laura

Education-Related Leads for Tue, May 11, 2015

Freelance

• Test Development Job Opportunities (Pearson)
• Freelance Item Writing Opportunities (ETS - general info)
• GRE Expert Blogger
• GMAT Expert Blogger

Publishing Opportunity

• Looking for ELL materials for grades PK-8

Good luck!
Laura

Experienced assessment writer needed for college-level biology exercises (telecommute)

Description: Sinauer is an established publisher of college-level science textbooks and supplements. We are looking for an experienced educational assessment writer with an advanced biology degree to create original stimuli and items at Bloom’s levels 3-6 in the areas of genomics, genomics, and/or evolution.

 

Required experience: Ph.D. in science (preferably biology). Three or more years’ experience writing college-level science items.

 

Timeline: May through December 2015

 

Location: Remote

 

Rate: $250 per stimulus/item set

 

Contact: carrie.mailler@sinauer.com

 

Please send a current résumé. List your areas of content specialty, and provide an original stimulus with 4 to 6 free-response items and answers.

Life sciences assessment professional to help develop learning objectives

Description: Sinauer Associates is an established publisher of college-level science textbooks and supplements. We are looking for a science educator/assessment professional with experience developing learning objectives and outcomes for a comprehensive biology course.

Preferred experience: Ph.D. in life sciences (preferably biology)

Timeline: May through November 2015

Location: Remote

Contact: carrie.mailler@sinauer.com

Please send a current résumé and a cover letter describing your experience developing learning objectives in the sciences, along with a brief sample of your work.

Eight Weeks of CCSS Math Item Writing at Progress Testing

* Must be able to dedicate the next 8 weeks to writing high-quality Common Core items for us
* Must have experience writing New/Technology Enhanced items like Multiple Select and Ordering/Matching
* Must have experience writing Common Core items for all levels: elementary, middle, and high
* Must be able to produce AT LEAST 10 items per day
* Will be provided helpful samples and interactive guidance to aid the writing process
* Will receive $15 per accepted item
* Please reply to Peter Gray pgray@progresstesting.com with your resume and samples. Qualified candidates will be put to work immediately.
* FYI-- Deadlines are firm as are daily quotas-- so please reply only if you can meet the project requirements!

Project Manager, Educational Publishing/Product Development

Words and Numbers is an educational technology company providing content development services to clients ranging from the largest in the publishing industry to the next great EdTech start-up in the PreK-12, higher educational, and adult learning markets. W&N provides services and project management for the entire project lifecycle, from conceptualization to asset creation. Learn more at www.wordsandnumbers.com.

W&N is currently seeking experienced project managers to join a large, fast-paced higher education publishing project to develop a ground-breaking digital series of curriculum-aligned content aimed at promoting undergraduate student research. The project is slated to run from March 2015 through Fall 2015.

Multiple contracts are available and a long-term senior staff position can be awarded to the most qualified candidate who demonstrates the ability to lead the overall effort and strengthen W&N’s project management capabilities. To be considered, you must have at least 3 years’ experience (at least 7 for senior position) successfully delivering content development, product development, or book publishing projects that relied on subject matter experts, writers, editors, designers, and other creative experts. Successful candidates will also have experience developing robust project plans and managing remote team members and client/business owner and stakeholder relationships. Other minimum requirements can be found below.

Educational product development or educational publishing experience is preferred for these positions, especially in higher education. Project managers selected will have the option of working remotely with no more than 25% travel possibly required.

                                                                                  

Interested? Please submit resumes with a cover letter highlighting relevant experience and why you’re interested in this opportunity to careers@wordsandnumbers.com.

At a minimum, project managers working for W&N must be able to:

• Be bendable but not breakable
• Work with confidence in ambiguous, fast-paced environments
• Be detail-oriented with expert organizational skills
• Help analyze challenges and define solutions to address client, business, and team needs
• Develop and execute comprehensive project plans and complex but efficient processes, including revisions to meet changing needs
• Document, communicate, and manage the evolution of requirements, guidelines, and other project documents
• Detail project needs, then work collaboratively on the successful fulfillment of those needs
• Insert and monitor controls throughout project to ensure success
• Identify risks and resolve them proactively with attention to short- and long-term impact
• Manage day-to-day operations
• Carefully review  and contribute to deliverables for quality assurance before releasing to client
• Document project meetings and decisions made, including assignment of action items
• Manage day-to-day client, business owner, stakeholder, and team member interactions
• Help establish and manage expectations of all involved to avoid and resolve conflicts
• Seek opportunities to increase satisfaction and strengthen relationships
• Regularly track and manage team hours, detailed project financials, and other project performance metrics
• Prepare status reports and lead status meetings for a variety of audiences
• Keep project teams, clients, business owners, and stakeholders well-informed
• Tailor information to best serve a variety of audiences
• Resolve and/or escalate issues in a timely fashion

Seasoned freelance item writers needed for college-level biology items

Description: An established publisher of college-level science textbooks and supplements, we are developing items to accompany our biology-for-majors textbook. We’re looking for a few highly skilled freelance item writers from biology and other life sciences to write on a work-for-hire basis. Writers will have access to our textbook and will be asked to create stimuli with clustered items to support the text and selected learning objectives. It is essential that writers are experienced with item writing at the higher cognitive levels. There will be no “recall” items in this component of the project.

Please respond with a current résumé, detailing item-writing experience. Include original, college-level biology items. We are looking, especially, for samples that involve stimuli with items requiring the application of learned concepts and the analysis of new information (Bloom’s levels 3, 4, and 5).

The project starts in late March and runs through October.

We look forward to hearing from you!

Required: Proven talent for writing in-depth, challenging, college-level biology items. Advanced degree in biology or related discipline preferred.

Timeline: Starting in late March and likely to continue through October

Location: Remote

Contact: mailler@sinauer.com