How to Create and Sell an Online Course as a Teacher

You already explain fractions, essay structure or AP Chemistry better than most videos online. Parents ask you for extra help. Other teachers borrow your slides. At some point, the thought arrives: could I package this into an online course and earn something on the side?

Many teachers do. But the ones who succeed treat it like a small business, and the ones who get into trouble skip 2 steps: checking district rules and checking whether anyone will actually pay.

This guide walks through the full process: protecting yourself with your employer, picking and testing a topic, recording on a budget, choosing a platform and launching. It is written for US K-12 teachers, though most of it applies to anyone with teaching skills.

Step 1: Check your district’s rules first

Do this before you record a single video. 3 areas matter.

Outside employment rules

Most districts have a board policy on outside employment or conflicts of interest. Common rules include:

• You may need to disclose or get approval for side work
• You cannot do side work during contract hours
• You cannot use district equipment, email or software for it
• You cannot sell to, or require purchases from, your own current students or their families

Search your district’s board policy manual for “outside employment,” “conflict of interest” or “staff-created materials.” Some states also have ethics laws for public employees.

Who owns what you create

US copyright law treats a work created by an employee within the scope of employment as a “work made for hire,” which means the employer owns it. The US Copyright Office explains that the Copyright Act does not define “scope of employment,” so courts look at factors from general agency law.

Colleges often have policies giving faculty ownership of their teaching materials. K-12 districts usually do not. Some district policies say directly that the academic “teacher exception” does not apply to K-12 staff, and that materials created as part of your job, on district time or with district resources belong to the district.

The safest approach:

• Create course content from scratch on your own time and equipment
• Do not reuse lesson plans, slides or tests you made for your classes
• Do not use district-purchased curriculum, images or software licenses
• Read your contract and your district’s intellectual property policy

This is not legal advice. If you plan to earn real money, a short consultation with an employment or IP attorney is worth the cost.

Student privacy

Never use student work, names, photos or recordings in a course without proper written permission, and avoid it altogether if you can. Our guide to student data privacy and FERPA explains why classroom recordings are risky.

Key takeaway: Your biggest risk as a teacher-creator is not a bad course. It is building something on district time or from district materials that you do not legally own. Start fresh, on your own time and equipment, and read your district’s policy before you launch.

Step 2: Pick a narrow topic and validate it

The most common mistake is building a big course nobody asked for. Narrow beats broad.

Weak topic: “Learn Algebra.” Strong topic: “Solving 2-step equations for 7th graders who freeze on word problems.”

Teachers have 3 natural audiences:

How to validate before you build

1. Look for demand. Search marketplaces for similar courses and read the reviews. Complaints in reviews are your opportunity.
2. Ask your audience. Post a short survey in teacher groups or on social media asking about their biggest problem with the topic.
3. Pre-sell or run a live pilot. Offer a live 60-minute workshop on Zoom or a similar tool. If 10 people pay for the workshop, you have a course idea. If nobody signs up, you saved months of work.
4. Write the promise. Finish this sentence: “After this course, you will be able to…” If you cannot make it specific, narrow the topic.

Step 3: Plan the course outline

Teachers have an advantage here. You already know backward design.

• Start with 3 to 5 clear outcomes
• Break each outcome into short lessons of 5 to 10 minutes
• Add a practice activity, worksheet or quiz after each section
• Keep a first course small: 1 to 2 hours of video is plenty

If you use AI to speed up planning, the workflow in how teachers use AI to plan lessons works for course outlines too. Check every AI-generated fact before recording.

Step 4: Set up a budget recording studio

Audio quality matters more than video quality. Learners forgive a plain background but quit on echo and hiss.

Recording tips that save time:

• Record in short chunks, one lesson per file
• Use slides as your script outline instead of reading word for word
• Add captions. Many platforms generate them automatically, and they help learners with hearing loss and non-native speakers.
• Batch-record several lessons in one session

Step 5: Choose where to host and sell

You have 3 broad options, each with a different trade-off between audience and control.

Examples of how pricing models work, which vary and change often:

• Udemy says instructors receive 97% of the net amount when a student buys through the instructor’s own coupon or referral link, and 37% for organic marketplace sales.
• Teachable charges a monthly subscription. Its lowest plan adds a per-sale transaction fee, while higher plans drop that fee when you use its own payments, and standard card processing fees still apply.

Check each platform’s current terms before you commit.

Step 6: Price, launch and market

Pricing. Look at what similar courses charge, then price for the value of the outcome. A course for parents that solves a real school problem can usually charge more than a general hobby course.

Launch plan:

1. Build an email list during validation, even a small one
2. Offer early buyers a launch discount in exchange for honest reviews
3. Share short, useful clips on social media or YouTube
4. Run a free live webinar that ends with an offer
5. Collect testimonials and update the course based on feedback

Taxes. Course income is self-employment income. Track expenses like your microphone and platform fees, and set money aside for taxes. Payment platforms may report your sales to the IRS. Our guide to Venmo, PayPal and 1099-K taxes explains how reporting works. This is not tax advice.

Where to start this month

If you want a simple 4-week plan:

1. Week 1: Read your district policy and contract. Write down your topic and the course promise.
2. Week 2: Survey your audience and announce a paid live workshop.
3. Week 3: Teach the workshop, record it on your own equipment and note every question.
4. Week 4: Turn the outline and questions into a short course, upload it and invite workshop attendees to review it.

If course creation turns out to be your favorite part of teaching, it can also lead to a career change. See how to become an instructional designer and our list of edtech jobs for teachers leaving the classroom.

Conclusion

Teachers are well placed to build online courses because they already know how to plan, explain and assess. Protect yourself first by following district rules and creating materials on your own time. Then validate a narrow topic, record clean audio, pick the platform that fits your audience and launch small. A focused course that solves one real problem will earn more than a big course nobody asked for.

Sources

• US Copyright Office: Works Made for Hire (Circular 30) — employer ownership of works created within the scope of employment
• Udemy Support: Instructor revenue share — 97% share for instructor promotions and 37% for organic sales
• Teachable: Pricing — subscription plans, transaction fees and processing fees
• Lynden School District: District ownership of staff-created work (Procedure 2027P) — example of a K-12 policy stating the teacher exception does not apply