Job Discussion Forums

[wulfrun]

there's so much useful information on this board, but it gets lost. it's up-to-date and democratic, from the expertise of teachers across the world.

maybe it could be collected, organised, and put into a site that people could skim through? particularly newbies (like myself). a wiki or similar.

[Glenski]

Who would you get to maintain the wiki? ESL Cafe encompasses many countries. Sometimes you can hardly believe the posters. It seems that sometimes only the FAQs are worth keeping in storage, but even they become out of date and they are subject to interpretation and opinion.

It's a noble thought, but an enormous effort.

[wulfrun]

my concern is just that there are countless valuable nuggets of information here, and they just get lost. people take the time to type them, and maybe a dozen people read them, but then they get lost, even though they'd be useful to other people later. the simple search function on a messageboard just isnt functional for retrieval.

the difference between subjective and objective information is a problem

dunno, guess have to think about it. it jsut makes me think that an information-rich messageboard - like this is - would probably benefit from a slightly different structure. most messageboards are just people chatting about sports and movies, and this format works great for that. but when you have so many new users coming here specifically to find out something, a different format would be beneficial.

[naturegirl321]

It's too much info and too much work.

[Teatime of Soul]

Its already been pretty much done.

I think http://www.middlekingdomlife.com offers much of the topics covered here in a guide to living and working in China.

I will often refer posters to it rather than retype the same answer to the same question asked for the hundredth time.

Nothing wrong with folks asking the question of course, that's part of being new, but it makes it easier to answer.

[wulfrun]

[Thwartley]

There is lots of great info here. However, much of it is inaccurate and time-sensitive. By inaccurate, I mean that it of the opinion variety and often delivered in a non-detailed way.

And like any info, it gets stale fast. So, you go to the search function, type in what you're looking for and see varying opinions over a number of years.

For these reasons, I find the current format suitable.

[Justin Trullinger]

I like the current format as well. Nothing frustrates me more than meeting newbies here in Ecuador who think that they can do border runs to extend their tourist visas indefinitely (which is a loophole that closed in the 90s), that an investor's visa can be obtained cheaply and easily (loophole that closed in 05-06) and that it's easy to work long term on a tourist visa. (loophole in process of closing while I write this.) THose who think that most schools won't care about teaching qualifications also get on my nerves. (Loophole still open, at some schools, but I'm working on it!)

I also hate for people to think they're getting ripped off when prices don't conform to what they have read, which may have been written years ago.

Life in Ecuador (everywhere, I imagine, but about here, I'm an expert) is quickly changing. The economy is extremely volatile, the laws change weekly, sometimes daily, and there just isn't that much information that stays good for long. Last year's slum is this year's trendy neighborhood, and this year's business opportunity is next years bankrupcy.


Info about living abroad, more or less by definition, loses it's value quickly- a vibrant discussion board can serve useful purposes in this area, but a permanent resource won't.


Best,
Justin

[wulfrun]

ok, all sounds good, just a newbie speculating...