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irishvan · Joined: 06 Apr 2004 Posts: 38 Location: brazil

I have heard that there are some of the above schools in Japan. Has anyody had any experience with any of them? Recommendations?
I taught in Japan for 4 years in the past, so have some familiarity with the students.
Any advice or comments welcome!
thanks in advance

Okonomiyaki · Posted: Fri Aug 20, 2010 6:36 am Post subject:

Yes, some of the eikaiwa and at least one university have toyed with / are toying with online teaching.

There are obvious benefits: the student doesn't have to commute, which is such a colossal waste of his/her time.
There are obvious problems, too:

1) web cameras tend to stutter rather than move smoothly, so the student can't clearly see your lips and vice versa.
2) getting the school paid, and getting YOU paid, could be messy if it's done using online services like PayPal.
3) it's all dependent on bandwidth and your PC. At the wrong time of day-- say, between 7pm & 10pm-- bandwidth is reaching its daily lows because of high traffic. These are the ideal "school" times for adult students, though.