Job Discussion Forums

[LongShiKong]

[HLJHLJ]

I teach partly online for a university here in Ecuador. I'm contracted with the university to teach X number of hours. My classes happen to be online (although actually, that's my choice because I wanted to try it). I could just as easily have campus classes or a mix of the two. My hours and wage would be the same regardless.

[LongShiKong]

[HLJHLJ]

The top private schools in Quito pay $1,500-$2,000 month, which is better than most university positions. However, for the better private school jobs, and most university positions, you'll usually need more than an unrelated BA and a TEFL cert. That wouldn't be online teaching though.

[LongShiKong]

[HLJHLJ]

I think it's a general rule everywhere, in every job. Better paying jobs demand the best qualifications and/or experience they can, whether they are actually needed for the position or not.

I don't think online teaching has had any impact on Ecuador. Most non-Ecuadorian distance education isn't even recognised here. Universities have been affected by government regulations aimed at increasing standards, which includes demanding higher qualifications from university teachers. Top schools here have always valued qualifications, as it's a selling point for parents.

[LongShiKong]

[Podkayne]

I'm curious about the student context of this thread.

When I consider online English teaching, I think of it in the context of all ages, encompassing learners who are in the academic pipeline + business professionals + adults who seek English study as a personal interest.

The survey came across to me as a general query. The discussion seems focused on students who are still in school.

If my take is correct, then saying that online teaching hasn't had any impact in Ecuador, I'm guessing that's in relation to students who are at the university level or lower? Or does this opinion include corporate and personal-avocation students, as well?

I ask because there are a number of language companies that sell comprehensive online language-learning services to multinational corporations. There are some mighty big companies out there who are paying mighty big bucks for online language learning.

If there's no effect on face-to-face teaching for these business professional students *yet* in countries such as Ecuador, I'd guess that the tipping point is coming.

Thoughts?

[HLJHLJ]

Open English used to advertise here a lot, but they seem to have gone quiet. One problem online providers have is that education is tax deductible here, but you have to have an Ecuadorian factura to claim it. Companies that have a physical presence here, or offer blended options (like EF for example) can tap into that, but it makes working with overseas companies relatively expensive, no matter how cheap the actual classes. Combine that with limited access to decent internet, and online education being generally perceived as a lesser option (because it's not recognised by the government), I think it'll be a while until we see any major change.

Right now, the booming area here is university work, since the government have said all university students have to pass an internationally accredited B1 exam (soon to be B2) before they can graduate. There is something similar happening in schools as well, but I don't know the details on that. In many cases the national teachers can't pass a B1 themselves, let alone a B2, so there is a void in the market.

[Podkayne]

Open English mostly marketed directly to individual students via TV, radio, etc. I believe most of its clientele were 20s and younger, many still in school. OE's business model is/was also quite different from most face-to-face and the companies I'm talking about, where a student has a dedicated tutor, a progressive curriculum, etc. With OE, the students dipped in and out of lessons as they wished.

I'm thinking of the companies such as Pearson, Learnlight, Learnship, and others. They enter into contracts with companies, not individuals. The client companies then direct or invite employees into online language learning.

[HLJHLJ]

Pearson are around, but I've never seen them advertise online teaching. I haven't seen the others, but they could be marketing directly. They will still have the same problem though, if the companies can't write it off against their tax it would be a difficult sell.

[LongShiKong]

[Podkayne]

My guess is that, generally speaking, companies such as Pearson (I'm speaking of the corporate client branch of Pearson) don't advertise in mass media. Instead, Pearson reps will visit face to face with exec folks in the target MNCs and advertise in niche media.

So my take from this thread is the possibility that there is online teaching activity that is not necessarily visible to classroom teachers, and therefore not factored into the estimates of online teaching prevalence in a particular country.

[LongShiKong]

Nomad Soul posted this on the China Discussions. I think it's worth repeating here:

[santi84]

I'm about 95% online/from home at a local college that offers online delivery. There are about 40 students per class split into multiple sessions. We are paid the same wage range as any in-class college ESL instructor.