|
Job Discussion Forums
"The Internet's Meeting Place for ESL/EFL Students and Teachers from Around the World!"
|
| View previous topic :: View next topic |
| Author |
Message |
Smitman
Joined: 16 Sep 2006
Posts: 14
Location: Guangzhou, China
|
 Posted: Tue Jun 24, 2008 6:38 am Post subject: Online TEFL for experienced teachers? |
 |
|
Hi everyone,
Is an online TEFL/TESL course much more practical than a four-week or weekend course for a teacher who is looking not for experience and advice teaching, but a teacher who is looking for higher accreditation?
After some searches and research, I was unable to locate a post that had specifically useful information regarding this matter, so I apologize if I am posting on a subject that has been asked a countless number of times.
I have over two years of teaching at a very well-known school here in Guangzhou, and have been actively improving and learning how to do my job the best I can, to a large degree of success. My only concern now is whether I can "up the ante" in terms of self-marketability, as certifications are often the only proof of "professionalism" in teaching. I feel that the "practical" part of teaching in-class is experience I already have, so I would only be interested in the brush-up of English and improvement in self-marketability. I am a native speaker from Los Angeles, lived there all my life, and have a HS diploma as well as a B.S., and currently teach only 5th and 6th grade levels. Oh, and I am loving it here, to no end.
I am basically wondering whether an online course has enough employee "power" coming from someone with teaching experience as an on-site TEFL/TESOL certificate. And, if so, what online courses are pretty much safe-bets regarding recognition by potential employers (price of course is not so much the issue). Am I correct to assume ACTDEC-accredited online schools are recognized the most, more so than ACCET-accredited courses? It would also be nice if anyone with online TEFL course experience through Cactus-TEFL could let me know how their experience was, as I am currently considering going through that channel.
Thanks in advance for any helpful replies and opinions. |
|
| Back to top |
|
 |
Justin Trullinger
Joined: 28 Jan 2005
Posts: 3110
Location: Seoul, South Korea and Myanmar for a bit
|
| Posted: Wed Jun 25, 2008 3:07 pm Post subject: |
|
|
THis one has been pretty considerably discussed, so I won't go into too much depth- just search "online cert" and you should find a lot of info.
But to answer your most direct questions:
| Quote: |
| I am basically wondering whether an online course has enough employee "power" coming from someone with teaching experience as an on-site TEFL/TESOL certificate. |
No, in my opinion. Because I'll have a very hard time verifying the quality of your experience. All I know is that you have two years experience in a place that cares so much about quality teaching that they will hire the completely unqualified. So you're counting on the experience carrying more weight than it will.
And you're counting on the online cert carrying more weight than it will, either, again in my opinion. A lot of people will disagree with me here, but for what it's worth (And I do hire teachers). Many will say that the problem with certs is that they don't have practice teaching. This is one problem. The more serious problem is that most aren't real qualifications at all. THere is generally no supervision of what kind of training they offer. No external standards at all that they have to meet.
Is this the kind of situation you'd turn to for real education? Obviously not. But, due to the low price, it's the kind of situation you'd turn to when you want to get a piece of paper ("certificate") as easily and cheaply as possible. Sounds like a con to me.
Just my two cents worth,
Justin |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
spiral78
Joined: 05 Apr 2004
Posts: 11534
Location: On a Short Leash
|
| Posted: Wed Jun 25, 2008 5:01 pm Post subject: |
|
|
Ditto what Justin's so kindly written yet again.
Really, he's right. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
|
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum
|
This page is maintained by the one and only Dave Sperling.
Contact Dave's ESL Cafe
Copyright © 2018 Dave Sperling. All Rights Reserved.
Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2002 phpBB Group
|
FAQ
Search
Memberlist
Usergroups
Register
Profile
Log in to check your private messages
Log in
