Korean Job Discussion Forums

[ddeubel]

I'm self employed these days and having time on my hands, started setting up an eteaching video conferencing system. I'll be offering it to teachers and schools in the near future. Wrote about the quality/capabilities on my blog here. http://bit.ly/eteachpoll

I'd love any feedback about what you'd be willing to pay for a place you could eteach, of comparable or higher quality than Adobe Connect. But without limitations.

You can teach online, on the side and make your own income. Students just deposit into your paypal then you schedule. All legit. Schools could also use it, make multiple rooms or use the rooms for their online classes (ie. universities).

So any thoughts about what you'd pay per month and would require?

Cheers,

DD
http://eflclassroom.com

[matthews_world]

Nice idea. Very much similar to what distance learning programs use in the west.

Making it available to rural schools as a pilot program for both regular and after school classes. The GET wouldn't have to travel from school to school every week and could teach from the comfort of their own classroom.

If it were for private student use, I would charge a higher rate.

[Troglodyte]

What equipment would a school or private teacher need to teach this kind of class? How would they recruit students? Would you need to be actually be in the country where you are recruiting students? Or is it possible to (easily) recruit them from abroad?

It seems like a nice idea, especially for a private teacher as it would save time otherwise spend travelling to and from schools. If there is a way to get students to join an online video conference class then it would probably open the possibility of recruiting students from a larger geographic area than you could normally travel to their offices (or get them to travel to yours).

[ddeubel]

Matthews world,

Yes, that would be a great solution and convience, teaching students who live in a wider area. As a teacher trainer in Seoul - this is even a god send. Normally teachers travel 4 hours for 2 hours of training. Go figure.

Troglodyte,

You raise some important questions. I'll address them simply.

1. I never would enter into this if I didn't thing the use of the video conf. room wasn't simple. If you can turn on your computer and buy a headset, you can use it. It really is that simple. No learning curve and that's what I hate about so many other "rooms" or "sites". Here, just click and go. Send the link and your students are in - safely, privately, all the data is encrypted.

2. You just need a browser and a computer. Plus a microphone or built in one with a laptop.

3. This is the main point. It is just like teaching someone anywhere else, except you don't travel. You have the board, you can upload materials, you talk etc... So you just get them to pay privately through paypal and then you teach. No different from face to face except you don't hand over cash. Plus , the added convenience of teaching from home or them learning from work.

4. You get students like you always do . Just tell them to talk to you online. That's cool . get additional students online by social networking and grow your teaching pool.

I'll be settling on a payment model soon . I'm partial to a one size fits all. Right now, tested with 200+ open windows and connections and each one works like the wind. I'll be setting it up and giving everyone free use for a certain period of time.

It works, it is even better than face to face in the sense that more language and listening is the focus (less pragmatics, which too many students rely on to get by).

I think low cost education is here to stay. We are just on the early bandwagon . This isn't a bubble but a wave.


DD
http://eflclassroom.com

3.

[murmanjake]

really up and coming idea, I'm interested to see how this turns out and maybe join in myself.

So no visa conflicts, say I was teaching a Korean student online from Korea?

A friend of mine was looking for a private video lesson. 32,000 KRW for 25 minutes. Told her that was absolutely ridiculous and not to waste her money as a real live person is way cheaper.

What's the standard rate for these places? Do they typically charge more than your average in-person lesson?

[Troglodyte]

[murmanjake]

3200 for 25 minutes would be 76,000 an hour. Am I wrong to think 50,000 is a standard rate for privates in Korea? 150% of that seems ridiculous. Or did you maybe read quickly and think I meant 32,000/hour?

The only reason I pursue this is because I'm trying to get an idea of the pricing structure for these online lessons. And I find it hard to believe that people can get away with charging 76,000 won for one hour of online lessons...

[ddeubel]

Interesting discussion about price/pricing. Any kind of transparency about this is helpful to teachers I believe. I have no idea really about the pricing of lessons online however if you could get a small class of 3-5 students. That would be the best way to go. Financially and for learning.

I'll have the rooms up and available for free use on Saturday until Oct. 15th.

Make all the rooms you want, test out, muck about. See what you think it is worth both what you'd pay and as a teaching tool.

Right now just customizing lots of stuff.

Questions about legalities of eteaching. It really is a grey area and I'm sure anything I say, others will dispute and it is really up to interpretation of various cross border laws, statutes, regulations.

I do know that the crucial thing doesn't actually involve the teaching but the financial transaction. It is where this occurs that really defines where the teaching took place. My servers are in Frankfurt so theoretically, you are teaching there.

Cheers,

David
http://eflclassroom.com

[languistic]

Once again, ddeubel is showing us all what it means to be a modern teacher, in every sense of the word.

Please keep us up to date on this idea; I am more than interested.

Thanks for your work.

[ddeubel]

Languistic,

thanks for the compliment but just doing my thing - like us all. To each his own. I enjoy what I do and that's it.

The rooms are available and appreciate feedback etc.... Go HERE There is a uservoice for feedback but feel free to reply here. Also, information page and video tutorials.

I'll be keeping this free for at least 3 weeks, probably more. We are presently working a lot on the audio delay. This is usual for eteaching but I'd like to limit it as much as possible. But it is a complex thing and I might just end up setting up DIDs (basically an internet phone hook up through skype) for the audio component. We'll see.

Enjoy the weekend,

DD
http://eflclassroom.com