Teaching English with iChat and iSight on a Mac

[cathyf]

It seems that it would be feasible to teach English to people anywhere in the world with iChat (Voice over IP) combined with iSight. The client would have to have compatible equipment, but many people now have this technology and high speed internet. There are registrations for people who want to chat. The next MAC OS Version will allow group visual/auditory conferences. Is anyone teaching/training in this way? I would like to know what the experience is in terms of what works, what doesn't, how the student is charged for the training. If you are not or have not used this method of meeting with students, what do you think would be the considerations in using this technology for distance teaching/learning?

[kathyfelts]

There is no doubt that IP and a webcam can be used to teach over the Internet. I agree with Cathy that many peole now have the required equipment, but both parties need to use cable and that is not cheap. I think that using Mac equipement is problematic. To my knoweldge, both parties would need to use Macs. If I am wrong, please someone tell me! I am doing online teaching with a PC and the biggest problems are as follows:
1. The time difference!
2. The pay is low.
3. Very few third parties to set up teacher-student relationships.
4. System requirements.
5. Cable speed.
6. Server and network problems are fairly common.
7. In cases in which the learner has limited speaking ability, you or a third party will need to be able to speak the learner's language. Changes in schedules on both sides and technical problems require communication.
8. Synchronous teaching takes a little practice. You can move between a number of features (as listed below in #2), but you have to stay on your fingertips!
9. You need to be good about keeping your computer pop-up, malware, adware, virus and worm free. You don't want to catch anything and you don't want to spread anything.
The advantages:
1. You can do it at home.
2. The teaching can be even better than if the two of you are in the same room. A couple features of instant messeging are audio, video, whiteboard, file sharing and desktop sharing can be used very interactively.
3. Because you have the Internet at your disposal, you can really use material that is especially suited to the individual student.

Finally, the companies that do this business use Paypal, which is very easy and reliable. If you are interested in the names of businesses that hire online teachers, email me privately at kathyfelts@aol. com and I will be happy to discuss it privately. Also, every now and then their are posts on the International Job board. To my knowledge,, most companies want teachers with a MA in TESOL. Good luck!

[stromfi]

Hi Kathy,

I've read almost all your replies about online teaching and you strike me as someone very experienced and knowledgeable in this field. I'm playing with idea of getting into online teaching myself, too but I'd like to do some reading about it first. Are there any Complete-Idiot's-type of books out there you could recommend? Do you think setting up one's own online language teaching practice is feasible or do you think a third party is indispensable?
I hope to hear from you, eventhough this thread has been dormant for quite a while.

Stromfi

[kathyfelts]

Hi,
Send me an email to [email protected], and I will be happy to send you a Powerpoint Presentation I created last year to explain how I did it. To my knowledge, there is no book out yet.
Good luck!
Kathy