Online TEFL Courses For People Who Want To Learn
I think a lot of people (if not most) take TEFL courses primarily to get a job or improve their resume. But what about learning?
Does that sound painful?
You might think…
“Ughh, learning no thanks. I just want a job.”
I’d understand considering the education system.
But did you ever have a class that was more fun?
A class that you liked?
Because getting a job is a short term victory. After that comes the work and it’s going to be a long year if you don’t like it. A job is the extrinsic reward, but learning how to do your job is an intrinsic reward or should be.
Learning should be rewarding, but maybe if you associate it with some of the classes you took then it’s not. Certainly many of the classes I took were boring, useless and I totally forgot much of what I was taught.
The same goes for the TEFL/TESOL courses I’ve taken.
Not only will your boss and students appreciate you more, but there are benefits in it for you too such as a better experience abroad because you’ll enjoy your time at work more.
So…
First things first.
You need visuals to learn!
Visuals make learning way easier.
Not only for you, but for your future students too.
Most people don’t remember what they read online and according to studies mentioned in the video above they only read about 20% of a webpage.
You need visuals that show you what to do
Sounds like a given, eh?
But it’s not.
Getting an “education” sometimes means studying all kinds of abstract concepts, theory, rules and language that basically goes in one ear and out the other.
The TEFL courses I took in the past were like that.
What I learned after I started to teach was that the easiest way to learn is to watch other teachers (that know what they are doing).
The courses I’ve created contain lots of simple instructional videos that show you what to do in the classroom. Here’s the most popular video I made on Youtube (over 300,000 views).
18 levels of learning
There are 18 levels in this course ranging from how to teach phonics, lesson planning, how to public speak, how to manage difficult students, etc.
Here’s an example from the section on lesson planning.
After watching the videos you will sometimes answer questions like this.
Feedback from a human helps you learn
The instruction is important, but so isn’t feedback. How will you know if you are doing something correctly?
TEKA currently includes feedback on 6 assignments.
Here’s an example.
You will be likely working with a book (or slides if online).
And you will have to teach a lesson with this material. So first you will receive instruction on how to do that and then you try creating a lesson plan based on it.
After you submit the assignment you will receive feedback on it and you may have to revise it.
And that’s okay!
Making mistakes is all part of learning.
Forum posts…
Is it hard?
I don’t try to make it hard for the sake of it. You do have to put some effort in, but I think you’ll find that it will pay off when you start working.
Is it accredited?
No, and proudly so.
As GOACTA said accreditation doesn’t guarantee quality, it involves an exchange of money and it’s secretive. Accreditation was originally implemented by colleges for financial aid and to protect the consumer.
But, you are not in college anymore and there is no financial aid in TEFL. And did your accredited college degree actually guarantee you a job?
Accreditation isn’t about learning.
In TEFL there’s no one accreditation and it’s paying some 3rd party middleman nobody knows for their little name that goes on the bottom of a certificate.
Reviews…
Gintare also left a review.
And so didn’t Kyle…
And here’s one left by a licensed teacher.
“I am an experienced teacher, having taught Science and Gifted Education in the US for ten years prior to coming to Taiwan. Although teacher prep programs will help, many aspects of teaching EFL are unique. I wish I would have taken this course BEFORE I started teaching here three years ago.If you want to learn how to teach English to kids then this course will help you do that.” — Dolly M.
If you want to learn how to teach English (especially to children) then this is how to do it.
