Teaching in the post pandemic era

11 March 2022 • TEFL

In a world that is far less accessible than it once was, even in the wake of a post pandemic era, people still seem to find trouble when it comes to both work and travel. For some, travel is their work, while for others it’s a lifestyle - and for an unfortunate few, this is just an aspiring dream that has since only become harder to achieve. But what if you could achieve this goal: of working for an income all the while being able to travel and explore the globe? What if I said you could do this all from the comfort of your own home, eliminating your need to travel abroad and potentially put your health and safety at risk? And what if I said you could do this all the while changing the lives of young people from these very places you may wish to visit? If these questions intrigue you, then maybe your next career path is in the remote work of online teaching – specifically: teaching English online as a foreign language. All you need is a laptop with a strong internet connection, a webcam, headset and microphone.

TEFL jobs online are in demand

Due to the ongoing global situation causing more and more distanced learning, there is not only a higher demand for online English teachers from all over the world by employers, but choosing TEFL jobs online rather than in-classroom roles or any other job sector means you can gain a wide variety of personal and professional benefits. As already mentioned, online teaching jobs mean you can work remotely without having to leave the comfort of your own household or move abroad. Remote working also gives you the freedom to work flexibly, around a full-time or part-time schedule that suits you best - whether you prefer working in the morning: while still in your pyjamas with a hot cup of tea next to you, in an afternoon while your kids are away at school – or you may even be a night owl, who prefers to work after having dealt with all the other commitments of the day. This is also a more suitable option if you’re someone who values peace and quiet. Finding a quiet place to teach your online students is a big must for online teaching and is beneficial both to you and your students. This overall benefit of choosing when and where you work is what comes with being either an individual / independent private teacher or an independent part-time contractor working for various online teaching platforms.

Work from home jobs are super convenient

Teach English online jobs can not only be more accessible than teaching abroad, but choosing online can also save you money without having the need to commute on a daily basis (with the high increase in gas) or relocate to another part of your own country for work. Choosing to work from home also means you'll be able to write a portion of your home office expenses onto your tax deduction. Teaching flexibly and online even allows you to work one of the many online part-time jobs as a second income alongside your normal 9-5 job role, therefore making great extra money on the side. This is something which is much easier than juggling multiple in-person jobs - but when one is online, multi-jobbing is a far more achievable goal. You could even browse other job opportunities while solely teaching online! For those who may even wish to abandon their 9-5 role, online, flexible teaching is a great escape for this!

English teaching online jobs provide adventure

As also mentioned, teaching online can still provide you the thrill and opportunity of finding global adventure, with most English teaching online jobs not requiring that you be in any particular place so long as you have a reliable internet connection. So, instead of being fazed by the idea of being locked up at home, you could in turn be living the lifestyle of an on-the-move digital nomad, working while experiencing as many different countries as you please, all the while funding your very own travel - therefore, no working visa is required! You can even discover new places and cultures through the very students you teach virtually around the world - from the Islamic worlds of the middle-east, to tropical destinations of the Americas and South-East Asia.

Teach online to adults or children

This wide range of locations also offers a variety of ages and class sizes. There are millions of young learners around the world who study (many virtually) English as a foreign language. For example, you could teach from 3 years old up to the ages of 12 in China. Teaching to very young learners in particular can be an easy and fun process (as long as your teaching is efficient, of course!), where you’ll be sat in front of a screen, teaching how to say the target phrases and words, ending the lesson by filling out student performance evaluations. These classes are typically only 25-30 minutes long, also making for a fast-paced and interesting day with your learners. If teaching to children or young people isn’t your strong suit, there is always the brilliant option of teaching adults, whether that be business professionals in Guatemala or for government projects in Costa Rica. The best thing about this is that you can choose to teach to ages and class sizes of your own preference. For instance, if you find large classes intimidating, you can instead choose to teach one on one – the choice is ultimately yours! You won’t even need to arrange your own classes if the company you work for provides you with the students.

Earn money as an online TEFL teacher

With these online TEFL jobs also comes the potential for you to make great money as an English teacher, whether full or part-time and depending on your chosen shifts and classes. These salaries can range as high as 50 USD an hour to 1,150 – 2,800 USD a month. Some companies may also pay you an additional fee for completing post-lesson evaluations of your students as well as referral bonuses by successfully recruiting new teachers or students to the program. As an online TEFL teacher, you will not only be paid for speaking English to your learners, but this possibility can be done without any prior expertise or number of years experience. Because you won’t be working in-class or country, you therefore don’t need to worry about money factors such as relocation costs, accommodation, permits or visa requirements. By being an independent contractor, teaching English to students on an international scale will also give you greater control over your employment contract and higher salary terms.

Build skills and gain experience

Aside from the great salary benefits that come with TEFL jobs online, you will also be able to improve on a number of key skills. You’ll learn to form strong relationships with your learners (whether you speak the same language or not), improve your cross-cultural awareness without having to work abroad, and become a more independent and dependable person. Whether you’re already an experienced teacher or not, you’ll also improve and gain a key number of skills in communication and listening, collaboration, adaption, empathy, an engaging classroom presence and patience from working closely with your students. Teaching online will also expand your IT and technological knowledge base, enhancing and putting your technology skills into practice when using required platforms such as Zoom or Skype to ensure you make the most of every lesson. The invaluable experience you gain from these teaching online positions will also greatly improve your resume, helping you stand out to employers and open a gateway to future teaching opportunities. However, if you were to limit yourself to local or onsite classrooms, you would be substantially reducing your employment options. In fact, the exposure you receive from an online international academic network will be extremely beneficial in connecting you with further employers to progress the future of your academic career.

Make a positive impact

You will not only improve on a number of your own personal and professional skills, but will in turn have a positive impact teaching your students and supporting their learning of the English language around the world. A shared benefit you and your students will have from online teaching is the avoidance of distractions and the lack of focus that comes with large on campus classes. This will instead provide you and your students a more intimate and suitable classroom setting - and because the learning is online, it’ll be scarce that you’ll have to deal with students with no interest to be in class or in what you’re teaching them (as may be the case when teaching on-site). In these students’ place will be learners who have sought out English lessons for a particular purpose, and are learning in addition to their own schooling at home. You can therefore expect your learners to have an overall motivated and hardworking attitude, making your teaching role that much easier! From being their online English teacher, you will be supplying your students with a number of highly opportune roads that English learning can take them on: from school / work requirements in English fluency, to being able to travel with valuable knowledge in the English language. The responsibility of this may at first seem daunting, yet with most online TEFL jobs, your role won’t necessarily be about teaching the mechanics of the English language (except in more advanced classes) but to engage your students in conversational English.

Join a community of TEFL professionals worldwide

To further encourage this teaching in the classroom, your employers will offer you continual support with personal development training as well as various online teaching tools from quizzes, templated tests, reading exercises and automated grading systems - therefore, you don’t have to spend hours of your own time creating learning materials for your students. This, as well as your employers planning the lessons for you, is to ensure they maintain the same standards for all students, which for teachers is great news, as you’ll never have to give your teaching a second thought outside the virtual classroom again! There may also be online teacher support groups available, connecting you to a whole online community of fellow TEFL professionals worldwide. This provides you the opportunity to meet many international people of your own age and profession without leaving your home or comfort.

If you have any concerns about online opportunities only being available to teachers from a certain part of the English-speaking world, then put your mind at ease! Many online TEFL roles require teachers from multiple English-speaking countries including the UK, USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the Republic of Ireland and South Africa. In some circumstances, you may be approached for an online role due to your specific country or dialect – for instance, some online platforms in South Korea will seek out American teachers in order to influence their learners with that teacher’s dialect. Even if you are not a native English speaker, it will still be possible (although trickier) to obtain an English teaching job online.

The option alone of teaching online is a huge benefit to any existing or aspiring TEFL teachers who hold a UK passport. With the United Kingdom no longer being in the EU, it has since become harder for teachers from the UK to attain in-classroom TEFL jobs in mainland Europe. Online / remote working therefore gives you thousands more employment options around the world that you may not get from on-site classroom teaching in continental Europe.

One unseen benefit accompanying various jobs teaching English online is that the qualifications you need are relatively mainstream. You may only need to possess a Bachelor’s degree, which doesn’t necessarily have to be in the field of Education and a TEFL certificate. Even better, some positions may only prefer you to hold a degree or have completed at least 1 year of study from a recognised university. Therefore, it’s highly likely for you to teach English online without a degree! Most platforms won’t even require any teaching experience from you, instead prioritizing your native English-speaking ability.

TEFL certificate for teaching English online

However, in order to teach English as a foreign language, whether in person or online and regardless of degree or years of experience, you will definitely need to possess a TEFL certificate in order to secure an online role or interview. There are a number of these TEFL courses available on the TEFL UK website (written and designed by experienced, highly qualified TEFL teachers) in order to qualify yourself to teach English online. For first time teachers where no experience is required, you have the 120hr Professional TEFL course: a qualification you can study online, anytime and from anywhere, preparing you for a career in TEFL teaching, no matter where your starting point is from. You also have the option of taking the 240hr Combined TEFL with 20 hour In Class Teaching Practicum: where you’ll learn to teach English to children and adults with confidence. For online teaching in particular, you have the 20hr Teaching English Online Course, where you’ll learn to transfer your classroom skills to an online teaching setting. These, as well as other types of TEFL courses (upon completion) will therefore qualify you for hundreds and even thousands of online / Work From Home TEFL job opportunities available every month. The prices for these courses are also very affordable to undertake, with the 120hr course being priced at £99 and the 20hr online course only £45!

All these courses will equip you with beneficial skills in English Second language teaching to accompany the skills you’ll learn in future online teaching roles. You will also be given online support for any of these courses that TEFL UK provides. Upon completing one of these courses, you will then be able to search for available teaching English online jobs on the TEFL UK website and start your very own TEFL career!