After I enrolled at Online TEFL Courses | ITTT - International TEFL TESOL Training today they sent me that offer:
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Two applicants signing up together for our 120-hour (20-unit) online certificate course with tutor supportbefore Thursday 20th September 2012 can do so for a special price of US$445 (a further saving of US145!) and each applicant will receive a complimentary course in Teaching Business English or Certificate in Teaching Young Learners.*
* The complimentary courses come without tutor support.
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Anyone interested? I'd like to get the TEFL as soon and inexpensive as possible :-)
Online courses are worthless.
Do you have coke?
Really?....Certificate/Diploma/Graduate Diploma/Masters....All from the comfort of yer armchair.......Originally Posted by Mr Pants
...so are KFC and Pizza Hut...
...majestically enthroned amid the vulgar herd...
Online TEFL courses Mr Money
Would that include the on-line CELTA?
Cambridge CELTA Online Course
Yes, I know it is a blended course rather than being completely on-line like the crap course offered by ITTT.
.
If there's no observed teaching element, it's a shitty course.
Yep.
Agree with Mr Pants on this one.
This is it... The apocalypse.
In terms of quality, offline might beat online even though the online course comes with a tutor. On the other hand, the online course offers a much more flexible time management and a much better price.
Thai decision-makers love any kind of certificates. With just a Diploma/Master's and a clean shirt you would surely find some job, but in case you can show some extras like TEFL (or in my case i.a. a project management certificate) the choices increase enormously. I currently work only 14 hours/week for a regular salary, which would be unthinkable without my 'extras'. The above noted online course comes with an additional free Business English course ... and will lead me directly to all those extraordinarily well paid holiday courses at universities in cities I always wanted to see. Chang Mai and Roi Et ... prepare your cheques, I'm coming
Last edited by Chang Mekong; 12th September 2012 at 16:47.
Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored.
Aldous Huxley
gents, can we try to be a bit accurate here?
pants has raised a very valid point about the lack of observed teaching practice and i agree that without any EFL teaching experience, an online course really isn't that great. however, if one has already been teaching EFL/ESL and has been observed by other teachers and can use those teachers as a reference, an online TESOL course isn't that bad of an idea. of course an onsite course would be better, but not everyone can afford that or perhaps fit it into their schedule.
also, some knowledge is better than no knowledge at all. while taking an online course, one will become more aware of grammar and how to teach it (or more to the point, teach it without using grammar jargon or getting bogged down in the language points themselves. they'll also have a go at lesson planning and probably watch a few videos of real lessons.
of course they're not ideal but "worthless", only if applying to jobs that require onsite training.
...classroom experience before training may be no help at all if one is doing it badly...
...who themselves may not be trained and who may assume a quiet class is a good one...
...possibly worthless references, but no matter: in swamp culture, worthless and worthwhile are hazy concepts easily confused...
...that's why a course with trained observers/instructors should be taken before teaching: if one can't afford it, one should seek another line of work...
...is that what you have on your resume?...
The bottom line is, if you are looking to improve your skills prior to doing the job, a quality face to face tutor will help you do this.
If you are looking for a paper qualification scarecrow/wizard of oz style, then the online one will probably fit some of your needs.
If someone failed to get a really good job because they chose option b, that would give me a wry smile, to be honest.
TC, your points are valid (especially the first one) but they're also worst-case scenario stuff.
like it or not, the reality is that many employers will accept an online cert as a qualification. i don't like online cert courses all that much but they're more useful than those with a prescriptive approach are leading on.
...agree: employers may also accept unvalidated resumes as proof of education and experience, slovenly appearance, and all manner of unprofessional behavior to put someone in a classroom...employer standards are loose in the swamp and are frequently, if not always, tied to the bottom line...given that, online certs have the potential to be slightly better than Khao San Road documents...
Can I pass an interview with black ankle socks?
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