The world rushed online during COVID-19, accelerating the existing drift towards our lives becoming increasingly virtual. It is now entirely normal to go shopping, do our banking, play games, and even socialise online.
The same is true for learning online, with hundreds of thousands of options now available, ranging from free to expensive and one-minute videos to entire university degrees.
The sudden explosion in online learning has brought with it huge benefits, like a reduction in cost. Increased access too has opened up more, sometimes better, education options for people around the world.
Add to this, the obvious ability in many cases to go at your own pace and fit your learning in around your lifestyle, it’s easy to see why learning online is growing in popularity and even preferred by some people.
Finally, as online learning platforms continue to improve and become more interactive, many education providers, including The TEFL Academy, have been on par with the real classroom experience for some time now.
New opportunities for teaching English
Increased participation in online learning has also expanded the market for teaching English online. With this in mind, we created a Top-up Course specifically about Teaching English Online (now included FREE with every Level 3 TEFL Certificate and Online or Combined Level 5 Diploma courses).
If you’re looking to earn extra money by teaching online from home, or as you travel, this is a good place to start (you will need to have completed your TEFL qualification with us, or another recognised provider, in order to complete a top-up course).
Do I need to have classroom experience to get a TEFL job?
The short answer is no. You don’t need any face-to-face classroom teaching experience to get a TEFL job. However, it is a good idea to know what you’re signing up for, helping you to prepare for the real thing. We call this classroom confidence.
But, as online learning has gone mainstream, many employers and governments have dropped their requirement for classroom teaching experience completely. It is now much more acceptable to have qualified as a TEFL teacher with an online-only course.
What if I still want to get classroom teaching practice?
The TEFL Academy has created the 10 hour Teaching Practice Course (Webinar) which can be completed online.
The 10 hour Teaching Practice Course (Webinar) gives you everything you need to become classroom confident.
In one day, you’ll learn about classroom management and benefit from six hours of peer-to-peer teaching practice guided by our experienced TEFL tutors, who can give you real time feedback and answer any of your questions.
What are the requirements for teaching English abroad?
Whether you choose to get classroom teaching experience, or not — the most important aspect of your qualification will be its international recognition.
This signals to employers that your course has achieved a certain standard, making it essential if you want to teach overseas. Without this you may find it difficult to get employed.
At The TEFL Academy, we were the first TEFL provider to achieve this international recognition. We are now accredited in both the U.S. and the U.K.
Accreditation can be a tricky thing, so make sure the accrediting bodies are legitimate and respected. This can be done easily online through websites such as Ofqual and Qualifi.
Read more: TEFL Accreditation explained
Don’t forget, you can find out more about the different requirements for different teaching destinations in our TEFL World Factbook.
