Tell me about your experiences with online TEFL certification.
January 24, 2011 6:53 PM Subscribe
If you did an online TEFL course, what did you like and dislike about it?
For those of you who pursued an online TEFL or TESL certification, could you tell me what you thought were the strengths and weaknesses of the course?
I'd be especially interested in knowing any of the following, but of course you don't have to answer all of them:
1. How was course content delivered? Reading? Video? Audio?
2. What did you like & dislike about the course?
3. How comfortable were you with online learning?
4. What is the most important thing you learned?
5. How was the quality of materials and instruction?
6. How much interaction and/or feedback did you get from your tutor?
7. What do you think could have made the course better?
Thanks for any replies. I'm asking this as a preliminary step in research I'm planning to undertake about teacher training by distance.
For those of you who pursued an online TEFL or TESL certification, could you tell me what you thought were the strengths and weaknesses of the course?
I'd be especially interested in knowing any of the following, but of course you don't have to answer all of them:
1. How was course content delivered? Reading? Video? Audio?
2. What did you like & dislike about the course?
3. How comfortable were you with online learning?
4. What is the most important thing you learned?
5. How was the quality of materials and instruction?
6. How much interaction and/or feedback did you get from your tutor?
7. What do you think could have made the course better?
Thanks for any replies. I'm asking this as a preliminary step in research I'm planning to undertake about teacher training by distance.
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1. 20 individual packets of reading materials. Oh, really 19 plus one video unit (you can download the video or they'll mail it to you).
2. I liked the grammar units (as much as I complained about them). I really did learn a lot. The requirements for submitting complete lesson plans was good as well. It really made me think through the lesson and how different parts interacted with each other. With tutor support, you completed a worksheet for each unit. W/O support (cheaper) you take a test at the end of the course which, I believe, draws from the worksheets (which you still get).
3. I had no problem with the online aspect. But I lean toward geeky....
4. Grammar. Yeah. Definitely. It makes teaching grammar now easier. I have all my packets in a binder at work. I can pull them out when I need to clarify something. I've adapted some of the units as handouts for my higher level students.
5. I think the materials were well done. There were concrete examples, table and charts, and good explanations. There were a lot of good ideas for games and activities. The video for the one unit was OK. I was sick when I was doing that unit (I was working with friends) so I didn't get quite as much out of it as I could have. I can still go back and look at it now though.
6. My tutor was a bit of a putz. She didn't answer direct questions I had when I needed clarification on terms. The tutors my friends had were awesome though. They got tons of good feedback and extensive answers to any questions they had.
7. I haven't really thought about it. I can say that the TEFL course was great. The CYL course I got for free (no tutor support) sucked. The materials were no were near as good as the TEFL ones. It was shorter, but seemed less practical. Maybe it felt too theory heavy. In order to do the worksheets (to prepare for the tests) I had to do a lot of internet searching and some of the information wasn't easy to find. But, hey, free is free.
All in all, I positively recommend ITTT. I'm not affiliated with them in any way, just a satisfied customer. Hope this helps, MeMail if you have any other questions.
posted by kathrynm at 5:45 AM on January 25, 2011