recommendations for online teaching?

[Jimjim1968]

Hello,

 

I am wondering if anyone can recommend some good companies to work for offering online teaching.

 

I work at a Thai school already but am struggling on the salary (have a family). 

 

Also, as I grow older I am hoping that online teaching may be a better way for me to earn money as the classroom job becomes more demanding. This coming year I have been informed my teaching hours are to be increased to 25 contact hours per week to classes of 50 students. This just doesn't sound fun anymore. In addition to this I am being reminded that this teachers licence issue is being raised and that I will have to attend classes and sit exams if I am to remain teaching in the government school I am currently employed at. 

 

Apologies for the moan. 

 

So if anyone has any online teaching companies they could recommend, I should be most grateful.

 

Ta awfully.

[simon43]

Most of the online schools seem to be based in China or Vietnam - many of them advertise on the 'cafe' ESL website.

 

Quite a few of these schools only employ teachers who have an American accent.

 

The pay rate may not sound very high, perhaps $10 - $14 USD per 1-to-1 lesson.  But that sort of money soon adds up over a month.

 

I was teaching EFL to Vietnamese children for a few months (after my daytime teaching job in Myanmar).  I was typically making about 20,000 Thai baht each month.  I had to stop because the internet service in Myanmar is not very reliable or fast, and I experienced quite a few connectivity issues.

[claffey]

The main online portal for teaching language lessons via Skype is www.italki.com . It is an excellent site but requires patience at first. You will find students but it will be slow until you get your statistis up (ie. the number of lessons taught)..

 

Remember that you will be illegally working here if you go down this path..Good luck...

 

ps verbling.com is another one but they are difficult to get accepted for...

[Hereinthailand]

I teach online to chinese students which is the main market thru a company. your biggest problem here is having a good enough internet connection to run video consistently. Start dropping connections and they will drop you as a teacher.

[claffey]

29 minutes ago, Hereinthailand said:

I teach online to chinese students which is the main market thru a company. your biggest problem here is having a good enough internet connection to run video consistently. Start dropping connections and they will drop you as a teacher.

Teaching on Skype works flawlessly on almost every system and connection.

[Hereinthailand]

So talking on skype is flawless ?? Maybe in BKK with a good connection (but everyone in thailand lives in bkk with good internet I forgot) You are not teaching english on skype only talking to someone in english. The real companies use LMS or CMS which add to the burden of the internet connection, but then you are actually teaching, not just talking to someone.

[KhonKaenKowboy]

China has their sole gateway, so that cuts speeds in half, just about.  What else I don't like about the Chinese companies is that the contracts seem to be very one sided.  You will be the one most accountable for the work, and the last one to get paid.  They are big on the edutainer thing...which you will be familiar with.  Also, they will always be overly critical of your work, and might even get the parents to pile on....nothing is ever the fault of the student.  Likely, better than teaching here.  If you are discrete at all, I see no trouble with Immigration.  There are countless people out listing their tutoring services on FB and a I doubt a single one is truly legal.  They would also be much easier picking for a sting...just like the people at the work spaces.  Sure doesn't give you the right to live here on visa runs, though.

[Hereinthailand]

I have worked for 3 different companies now teaching chinese students and will never go back to teaching thai students. Many of them are cowboy companies and yes they all want the TPR concept (Total Physical Response) its just the buzzword there now. But the company I work for now is based in New York and is listed on the NYSE, there are many reputable companies doing this. You can tell from your online interview and their LMS if they are worth working for, as I have turned down many just from the interview. You dont think teaching in thailand is all about entertainment ??? I call it paid babysitting. At least all of my chinese students, even the very young ones can speak some english and know countries and other cultures and are not afraid to speak with a falang, I have never seen a one sided contract they are all basically the same, teaching hours are evening and weekends and you agree on a schedule together. unlike thailand they are serious about their kids learning and expect teachers to be reliable (many teachers here are far from it). I dont think you know anything about online teaching to be honest.

[KhonKaenKowboy]

I have a BBA and good understanding of teaching contracts.  When illness results in losing more than the missed class; that is one sided.  Many are surprised to learn about the 15.3% employment tax they will owe the US Government.  Are you non NES?  

[Hereinthailand]

None of my contracts ever stated anything other than loss of earnings from not teaching, what do you think they should pay you for not working ? maybe in thailand that works but not in the real world. I have a BA in sociology and am american. So you dont have to pay US tax when you teach anywhere i.e. thailand ? So tell me what online companies have you taught for ? You seem to be making a lot of unfounded statements.

[lemonjelly]

Bet you're sorry you asked now, Jimjim. 

[simon43]

I was offered work by a couple of the major Chinese online companies, but turned them down because of their 'heavyweight' CMS (classroom application), which seemed needlessly wasteful of internet bandwidth and full of completely unnecessary features (great for 'face', useless for teaching).  

 

I am a professional teacher with italki and iSpeak (Vietnam), who both use Skype as their online tool.  Skype is perfectly adequate, since it allows you to share screens, quickly send videos/images etc.  Skype use less bandwidth than the Chinese CMS systems, (important since I'm based in Myanmar where the main internet gateway is more like the eye of a needle....)

[Rob13]

1 hour ago, KhonKaenKowboy said:

  Many are surprised to learn about the 15.3% employment tax they will owe the US Government.   

Pretty cheap tax rate by US standards. If the teacher's living i overseas, working  for a Chinese company and the money's being deposited in an overseas non-US bank account, it would only become an issue if the account had more then $10K in it, even then  the IRS would have a hard time proving anything, if they saw it as being worth their time in the first place.

[KhonKaenKowboy]

1 hour ago, Hereinthailand said:

 I have a BA in sociology and am american. 

I worked for Vandora in Vietnam.  The 15.3% just covers you Social Security contributions...American Company....gives you a 1099...you will owe it.  Income Tax liabilities will be extra.  If you are from California, and still get mail there, have family there, stuff in storage, showing that you will return....they will be looking for their money, too, and will not hesitate to levy your WFC or BAC account if you have been dodging them. 

[Hereinthailand]

^ Well having a degree in business administration and all you can do is teach in thailand the lowest paying esl country in the world LOL not much to brag about there.

[Hereinthailand]

Vandora looks like a bricks and morter school am I correct ?

 

[ThaiDiamond]

There's a new platform called "The Online Teacher".  They signed contracts with reputable schools and then match qualified teachers for them.  

 

The good news is that it's free for teachers.  They get paid by the schools.  

 

You can teach from anywhere-- and anytime--but obviously certain time zones (read: China) have more students available.  The school will provide the teaching plan and materials and train you up in their system.  More info here: *Direct link edited out*

[ThaiDiamond]

Why not choose from a handful of online companies.

 

"The Online Teacher" matches qualified teachers with the best online schools.  And it's free for teachers.

 

More info here: *Direct link to commercial site edited out*

[Scott]

Do not post direct links to commercial sites.