ONLINE ENGLISH TEACHING
Essentially online teaching is the same as the classroom. Particularly when it comes to one-to-one lessons. The students’ goal is to learn and improve their English and the teacher is responsible for helping them to do just that.
To begin with here are some of the advantages and disadvantages to online teaching:
Convenient: Tired of excessive travel time and costs? Teaching online eliminates the hassle. Turn on your PC, log in and start teaching. That simple!
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Save: Compare that to the cost of travel (\300 return, coffee \400, 30min time there and back, usually these come out of your lesson fee eg. 3,000 – 300 – 400 = 2,300 for 1hr work and 1 hr travel time)
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Access to excellent online materials: The internet has a wealth of resources for learning English. Essentially, as far as teaching English is concerned there are two kinds of websites: one group is specifically targeted to teaching English and the other group consists of any normal website that can be exploited for practical applications. We already have a range of links that include online dictionaries, encyclopedias, movie review sites, and other excellent sites with invaluable content for teaching and discussion during your lessons. Ever wished you had an article about today’s news to discuss in class? Ever wanted to talk about a movie but had no material? Ever discuss facts about Japan and wanted to compare it with other countries? All possible in a few clicks. We encourage our teachers to have lightening-fast search skills, so if you should happen to be discussing any topic at the start of the lesson, eg basketball, you can find a valuable site that you can exploit with all your teaching skills for a part of lesson or the entire. The lesson becomes much more practical and enjoyable for everyone!! Not sure how it’s done? Don’t worry! We provide you with initial training and there are also online resources in the teaching section with case studies and examples to help you deliver quality online lessons.
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Unique: This goes without saying! Online possibilities are virtually limitless. We encourage teacher creativity within a general lesson structure. Are you good at winging it? Well, we will show you how to fly. What’s more your students really will benefit and start to spread their wings too.
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Teach from anywhere: English Flow is a Japanese based company and we are seeking experienced teachers trained in the Japanese English learning environment. Did you work in an Eikaiwa? Are you experienced in one-to-one lessons? Have you taught privately? These are some of the qualities we are after. Your skills are already molded for the EF teaching experience.
With these skills there is no barrier to teaching from anywhere in the world. You consider the possibilities…we have a special guide for those teachers that want to relocate yet continue to teach. (Things to bear in mind though are the varying time zones, international money transfer fees and of course the ability to maintain a stable, fast and quality internet connection. There may be other logistics related to relocation that you will have to carefully plan as well).
Impersonal: The sound quality is excellent and video is quite good. But it is not quite like being in the same room with your student. Patience and effective strategies are required to avoid mechanical style teaching. We will give you tips on how to make your online teaching personality as appealing as we are sure it is in person.
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Body language and physical activities are limited: web cams make it possible to clearly see each other, but basically in terms of teaching, you are limited to voice. This is makes the lessons more intensive for students, no body language signal shortcuts. Just pure English. Which has learning benefits for the students. But we understand this style is not suitable for every teacher.
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RSI: Sitting at a computer all day can lead to physical strain. Although most of our teachers choose only to teach a few ours a day or week, this is an important issue to be aware of. However, it is not a new problem, as office workers have been coping with such disadvantages for years. We have occupational health and safety resources with tips and advice for preparing your online teaching space for the best ergonomics and good practices to avoid these RSI problems
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Technical problems: Due to continual improvement in quality of computers, software and internet speeds usually such problems aren’t major issues and easily solved. However, everybody has a different set of hardware specifications, different OS, different software and varying internet speeds. Teaching online English with English Flow requires the download and installation of Skype. Technical problems with installation and operation may be encountered, but we will do our best to direct you to overcome any difficulties. Don’t worry it really is EASY! You will be surprised!!
If the plusses outweigh the minuses for you then we are interested in hearing from you.
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The quality of the resolution (300000 pixels is recommended for standard picture)
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Flexible mounting positions to suit your computer and your room.
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Adjustable focus
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Compatibility with Skype Video Plug-in Spontania (see list here).
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Some web cameras include headset, but usually these are not very good quality.
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Does it have left and right earphones? (some headsets have only one)
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Does it have a MIC ON/OFF switch? (this is convenient if you want to stop transmitting sound)
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Does it have a VOLUME control switch? (this is useful to adjust the sound levels instantly in your headset)
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How long is the cord? A long cord allows you more movement in your room (for example, to stand up and find a pen or some paper or a book)
Try to buy a web camera and headset with these points and your buget in consideration. The best rule is to get something that you feel is comfortable for you.
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