When looking for an online TEFL course, the sheer volume of providers can be extremely daunting. Having never taken one of these courses before, and not having expert knowledge in the field, how can you possibly be expected to navigate this mess of advertising, promises and well, pictures of good-looking young people? Fear not! We are here to talk you through it all.
The first thing we suggest is deciding on if you think the main website looks good.
- Is it professional?
- Are there typos?
- Are there missing links or buttons that don’t work?
These are all indicators of how the inside of the course will look too. If the website looks good and works well, then hopefully the online course will be easy to navigate too. (especially important when you’re staring at the screen at midnight after an intake of coffee Lorelai Gilmore would be proud of. Just me?)
The next thing we suggest thinking about is the organisation of the course. The chances are that a good online TEFL course will have different components covering grammar, vocabulary, lesson planning, principles and classroom management. On top of this, you want to make sure that there are actual things for you to do on the course. If you’re just passively consuming information, you can probably just find that online. What makes a course, well a course, is that there are assignments so you can engage with the topics in a meaningful way. If you can take a look at the units ahead of signing up, this will tell you if it’s something you’d like to study and if the people who are providing the course have the knowledge to back up their flashy website.
Speaking of assignments – another important thing to look for is if there are actual people grading them. We’ve done courses before where you get feedback from your peers but to get the most out of a course, you really need feedback from professionals – even better if they are working in the field themselves. With the rise in AI, it’s cheaper and easier for companies to offer bot feedback services but we all know that interaction with an actual real-life person is much more beneficial. (I’m picturing Geppetto when Pinocchio comes to life, rather than anything Mary Shelley had a hand in.) Basically, if there is an actual person on the other end of the feedback form, you will get personalised and helpful information that will give you actionable feedback.
And speaking of real-life humans – even with online courses, some rare providers are out there offering real-life human interaction, even online. An online course can be a lot of theory but without a practical way to apply this theory, it’s very difficult to learn all the lessons we can from it. So, the best online TEFL courses will also offer some practical classroom experience – whether that’s in an actual classroom or online – either way is a good start to help you get a feel of what it’s like to teach and, again, to get some feedback from actual human people.
Just as important as the content is what qualification you get at the end of the course. There is no point in pouring your blood, sweat, tears and banknotes into a course for hours on end, only to find that it leaves you no closer to getting a job at the end of it. A good online TEFL course will give you a recognised qualification. Bonus points if it’s an internationally recognised one and triple mega bonus points if it is accredited by an official body like a government or a well-known education provider.
You might also want to think about whether there is input about children, as well as adults. A lot of courses skip over the fact that dealing with energetic children in the classroom is completely different to dealing with over-caffeinated post-work adults. Most employers want you to teach children but most TEFL courses don’t teach you to do that. So if you can find a course that teaches you about both adults and children, you’re going to increase your chances of finding a job.
One final thing that gets an honourable mention in our list of things to look for in an online TEFL course is the role of the support team. The support team is the backbone of any organisation and they can tell you a lot about how it’s run. If you email them with an inquiry, you want a timely and helpful reply. This lets you know what to expect if you hand over that cash (albeit digitally).
Taking these factors into consideration will help you decide if the course will be worth the effort and caffeine intake.