So, you want to teach online?
Teaching English (or Other Subjects) Online
Whether you are looking to become a full-time online English teacher, or simply want to earn some extra money from teaching a few hours a week, your options are essentially the same. That is, there is a choice of three different routes that are available to you. The first thing to note is that these routes need not be mutually exclusive. You can freely switch between any of these routes – or even explore multiple routes at the same time. There isn’t any one route which is ‘better’ than the others, it very much depends on you. This article will help you navigate the online teaching space so as to guide you to the most suitable teaching option for you and your particular situation.
Note: This article expresses the ideas, experiences and opinions of Focus on Learning. It does not contain any affiliate links and we do not work with any of the websites or platforms mentioned. this article has been written to help rather than make money.
Route 1: Teach for an online company
The first option available to you is simply to teach for an online organisation. These are a large number of organisations who operate in this space and each company offers students from different countries, levels and age levels. Companies typically provide you with students, lesson materials and a platform to teach them on. This means your job is simply to deliver the materials to the students they provide you with. The nature of the teaching itself varies from organisation to organisation but a great deal of teaching typically entails working with young children, often age 6 and above, up to the ages of 16 and above.
Requirements:
There are companies that will employ teachers without any qualifications or experience whatsoever. There are also organisations that accept teachers without a degree. It is more typical for companies to require a basic 120 hour TEFL/TESOL certificate. Additionally, some companies only accept native English speakers from a set list of countries.
Indicative pay range and REMUNERATION:
Anywhere from $2 to $30 per hour, with the average typically being around $15. Pay is dependent on your qualifications and experience and some companies also offer bonuses for arriving on time or for the number of lessons successfully completed. A word of warning: these organisations often state a range of pay ‘up to’ meaning this is the maximum level and the amount they offer you may well be significantly less than this figure.
Popular companies include:
DaDaABC
VIPKiD
Whales English
Note: All of these companies, and indeed many others, can be found via a simple Google (or alternative brand search engine) search.
Advantages:
The sheer number of online schools means you can simply apply to several of them which maximises your chances of getting employed. Moreover, you can work for several organisations at once to ensure you reach the minimum number of teaching hours you require. This also gives you the chance to explore different platforms to help decide which is the best fit for you and your particular teaching style. The main advantage though, is that the company finds the students for you, and often provides materials, so in many cases you can simply just log on and teach! However, that doesn’t mean that you don’t need to familiarise yourself with the materials though (especially if you are a newer teacher).
Disadvantages:
Many of thee companies are based in Asia, often China, and so may require you to teach early in the morning or late at night. You may have noticed I used the word ‘companies’ rather than ‘schools’ in the title of the route. This is because it is important to note that these organisations are businesses that exist, as indeed all businesses do, to make money. This is the central consideration with these routes and explains the relatively low rate of pay. In going down this route you essentially accept a lower rate of pay in exchange for the company finding students for you and providing you with materials (and of course some may not consider this to be a big disadvantage). However, these companies are known to over-recruit and so you may not be offered enough hours. Why? This is because companies want to ensure students can always find a teacher, additionally, recruiters make money from recruiting you as a teacher.
Route 2: Teach via an online platform
The second option available to you is to teach using an online platform. This typically entails signing up, creating a profile and introduction video. In this way, the platform simply acts as an intermediary that connects students to teachers, deals with the booking and payment process for you. This route allows you to set your own prices and some platforms even allow you to offer specific ‘courses’ such as exam, business or indeed any other area you care to offer. Students then select a teacher based on their needs, preferences, budget and assessment of your teaching profile.
Requirements:
Some platforms require a degree and TEFL/TESOL certificates in order to be considered a ‘professional teacher’. Most platforms regard a 120-hour TEFL/TESOL certificate as sufficient for this purpose. If this does not describe you then it is possible to teach as a ‘community teacher’ on some platforms (such as italki) which means you can register and teach without any formal qualifications (although the amount you charge will be significantly lower).
Indicative pay range and REMUNERATION:
You are free to set your own rate of pay, although you must consider what other teachers with similar experience and qualifications are charging. Additionally, platforms typically take a percentage of your earnings and withdrawing your pay could incur currency or transaction fees.
Popular companies include:
italki
Verbling
AmazingTalker
Note: All of these companies, and indeed several others, can be found via a simple Google (or alternative brand search engine) search.
Advantages:
This route give you flexibility in terms of setting your own rate of pay (within reason!) and teaching how and what you wish to teach in the (virtual) classroom. You are also free to decide what sort of student you teach in terms of: age range, level/s or indeed any other factor you care to consider. The platform also finds students for you so you don’t need to worry about recruitment. Platforms, such as Verbling, integrate everything into their website from sharing resources to integrated video conferencing to payments. This allows the teacher to focus on what they training for… teaching. You are also free to choose your own hours of availability to suit your schedule, which is useful if you are wanting to either teach full-time or simply teach a few hours a week.
Disadvantages:
These platforms take a percentage of your earnings varying from 15% to 33% which means the rate you charge is not the rate you receive (in addition to any withdrawal or currency fees). Perhaps a bigger issue is that it can take a while to become established, that is to build up an adequate number of students. You are also in direct competition with other teachers on that platform. This means that the rate you can charge is dictated by market factors, i.e. what other teachers are charging (and students are paying). That is, platforms provide more freedom that route 1 options; however, this freedom is more restrictive than it first appears. Moreover, you are completely reliant on the platform, so if it brings in additional changes you don’t like, or increases its fee, then there is little you can do other than leave the platform… and your students!
Route 3: Teach Freelance
Using a platform, as outlined in route 2 above, may provide the illusion of being ‘freelance’ but you are of course completely dependant on that platform and its policies. Being truly freelance means operating without the help of an online teaching company. That is, you find your own students independently and do things entirely your own way. This means you can set your own prices, select your own materials, decide which video conferencing application to use and indeed offer any range of services in any manner you desire. As a result, you will likely need to establish an online presence through social media and/or your own website. Being a freelance teacher could mean simply working for yourself or starting a teaching business.
Requirements:
As a freelance teacher, you are free to decide how and where you market yourself which means you don’t technically need any formal qualifications. You do; however, have to attract students and develop an attractive business model.
Indicative pay range and REMUNERATION:
Entirely up to you (subject to market factors… and of course within reason!)
Popular companies include:
[Insert your own name here]
Note: You are free to operate using your own first or second name, e.g. Freddie’s English School, or invent your own organisation name, e.g. Focus on Learning.
Advantages:
Going freelance gives you a huge amount of flexibility and the ability to run things exactly how you would like them to be. You are free to specialise in a particular area or offer a range of courses or services. If you are someone who likes to be in full control of how and what you teach then this is an attractive option for you. It is also possible to teach for other organisations through either route 1 and/or route 2 while you set yourself up as freelance providing further flexibility and off-setting potential risks. Once you are established this is a much more robust way to operate as you are not subjected to the whims of an external organisation. Better still, you are not reliant on any one student, losing one student would not have a big impact on your business and so you are free to decline unsuitable students.
Disadvantages:
This route certainly isn’t for everyone and requires significantly more risk. To succeed you need some level of business acumen as you are essentially starting your own business or becoming a ‘teacher-preneaur’ – which means you not only need to be a great teacher but also need to be an able business person! Excellent marketing is as, if not more, important than excellent teaching. This option also requires a sizeable commitment in terms of time and money to get yourself set-up. You can of course cut costs and use a free website builder, but then your site would look less professional and so you are less likely to attract students. Moreover, it is difficult to find students in the first place and can take a long while to take off, if indeed you can manage to do so at all. You will also need to manage your own payments and scheduling which will incur costs and have tax implications. This is not the easy option it may first appears to be – or indeed others will have you believe that it is!
Good luck on your personal online teaching journey whichever route you take!
Whichever route, or combination of routes, you decide to opt for Focus on Learning wish you the best of luck! We offer a number of teacher training support options to help you with any of the above options which can be found in our Teacher Training Guide. You are of course free to experiment and learn from your own mistakes but if you’d rather learn from ours then we would be more than happy to help you!
