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online tefl courses vs onsite TEFL coursesI am recently finishing up my online tefl course but I am now going over the differences between an online course and an onsite course. When I first decided to take a TEFL course, I had to make the choice between taking an online course or an onsite course. I chose to take an online course but I will show the comparisons I made before making that decision. Onsite course benefits outweigh the cons. One of the most important benefits of taking an onsite course is that they are a lot more engaging and they give you real hands on experience. This is especially important because when you are trying to become a teacher. Someone with no previous teaching experience will get the chance to get any first time nerves out of the way before starting the job. Also, during onsite courses, you get to work through the process of planning a lesson, right through actually teaching students and your classmates letting you find out firsthand what works and what does not in the classroom. The teacher and the other students can then give you feedback on how you did, what you did well, and what you can improve on. I have heard from other people who have taken an onsite course that each day that you are in the course, your course teacher takes you through a typical class for every level of english as if you are the student learning english. This gives you a chance to witness firsthand how a class is run and which techniques are particularly effective. People have described this onsite process as something that is necessary for someone who has not ever taught before and that is why onsite courses are viewed to be a better experience than online courses. Another positive aspect for onsite courses is that you get to network with the friends you make in class making the learning atmosphere more enjoyable than working on a computer by yourself. The one main con for onsite courses is that the price is higher than online courses. You also have to change your schedule around to fit the class schedule and that could mean having to take time off work to finish the course. Like onsite courses, an online course has its pros and cons and well. An online course does have its major benefits to its downsides. You can take the class from your own home or anywhere that has internet connection. It is cheaper than onsite courses and you can work on it at your own pace. It gives you a foundation and a head start to teaching that you may have not had before and could make the transition to an onsite course easier if taking an onsite class is possible in the future. It gives you a chance to learn the basics of grammar and teaching skills so you can go out and practice what you learned in an environment of your choice. If you are confident enough to start teaching from the get go just from doing an online class you would not need to spend the extra money to pay for an onsite class. Communication with your tutor is harder because everything works through technology instead of in person. Also, as mentioned before, you do not get the first hand experience or direct attention that you get from onsite courses which is a great detail to have looking for jobs. Now looking back at the comparisons, I would have taken an onsite course instead but like many other people who chose online TEFL courses, I had a limited amount of time and money for an onsite course. I am happy with my online course experience though because it accomplished everything that an online course can accomplish and everything that I was hoping to get out of it. With a limited amount of time and money, taking an online course is better than taking no course and if you can be resourceful in gaining the first hand experience that online courses do not include, you can learn almost as much as you can from an onsite class.
