Great Ways to Teach English with Technology

Nowadays, technology plays a very important role in most people’s lives. The way we learn and teach has changed significantly, since schools worldwide have welcomed the use of technology in their classrooms. In addition, it is now possible to teach and learn online, making education more accessible and increasing the number of job opportunities, either as full- or part-time work.

Teaching English as a foreign language (TEFL) is an industry that takes full advantage of the benefits that technology offers, especially when it comes to teaching online. 

One of the reasons why teaching English online is so popular is because it offers great flexibility. As an online TEFL teacher, you can choose how many hours you want to work each week, depending on your personal commitments. You can also choose what kind of lessons you want to give and what age group you want to teach. Another advantage of online teaching is that it gives you the freedom to teach from anywhere in the world at any time of the day or night, depending on your learners’ time zone. 

Just like any kind of teaching, TEFL is meaningful and rewarding. Students from all over the world invest time, money, and energy to learn English in order to find a job or further their careers. As their teacher, you can make a huge impact in their lives, while getting to know people and cultures from all over the world. Don’t forget that teaching and learning can be fun! It’s up to you to create and deliver engaging lessons that keep your learners focused and interested.

If you are considering online teaching to become more independent, you’ll be pleased to know that this career path allows you to be your own boss. Although you could start your online teaching business from scratch, you could rely on the help of established online schools. As a freelancer, you would be able to concentrate on delivering your lessons through specific platforms, leaving the aspects of running a business to the online school.

Established online schools

The hiring criteria is different for every online school, and so are the opportunities they offer. Here are some of the many online schools you could be working for.

• With Italki, you can teach English or other languages to students worldwide. There are two teaching options: as a community tutor, delivering informal and conversational classes, or as a professional teacher. On this platform, you can set your own rates, but keep in mind that professional teachers usually charge more than community tutors.
• Lingoda is another platform for teaching languages (not just English) to a mainly European audience. You don’t need prior experience to teach at Lingoda, as they provide you with ready-to-use lesson materials and excellent support.
• Cambly specialises in conversational English for learners who are already able to speak the language to a certain extent.
• Landi focuses on teaching young learners, but you must already have some relevant experience in the field to apply. They believe that the learning process is more successful if there’s a ‘bond between teachers and students’.
• If you are interested in teaching students from South-East Asia, Topica Native can be a good option. As long as you are available and offer good quality teaching, they guarantee at least 20 teaching hours every month.
• As its name suggests, LatinHire focuses on South American students. What is special about this platform is that you could teach any subject of interest, like Biology, Maths, Chemistry, and Marketing, as well as English. They pride themselves with a very fast hiring process.

Equipment for online teaching

There’s no need for expensive equipment. A laptop with lots of storage and a good quality camera are ideal. Getting a headset is important to reduce external noise and avoid distractions, for you and your learners. A pen drive isn’t necessary, but it can be very useful in an emergency situation. Use it to save your go-to lessons in case your laptop isn’t available and you need to teach from someone else’s device.

Your setting is crucial for a successful lesson. A quiet area with natural light would be best, but bright lamps strategically placed can be a very good alternative.

Technology in the classroom

Although technology is often associated with online teaching and learning, online teaching is not everyone’s cup of tea. If you are interested in teaching English abroad in a face-to-face capacity, rather than online, have a look at the new best programs to teach English abroad. As an increasing number of brick and mortar schools introduce technological devices to their day-to-day lessons, the range of tools that teachers can use has expanded. You’ll find that there are many ways to use technology in the traditional classroom-based teaching. 

• Quizlet, to create flashcards. This allows students to practise and test their vocabulary.
• Kahoot is an exciting way to learn. Its game-based quizzes test students’ knowledge while adding a competitive and fun element to the activity.
• Google Forms and Microsoft forms allow you and your students to create and complete surveys, while you can see the final results on a spreadsheet.
• With Pixton, your students can create comics and storyboards.

Can technology hinder the learning process?

Although technology has been accused of isolating people and, in some cases, reducing the quality of learning, there are many advantages to using learning in the classroom. 

If you are planning on teaching English abroad, one of the most important steps you can take is to establish a strong relationship with your learners. To do this, you’ll need some common ground: technology can provide you with that by allowing you to build rapport with your class through educational games. 

The education landscape has changed together with its methodology.  Studies have shown that ed tech can help learners progress at their own pace, but it also offers them the opportunity to collaborate and support one another. It appears that technology is a double-edged sword which can bring benefits to the learning process if it is applied with purpose.

Good news for teachers!

Long gone are the days when you had to photocopy and cut endless amounts of pictures and flashcards. You can now use one of the many apps available to do the hard work for you, while you focus on what matters – adding valuable content to your lessons. What’s even more important is that your students will make progress in their learning while having fun!