How to get a TESOL certificate online?
In years gone by most training courses required attendance at some form of training center. However, since the explosion of the internet and the wide availability of internet connected devices, online training has gradually become more and more popular. These days online courses have largely become the norm in many fields and they have also become widely accepted by employers as a legitimate route towards qualification. Although there are a few areas where online courses might struggle to replicate their in-class equivalent, online courses are clearly here to stay.
Which online TESOL course should I choose?
If you have made the decision to complete your TESOL training via an online course, the next decision is which one to choose? The first thing to remember is that TESOL courses are normally classified by the average number of study hours they take to complete. A 60-hour course will take 60 hours to complete on average, although many people will find they can work through it considerably quicker than this. The next thing to remember is that employers of ESL teachers generally agree that a first-time teacher should have completed a TESOL course of at least 120 hours. Anything less than this is typically aimed at people who are planning to volunteer as a teacher or who plan to work as a teaching assistant.
At ITTT our most popular online option is the 120-hour TESOL certification course as it includes all the basic skills and knowledge required to start teaching ESL students.
What other online TESOL course options are there?
While the 120-hour online TESOL course is extremely popular, many of our trainees also sign up for additional online courses once they have completed their initial training. Taking extra courses will certainly look great on your portfolio and give you an added advantage when applying for jobs. However, the biggest benefit of taking additional courses is that they will greatly increase your understanding of ESL teaching, which will make you a more productive and successful teacher in the classroom.
One option is to take one or more short-format specialization courses that are designed to build upon the knowledge taught in an initial TESOL certification course. This type of qualification can be studied in a relatively short space of time and they are completed 100% online. At ITTT we offer three different specialized courses that represent the three most popular areas of ESL teaching worldwide: The course in teaching English to young learners, the course in teaching business English, and the course in teaching English online.
For more information, take a look at our specialized TESOL course page.
If your long-term teaching plan involves climbing the employment ladder towards jobs that include greater responsibility and a better paycheck, then you might want to think about an advanced-level course such as the Diploma in TESOL. With this level of qualification you will have a much wider pool of jobs to consider, including those at management level (although a reasonable amount of classroom experience is also typically required).
For more information, take a look at our Diploma in TESOL course.
