TEFL online Certificate without the support of a tutor.

[sydmil]

Hello everyone !

I’m looking to start TEFL certification, but my budget is limited. I found a good deal from teflonline.net for an online certificate course without a tutor. My question is: do you think it is important to have a tutor ? Is the TEFL certificate material hard to learn ? I guess "hard" is a relative term, but let’s say for a college graduate who has been out of school for quite some time.

Just one more clarification: How do prospective employers look at a Certificate vs Diploma ?

THANKS!

[Lucas]

Hi Sydmil,
I see that the course you mention is US$190 without a tutor. I don't really know how they structure the course so I couldn't tell you if a tutor is essential for that specific program. In Ontesol's Methodology module, a tutor is essential because you have to submit real lesson plans, and you need a qualified tutor to correct these manually. So I would ask the school you mention what the assignments are all about and if you have to submit real lesson plans. Keep in mind that the Methodology module (mostly about lesson planning) is the most important section in a TESOL/TEFL course.

Ontesol's 100-hour course, with tutor, is $269 CDN or approximately US$249

www.ontesol.com

[ICAL_Pete]

I believe that you should always have a tutor to help you with the course and can't understand why some providers think that a tutor is not necessary.

There are other courses out there for the same kind of price which include a personal tutor to help with material and so on. The ICAL TEFL Certificate, for example.

[ClemR]

I agree with pete, a tutor is essential to getting the most out of your TEFL Course. You not only get support with questions that you may get stuck on, but you get valuable feedback that can make a big difference to your learning experience.

As well as the courses above, i-to-i have a brand new and interactive online course that's definitely worth your consideration. i-to-i courses are hosted on an e-learning platform similar to what open universities use, and you get tutor feedback within 24 hours. Both of these factors make a big difference to your learning.