When the global pandemic shut down schools, education and teaching essentially switched to taking place online.
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Remote teaching jobs
When the global pandemic shut down schools, education and teaching essentially switched to taking place online.
1.6 billion students across 150 countries were affected by disruptions to their education during this crisis. While many teachers felt relieved when schools reopened, and they could get back into the classroom in person, many others found that online teaching works for them. Plenty of students and parents found this to be the case too.
Thanks to the pandemic, the interest in remote teaching have continued. There are now more online teaching options and more ways to make this your full-time career. If you’re interested in a career as a remote teacher, you can start to work towards this by understanding more about it and the platforms you can use for work. A diverse range of options will suit different educators with different work goals. Keep reading to learn more about remote teaching jobs.
Education resources
What is remote teaching?
Remote teaching means teaching students in a different physical location to you and outside of a traditional classroom setting. Thanks to modern technology, it’s easier to educate students online, including students who might be in a different country or time zone than you. If you’re teaching a group or a class, it might be that each student is in a different location, for example, during lockdowns when students were learning in their homes.
Unlike a course designed to be taught online, remote teaching involves teaching usual classroom material in a virtual setting. You’ll probably need to adapt how you deliver material and the type of learning materials and methods you use for successful remote teaching.
The benefits of remote teaching work
Many educators find there are several benefits to teaching remotely. This type of teaching work gives you opportunities that you might not be able to access in a traditional teaching position. Depending on your lifestyle, other commitments, and preferences, this may mean that teaching remotely suits you better than working in a physical classroom. Some of the key benefits of working as a remote teacher are:
- Working with more diverse students, including students who live overseas
- Flexible working hours
- The ability to work from home
- More independence than in traditional teaching jobs
- Choice of platforms to use
- Easy to keep records of teaching sessions
Finding remote teaching work
If you’re interested in working as a remote educator, there are a variety of ways that you can start teaching virtually. There is a range of education platforms and other methods for this type of work, and each will appeal to different teachers. Each option also has different requirements for certification and experience, so it’s important to know what is open to you and whether you need any further education yourself to build the career you want. These are some main routes to working successfully as a remote teacher.
Virtual schools
There are a growing number of virtual schools in the USA and worldwide. A virtual or online school is similar to a traditional school, but all educational activities take place virtually. These schools usually have a fixed student body, but students may do more work individually. Often these types of schools have a less rigid structure and schedule than a physical school, and learning can be more personalized to individual students. Some online schools organize additional in-person events like field trips. In some cases, the student body might be multicultural or international. In other virtual schools, students may be concentrated in a particular state or area but still learn individually from their homes.
If you’re interested in teaching in a virtual school, it’s worth finding out which schools are available in your state. Often you need to live in the same state to be employed by a virtual school for reasons relating to having the correct certifications. A wise first step is to research what’s available in your state and find out about these schools’ teaching vacancies. With interest in virtual schools growing, more educators are needed to fill vacancies and cope with extra demand.
ESL teaching online
One in-demand opportunity for remote teachers is teaching English as a second language (ESL) online. This work allows you to connect with students from across the globe and from many different cultures, helping them develop their English language skills. You might tutor students individually or may work with whole classes. You’ll likely work with multiple students or groups at different levels. This job can offer much flexibility because you primarily work with students in different time zones. As well as school-age students, you can work with adult students when you teach ESL.
Even if you’re already certified as a teacher, you might need to go through some more steps to get the proper certifications for teaching ESL. You’ll need to complete an ESL-endorsed program to qualify. Once you have the right qualifications, you can research the wide range of companies that offer courses to students and need teachers for them. You can decide which platforms are most suitable with such a range available.
Online tutoring
Online tutoring is similar to traditional tutoring. You’re providing individualized student support and focusing on the subjects you have expertise. This type of teaching allows you to focus more on individual students and develop a deeper relationship with them. Students may need additional support in your subject or be getting tutoring because they’re just as passionate as you are about the subject and want to go into more detail. Tutoring is a great chance to focus on the subjects you love. This job lets you choose who to work with and agree on when to hold tutoring sessions. This gives you flexibility and makes it easier to fit your work around other responsibilities like parenting or another job.
You can offer online tutoring services to children or adults. Think about what subject or subjects you’re best equipped to teach. Once you know what you plan to teach, you can research the various online tutoring platforms and see if one works for you. Alternatively, you can advertise your services – social media can be a helpful tool.
Sell courses on Udemy
Udemy is an online marketplace for virtual learning for students. It allows you to design a course, offer it to students via the platform, and then teach the students who sign up. You can make your own decisions about what subjects to teach and to which age group, the hours, the cost, and the content of your course. You can create a course for a broad range of subjects, including both academic and extracurriculars.
Using Udemy, you’re creating a job rather than applying for one. Teaching in this way requires you to be very independent. You’ll need to decide what to teach and develop a program. You might create more than one to appeal to more students or different age ranges. Once it’s ready, you can promote it on the platform and in other ways, such as through social media. Over time, some teachers can establish themselves well on the platform and make teaching in this way their primary job.
Get into remote teaching
If you decide to become a remote teacher, there are multiple ways that you can progress your career. Working in this way gives you freedom and flexibility, and you can choose the most suitable approach. Whether you still want to be part of a school community or want total independence, there’s a way to teach remotely that suits you and your lifestyle. Due to the increase in remote teaching due to the pandemic, many opportunities are available. This is a great time to make a move to teaching remotely.
meta: Discover the definition of remote teaching jobs and find different ways to start your career as a remote teacher in this guide.
