Online Teaching Jobs You Can do From Home — No Degree Needed
Teaching is a rewarding job where you get to use your accrued wisdom and experience to help others on their own learning journey. If you’re a strong communicator and have a passion for imparting knowledge to others, teaching would be a great career choice for you. The best part is, there are a variety of ways to dip your toes into the field of teaching without needing a degree or a qualification or years of teaching experience. One of these jobs is online teaching.
Online teaching jobs will allow you to begin developing your teaching skills, get good teaching experience, discover if you enjoy the role, and understand what the industry is like.
Online teachers instruct students in a variety of ways like:
Developing English language skills or another language you’re fluent in.
There are many platforms out there to teach English online for native English speakers that connect teachers with students from across the world.
Tutoring school subjects like maths, English, science, or history.
Preparing for standardised tests like the UMAT or GAMSAT (for entry into medical degrees).
Anything you’re passionate about!
Platforms like Skillshare or Udemy allow users to set up a class in coding, personal development, learning an instrument, origami, or anything else you can think of.
You can teach in small groups or via one-on-one mentoring. You may teach as a part-time side hustle, or investigate full-time teaching options.
How can you gain the technical skills to teach online?
Teaching online means that you need to have a reliable computer set-up and internet connection. You should also learn the ins and outs of the platform you’ve chosen to use.
To be a great teacher (online or in person), you need to be highly proficient in the area you’ve chosen to teach. This will help you convey confidence as you teach, and allow you to answer students’ questions.
Online teachers also need the following technical skills:
Word processing proficiency
Strong presentation skills
Ability to use tools such as PowerPoint slides, videos, images, and audio files to run the class
Confident with using technology to communicate, including email, chat, and teleconferencing software
Good with troubleshooting (e.g. what to do when nobody can hear your audio), and can help students troubleshoot when they have tech issues too
Relevant work experience you might already have
Starting a new career or side hustle can be daunting, but if you’re the kind of person who has a passion for teaching, it’s likely you already have relevant experience.
For example, have you ever:
- Helped train a colleague in a skill?
- Made a presentation to an audience of people?
- Managed people?
- Explained something complicated to someone?
- Taught someone how to do a craft?
- Led a group activity?
- Proofread and provided feedback on written work?
- Helped someone find the right words to express themselves?
- Helped another student in a class you were both taking?
All of these experiences are useful when it comes to teaching. They show you can impart information, take charge of a situation, and work with people to find out what they know and what it’ll take to help them reach their goals.
If you’re thinking of teaching children, have you ever:
- Been a babysitter?
- Volunteered to help out with activities for school-aged kids like sports coaching or after-school care activities?
- Parented your own child/ren?
Chances are, with any of these activities, you’ve learned about how to communicate with young learners, how to work with limited attention spans, and how to keep things fun and interesting.
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What soft skills might you already have that will make you a great online teacher?
Having these soft skills will benefit anyone looking to become an online teacher.
Communication skills
Imparting skills and information requires clarity. People from all around the world need to understand key concepts in order to learn them well.
Empathy
You need to remember what it was like to be a complete beginner in the subject your teaching. Learning something new can feel intimidating, your empathy can make a difference to students’ motivation and determination to overcome the challenges.
Organisation and time management skills
You need to plan the course and give students an outline of what will happen and when, so that they can plan their lives. Each class should be structured around a lesson plan. Classes should start and end on time, and shouldn’t be overloaded or underloaded with material.
Creativity
There are many different ways to impart information to students. Some are visual learners, while others may prefer traditional lectures, some benefit from getting real-world practice in a skill they’re learning. Being creative will help you find unique ways of reaching and engaging all your students.
Patience
Learning new things takes a lot of time. Online learning may also be a new format for your students. You might not see improvement straightaway, especially when you’re teaching complex things, like a foreign language. If you can be patient with students, and continue to encourage them as they’re challenged by new material, it will help students stick with your course.
Cultural sensitivity
You may be teaching people from all around the world. Around half of ESL students are based in China with many other countries represented among learnings. All teachers, but especially online English teachers, benefit from understanding different cultures.
How to find online teaching jobs
There are many platforms which allow you to set up as an online teacher and advertise your professional teacher services.
These online platforms include:
- General skill-based platforms like Skillshare or Udemy
- Teaching platforms for ESL teachers such as SkimaTalk, Qkids, Cambly, italki, PalFish, Preply, or Magic Ears
- Tutoring platforms like Cluey
These are just a few examples, there are many others out there!
If you’d prefer to strike out on your own, you can devise your own online courses using your preferred software. You can build your own course website with a service like Google Classroom or Wet Ink, and host sessions on software like Zoom or Skype.
Otherwise, you can become an online teacher by being hired in a teaching position by an agency such as a tutoring company.
Choosing where to teach online
Teaching platforms
Pros of using teaching platforms:
Cons of using teaching platforms:
Creating your own teaching site
Pros of creating your own teaching site:
Cons of creating your own teaching site:
Working for an agency
Pros of working for an agency:
Cons of working for an agency:
There’s a wide range of ways you can teach online, and a wide range of subjects you can teach. Online teaching can be a life-changing career for people passionate about helping students make strides in their skills and knowledge.
Want to start developing technical teaching skills before you dive into online teaching?