Teaching Online: Traveling Abroad while Teaching through your Computer

March 6, 2020

If you’re a teacher, then you’ve probably seen the current side hustle that is sweeping the educational world: teaching online. I’ve had so many questions about it and honestly don’t even know who to ask sometimes. Luckily Nicola with Seenic Wander is a pro when it comes to online education.

What made you want to teach online?

“Before I started teaching online, I was a science teacher in a public school in the states. I loved my students and teaching science is so fun, but I knew I wanted to travel more.

So I looked into options for teaching abroad, and during my research I learned about teaching english online. I figured I would start with an online job over the summer to make some extra money and then move abroad to teach in the fall. But after a few days of teaching English to some of the cutest kiddos from the comfort of my home, I knew that I wanted my online teaching job to be more than just a summer side hustle. So I decided to see if I could make it my main teaching gig.”

What was your job search experience?

“When I started out the main company on the market was VIPKID. I applied to VIPKID when a fellow teacher friend suggested them. She had been teaching online in the mornings and on weekends to save up for a house, and when she found out I wanted to travel she suggested VIPKID for something flexible.

After a few years of doing VIPKID exclusively, I also added Palfish Freetalk into the mix. A few friends and blog readers were interested in teaching online without a degree and I wanted to try out a company that fit this criteria before recommending something to them.”

What was the application process like? Do you need special qualifications?

VIPKID

“For VIPKID, you’ll fill out a written application with your teaching credentials and experience. You’ll hear back very quickly if you’ve moved on to the demo lesson stage. Next, you’ll complete an interview/demo lesson where you’ll record a video of yourself teaching a few sample slides and submit it for review.

After passing the interview/demo lesson, you’ll receive teacher training materials to review. You’ll do mock classes which is where you’ll practice teaching longer lessons with a mentor teacher. Once you’ve passed your mock lessons, you’ll submit your paperwork and complete your teacher profile to start teaching.

You must have a BA degree in any subject, and are from the USA or Canada. You’ll also need 2+ years of working with children in any capacity. This can be teaching, tutoring, mentoring, coaching, etc. A teaching degree or TEFL certification is a huge plus!”

Palfish Freetalk

“For Palfish Freetalk, you sign up on their smartphone app. You’ll need to submit a 30 second speaking sample for them to assess your speaking ability and make sure you have a neutral accent. Then, you’ll fill out any experience or qualifications you have, as well as your teacher bio.

You’ll either need some kind of teaching certification or a TEFL certification. No degree is required.”

Pros and Cons

“I’ve had a great experience with VIPKID and Palfish Freetalk.

VIPKID is a great choice because classes are one on one and all the lesson planning is done for you. That’s right! No teacher prep! After coming from a science classroom where I had three different preps per day, this was a huge perk for me. VIPKID is also super flexible with scheduling. You can work as much or as little as you want since there are no minimum or maximum teaching hours. You can also work from anywhere with a good internet connection, which makes VIPKID a great travel job.

The downside of VIPKID is that the hours can be very early in the morning for teachers in North America. VIPKID focuses on teaching English to children in China, so classes must be held at a time that works with their schedule. Since North America and China are about opposite of each other time wise, the highest demand for classes is early in the morning, North America time.

Palfish is great because it has fewer requirements to become a teacher and a lower barrier to entry. The Freetalk version is talk-based so you don’t have to prepare any lessons, and sessions can be held on your smartphone through their app. Palfish is also a great option for people who want to work with adults.

The downside of Palfish Freetalk is that it doesn’t pay as high as VIPKID when you’re starting out. You set your own pay rate with Palfish Freetalk and it’s recommended that you start out pricing yourself competitively to get students. With time, you can always raise your prices though.”

What Does Your Life Look Like Now?

“I’m still based in my hometown, but I travel all the time to explore new places or just visit friends and family. For example, It’s great to be able to go visit my sister for a week and not have to take any time off work.

Teaching online has definitely given me the opportunity to travel more. With the ability to make some money on the road or simply the ability to take time off whenever I want, having a flexible remote job means more traveling opportunities.

Teaching online has also gave me an income stream while I built my blog. Starting a blog or passion project that actually makes money takes a long time, so I’d highly recommend having some kind of flexible income source during those building years. Teaching online is a great option if that’s what you need.”

How Much Do You Get Paid? What Hours Do You Work?

“Teaching online with VIPKID pays around $20 USD per hour. I was able to make enough to live comfortably by teaching around 20-25 hours a week. With online teaching jobs, you’re only paid for the actual teaching you do. In a traditional classroom, teachers have a lot of other responsibilities like lunch duty, after school activities, lesson planning, etc. Online teachers are only expected to show up for the set class time and are paid exactly for the time they teach.

The downside is that online teaching jobs don’t provide any benefits like health care or retirement. If you’re used to receiving these benefits, you will have to sort these out independently when you start teaching online.

When I’m in North America, I teach from 6:00 am – 9:00 am Monday through Friday. If I want to make extra money one week, I also teach from 7:00 pm – 11:00 pm on Friday and Saturday night since this correlates with Saturday and Sunday mornings in China. Even though it can be tough to get used to the early mornings, I really like being done with my day so early! It leaves lots of time for other activities and projects, which is exciting and fulfilling.”

Be sure to check out Nicola’s current and future adventures across the world at Seenic Wander. Curious how you can start your journey teaching abroad? Download our Free Ultimate Guide to Teaching Abroad below!