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I have chosen this topic because I have recently completed an onsite TEFL course and I am now taking an online course in Business English. It is the first time that I'm taking an online course and although the learning experience is better than I had expected, I think that apart from the obvious advantages of an online course (it is cheaper and you can work on it whenever you have free time) a teacher being present is essential to a good learning experience and to get the most out of and fully understand a certain curriculum. In my opinion, this is because the role of a teacher is not only to be an instructor who provides information. The teacher also incorporates other roles that can benefit the students greatly. My only previous teaching experience was that of a scuba diving instructor and lies a few years back. Therefore I think that I could get a better understanding of the curriculum, especially of how to manage a classroom and of what is expected from a teacher, by getting hands-on advice and being shown by example in an onsite course rather than an online course. In the onsite course, it was beneficial for me to observe how my teachers conducted a lesson and therefore to have a role model to look at. Being provided with a classroom environment was also more motivating than learning on my own doing an online course. I also think that I could benefit more from the onsite course than an online course, because of the feedback I was able to get from the teachers as well as the co-students. What surprised me and helped me to get more out of the online course, was that I had to do a lot of research on my own, to find certain materials and other relevant information to the course. Doing my research I became aware of where to find things I will need as a teacher in the future. This will also be part of my future workload, especially as I am not an experienced teacher yet and I will have to find and develop my own teaching style and find out which teaching methods work best for me and my students. It also had the effect that I gained a deeper knowledge on topics I didn't know much of, than I did taking the onsite course. This was because in the onsite course I gained additional information to the course book mainly by asking the teacher questions because that was less time consuming and the course was packed into a relatively short time frame. Another important role of a teacher is the role of a mentor. Though the online course also covered, for example, the areas of how to look for a job and write a CV etc., the main difference to the onsite course were the discussions and help I got on these topics outside the classroom and even the course curriculum. This was mainly possible because by spending 4 weeks together in a classroom the teacher got to know each student well enough to provide individualised advice and feedback. I believe that this can hardly be replicated in an online course, even if there is a teacher available for the student to ask questions. In an online course, there is less of a relationship between the teacher and the student and the teacher doesn't know the student well enough to give him much individually tailored advice. There are many advantages and disadvantages of taking an onsite TEFL course vs an online TEFL course. I have been thinking a lot about my previous learning experiences and about what I will be doing as a teacher and came to the conclusion that a good teacher plays many roles such as motivator, mentor and counsellor and so on, which can be better fulfilled in an onsite course. Therefore a student can benefit more from an onsite TEFL course. If someone already has a lot of experience in other areas of teaching, I think that an online TEFL course can be as beneficial to the student as an onsite TEFL course. In the end, it is, especially with grown-up students taking additional educational courses, up to the student, how serious he/she takes the course and how much he/she can and wants to take out of it.
