Online Teaching Jobs: Where To Find Them
Online teaching jobs can be a great way to make some side income during down time from your normal class.
They come with the perks of being able to work from home and being able to choose your own hours. Some of the work that’s available is for kids who are in different time zones, too, so it’s really the morning for them when you’re teaching at night.
We’ll go into the various online platforms out there, requirements that you’ll need to meet for them, and how to set up a good teaching space.
Let’s start talking about the platforms for online teaching jobs.
1. The Platforms for Online Teaching Jobs
There are a lot of platforms out there to connect with students remotely via video software. A few of the popular options are:
- VIPKid
- DaDa
- Gogokid
- Magic Ears
- Outschool
- BlingABC
All of these offer a certain base amount of money and additional compensation based on how many classes you teach. The pay for their online teaching jobs can range from about $15 per hour up to $27 per hour. There are some outliers in there, since Outschool allows you to set your own rates for classes.
You could potentially end up make a lot more per hour doing it that way. The type of teacher you are will also affect how much opportunity there is out there for you.
2. The Subjects
A lot of these platforms are looking for English teachers. Some are more open, but, you will want to have that as your focus if you want the most options.
You don’t need to actually be an English teacher, either. You just need to be able to teach English classes. Most of the platforms offering online teaching jobs also look for either a completed Bachelor’s Degree or one in progress.
The BA can be in any subject with most of these. Magic Ears is even okay with you being a current student in the process of getting your bachelor’s. You just need to be able to provide a current transcript.
Outschool will let you teach a variety of topics. Some of their more interesting classes are “The Brain Club: Weird Topics, Controversies, and Debates in Modern Psychology” or “Let’s Draw Anime Characters!”
Other neat subjects are Coding & Tech, Life Skills, and Health & Wellness. So, if you would really prefer to use your specialty instead of teaching English, check that out.
Otherwise, the online teaching jobs that are English-only can be found with VIPKid, GoGoKid, or Magic Ears. Some, like VIPKid, require at least 2 years of teaching experience.
3. Setting Up Your Teaching Space
Your teaching space will need to be an area that’s well-lit, distraction-free (for you), and doesn’t have anything in the background that could take away from the lessons you’re teaching.
Ideally, you can use a home office for working your various online teaching jobs. A few of the platforms, like VIPkid even say that it can be done in your living room or kitchen.
If you have a busy house, that probably won’t work. However, you can definitely do it if there won’t be interference! The platform GoGo Kid recommends people have teaching props ready to facilitate a better learning process.
The natural light in whatever room you use will probably be fine, but, you could also consider using studio lighting for that soft effect. There are pretty inexpensive options for those on Amazon.
Online Teaching Jobs: Tying It All Together
If you’re a teacher, you probably have a few months in the summer where you wish you were working. There might even be other times of the year where you want to make extra money. You should take advantage of the different options out there that can help supplement your income with the skills you already have. Plus, there are a lot of kids and families who need that education!