Quiz: Are you ready to teach ESL online?

Are you willing to invest $300-500 in your computer, headset, webcam and other technology required to give effective online lessons?*
- No
- Yes

You have to get students. There are two main ways to do this. Which one appeals to you more?*
- I want to develop and maintain my own completely independent online teaching presence -- complete with my website and business systems for credit card processing, scheduling, and advertising.
- I love teaching and I don't want to get caught up in all the other details of running a business. I want to work with a company that coordinates students and handles the admin so that I can just focus on teaching.

Where would you prefer to get your digital lesson resources?*
In most online English classes, you need content of some sort to focus on with students. Even in pronunciation or speaking lessons, having a handout is useful.
- I would prefer to find (and/or make) all of my own digital resources from various websites and books.
- I would prefer to use a school's collection of digital resources, rather than search for them or create my own.

How do you feel when you think about digital solutions and workarounds for things you already do naturally and easily in the classroom?*
Especially in the beginning, teaching online requires thinking "outside the box."
- I think I would be really comfortable online. I already have some ideas about how to teach online.
- I feel unsure but if someone guides me, I know I could learn!

When you teach or spend time with students, how engaged and energetic are you?*
- When I'm teaching students I really like, I get energized.
- Even when I teach students I really like, I feel tired.

What would you do in the following scenario?*
Let's imagine you use Skype as the platform to give students lessons. Some students' first time using Skype happens during their English lesson.They might not know how to find the button to display the chat box, or they can't immediately find audio / microphone controls, or they don't know how to share their screens. Imagine one of your students has one of these problems, but s/he can't figure out how to explain the problem to you. How likely are you to have the patience to guess, anticipate and ask questions to determine the problem, and then explain to him or her how to fix that problem?
- Even with practice, I would not want to be in that situation.
- I could do it if I had opportunities to practice explaining.

Can you hold yourself to a self-imposed schedule and manage your time well?*
- Sometimes I'm good at it; sometimes I have trouble. With some guidance, I think I could manage it.
- I'm really good at making myself do things that I don't want to do.

How soon do you want to be teaching online?*
- I need to think more about it -- but it's a good option for the future.
- I'm dying for that kind of opportunity; I'm ready now.