Program Reviews

I researched a number of courses before deciding on OISE. Major deciding factors was it was 1. coming from a University recognized everywhere, 2. Convenience (I work full time so distance learning method was perfect, 3. Price and affordability. The course is designed in manageable chunks so its easily digestible. Knowledge checks and assignments were frequent and the level of difficulty was just right!

I have completed the 150 hour OISE TEFL program in September 2018. This program is comprehensive and valuable for all English language teachers. It includes teaching theories and practical experience sharing from professors, and expertises.
I chose this program because the program is worldwide recognition by University of Toronto. Also, I really enjoy this online program anywhere and anytime. After completed this program, I enriched my knowledge and skills of teaching English abroad.

If you are in a rush and need things done very quickly, do not rely on University of Toronto.

While doing this course, you are forbidden from even viewing the content of any lesson until you have completed every lesson before it. And (almost) every unit is capped with a submission of reflection journals that need to be manually 100% accepted by someone, somewhere, and you can't continue the course (or even try to write the test for that unit) until that is done. Which can take 1-2 days. You also never get any feedback on the quality or content of your reflective journals, despite the course having a whole unit talking about the usefulness of feedback and good ways to give useful feedback on a students work.

After completing this course, I was made to wait a full 5 weeks before receiving a scanned copy of my certificate, and I still haven't received the physical copy now, more than a week since I got the scanned copy, and it should normally take 2 or 3 days for how relatively short of a distance away I am. And this is despite me asking them multiple times to send it to me by the fastest means possible, even saying to do it at my own expense!

With that out of the way, the content itself seems fairly straightforward. The quizzes and unit tests weren't especially difficult.

this program overall is amazing. ive learned so many new thing that i use now in my every day life. Working with different types of people in multi-diverse working environment. Contribution to company appreciate at certain levels .Flexi hours. Being on the road most of the time gives opportunity to unwind. Great opportunity to learn about various cultures in one place. Able to learn your strengths and areas for growth in an international space. Can be ever changing so not for those that like constants and stability. Working in the Middle East was a wonderful experience. The people were very kind, the students were very obedient and their parents were very supportive.

The material was great overall. There was a lot of repetition, which can be tedious at times, but was ultimately good for knowledge retention. There were some minor problems with the specialization courses, such as wrong files being attached to a slide (I got a document for Arabic speakers when I was studying for Chinese speakers), but they did not interfere with the learning process.
The staff really helped in solving tech issues. When I had problems finishing the course due to personal reasons, they were helpful in granting me an extension.
The scan of the certificate was on time.
I took the program to learn more about teaching, so I never quite put much hope in the Teach Away job board. As it is, I will be getting a job, but not through TeachAway. It may be more helpful for others, but certainly not for me. (My nationality has to be taken into account as well.)

This is a course that set you up step by step, a streamline starting from 101 and leading to exactly what it takes to be a TEFL teacher, not matter what your major is in university, even to those that English is L2. If you study hard and seriously enough, you will be a great TEFL teacher. As matter of fact, I am quite unique example because I took the course NOT TO TEACH ENGLISH, but to teach Mandarin. Still theories, skills and techniques presented by the course are very useful in helping me to be a good Mandarin (should I say TMFL?) teacher.

I had spent about 6 months doing extensive research about which TEFL program would be the best choice for me before deciding to choose this program offered by the University of Toronto. I'd heard excellent things about this university and actually had had a few friends attend, so I decided to join them (what really hooked me is that there a special going on at the time that decreased the enrollment fee $100, so as soon as I saw that, I knew I had to sign up immediately). After having signed up, I began my classes that same day. I would study day and night, writing down everything I thought was important and that I could use in the future. This program is tough, but you will learn so much more than you would have ever thought. You'll learn about different learning acquisition theories, different learning styles, how to teach different age groups, and even the differences between teaching boys and girls. This program is worth the time, money, and effort. Also, upon completion, you'll receive a link to make an account with www.teachaway.com that allows you to search for all sorts of international job opportunities for TEFL. Don't wait! Sign up and get started! If you aren't looking to move abroad, there are still many opportunities to work at local languages centers or work online as well.

I completed the 120 hour online TEFL course, and I would definitely recommend it. The instructions/modules were very easy to follow. I found the course content interesting and truly felt like I've gained valuable knowledge and strategies to prepare me for teaching a class.

Any time I called the support team with questions, the staff were always helpful and friendly. Elspeth is very quick and helpful in answering emails.

I was aware that there is no practicum to this program, but I picked this program because it is self-paced and because U Toronto has a great name. The information is comprehensive but this certificate is no way, shape, or form worth the cost of almost $1500. At most, this course should be valued at $4-500. There are no recorded lectures. It is all PPT-style, with only a little audio for each topic. The audio is usually someone simply reading you the text on-screen. There are constant glitches with the ability to access the lessons, move forward, submit the assignments, return to the right point in a previous lesson, etc. It is really, really frustrating. Some of the "assignments" are a joke - you can move forward and "submit" by simply meeting the minimum character requirement, no matter what you've written. Then, later, it takes 3 days for someone to grade your journals so that you can proceed with the lessons.

I´ve been working as a teacher for several years abroad now, so that might have helped finishing the course; still I found some parts of the course useful. I did an online course for teaching German several years ago, and I must say, though content was more or less the same, this course here was so much less work ... short lessons, a lot of multiple choice, and reflection journals don´t ask for excessive answers. Good choice if you already have some experience and need a certificate without having much time.