No whiteboard function, PDF viewer, nor even the most basic classroom functions. Skype is Skype that’s why it might as well be the generic word for video calling.
Having to download a desktop client for some is not nice, however the desktop application is very simple and most people already have it.
Much of this is due to the fact that most of your students are probably familiar with Skype. Simple and straight forward, hence why it’s so popular. If you must use Skype, we highly recommend using it in conjunction with Man圜am, which we will discuss later. While it is possible to teach over Skype, and Skype has made slow steps at developing more features beyond its basic video calling service, it still falls far short of being a virtual classroom. It’s safe to say that pre-pandemic, Skype was the go-to system for video calling and conferencing for most consumers. Skype is one of the oldest and most well know video calling systems.
A five means it’s absolutely perfect and can do everything you need it for, while a one means it’s practically useless for a professional online teacher. We’ve rated each software at how well it performs in each category on a scale of one to five. Other factors that we’ve considered are mobile/app friendliness, integration options, and added multimedia functions.
We’ve have examined each software based off four criteria: User Experience (both for you and your students), Customization, the Virtual Classroom, and of course Pricing. Unless otherwise noted, we will only be discussing the paid professional plans for each software when they exist, as the free options are not compatible with the needs of most freelance English teachers. It would be logical to expect that once the pandemic has passed, they’ll start pressuring you to switch to a paid plan. Having a professional account opens up an infinite number of more features, and removes crippling limits (such as Zoom’s infamous 40-minute kickout timer) that will ultimately make you look very unprofessional in the eyes of your paying students.įurthermore, many free plans are merely marketing ploys aimed at attracting customers during the mass rush to online teaching and video conferencing that the pandemic has created. So while the free versions might be great for calling grandma and grandpa on Easter, they might not be so great for running your online teaching business. Perhaps this is to compete with Zoom (which has an extremely popular free plan), or perhaps they’re just being generous to budget conscious consumers in a time of need.īut the free plans that you see are meant to appeal to the masses, just like Zoom, and not to professional English teachers. It is extremely important to remain competitive and stand out in the online ESL market, which was already very competitive even before the pandemic.ĭue to the aggressive marketing of online teaching/conferencing software following the pandemic, most online learning providers are offering extremely attractive free plans.
But in this world where physical schools will remain closed for the indefinite future, freelance teachers must realize that soon everyone will be bombarded with ‘low cost’ online lessons. Many teachers will undoubtably look for a “quick fix” solution and simply use their Skype account to conduct online lessons. Kids, teenagers, young adults, and business professionals all have different expectations for an online classroom that must be addressed.Īs a teacher, understanding what your students expect is crucial not only in order to offer your students the best quality of education, but also to make yourself standout from other teachers in the mass race to online teaching. The needs that teachers expect from an online teaching software are as diverse as the range of students you might be teaching. With an explosion of online teaching due to the pandemic, many freelance teachers have been scrambling to find the right solution to conducting online lessons for their students. Did you ZOOM over here to read this!? Well, that’s no surprise!