Welcome to the dedicated resource page for Teach and GO. We are a website for teachers by teachers. All of us have worked previously as ESL teachers and as online teachers.
We have created this page to sum up all our recommended gear across the website.
HEADPHONES
Online teachers have some specific requirements when it comes to technology. We’ve used and reviewed numerous pieces of tech for the online environment, here is what we found the most helpful.
Logitech H390 – Most Popular for Online Teachers
Logitech makes affordable headsets for anything online chat related. Be it online teaching, Skye calls, webinars or if you’re working in a call center. If you need a simple and affordable pair of headsets with a microphone, these are the pair we like most.
Not too expensive, decent build quality and can be used for multi-purpose reasons.
Marshall Major V – Best Overall Headphones
Small, stylish and not too expensive. The Marshall Major V headphones provide excellent audio, come with a wire to plug in directly to your laptop or you can use a Bluetooth connection. They also have a microphone built in for quality audio.
*See our guide on the best headphones for online teaching.
LAPTOPS
Surface Laptop – The best Windows laptop
ACER has really done an excellent job with creating a budget friend, feature rich laptop. If you’re in the market for a work horse PC, something that can do video editing, online teaching and basic web tasks – all without breaking the bank, take a look at the ACER Aspire 5.
The only thing we don’t like about this laptop is the lack of a touch screen. Touch screens make online teaching more fun for you the teacher. Not a deal breaker through.
Macbook Air – The ideal IOS Laptop
Professionals need something powerful like the Mackbook pro for video editing, graphics rendering and more. But online teachers, just need something small, light that works really well.
We love the Macbook Air for online teaching because it meet all our requirements. Small, light, thing, good webcam and it has a touch screen.
*See our guide on the best laptop for online teaching.
Dell 24 – Best Desktop for Teachers
Not everyone wants a laptop. Some of use teachers still want a powerful, feature rich desktop for our online classroom and home office. For this we suggest you look at the Dell 24 for the right mix of size, power and price point.
As an “all in one” desktop, it won’t take up space with a tower and provides a large 24 inch touch screen with a good webcam. The only issue with this is the screen is not a colorful as an iMac, but it’s price point is great.
*See our guide on the best desktop computers for teachers.
WEBCAMS
Insta 360 Link 2C – The Best Overall Webcam
Your camera is your most important tool as an online teacher. Most laptops today come with a built in, grainy 720P webcam that is barely acceptable by most online teaching companies.
But for a small price, you can upgrade your webcam to provide a much better experience for your students. Better audio, ability to record up to 4k, small and minimalistic at a great price point with the Link 2C.
*See our guide on the best webcams for teaching online.
MICROPHONES
Fifine USB Mic – The Best USB Microphone for Teaching
The Fifine mic is an affordable USB microphone, that’s plug and play. It has the ability to control the gain to reduce background noise as well as the ability to record surround sound.
It plugs into your laptop via USB and works out of the box with no setup. While your laptop and headset should have a mic, having a dedicated mic is useful for online class and any recordings you need to do.
Boya Mini – Best Wireless mic
While this is marketed as a mic for your phone, if your laptop has a modern USB-C connection then you can use this small, wireless mic.
Not only is it affordable, the audio quality is excellent and it’s a tiny mic so it’s not distracting if you decide to use if for an online class.
*See our guide on the best microphones for online teaching.
LIGHTING
Small Ring Light – Best video lighting for class
If you’re going to be teaching early mornings, you may want a way to directly light your face to you look your best in video, we highly recommend this affordable, small ring light.
It is compact in size, comes with different brightness settings to adjust for your needs and it’s overall size pairs well with a laptop. The only slight issue is the tripod is not adjustable.
*See our guide on the best lighting for early morning video.
Transferwise – Online Payments
Transferwise is our favorite way to transfer money abroad. If you’re American you can probably setup direct deposit with your online teaching company. But for everyone else you’ll want to use Transferwise.
What Transferwise does is that is transfers money internationally at the best rate possible. So whether you’re abroad and want to transfer money to your foreign bank account or you’re wanting to receive payment from a foreign company all you need to do is use their “boarderless account” feature.
Money gets sent to this account and then you can send your balance to any bank account you want.
Transferwise
The easiest way to send and receive money internationally
Freelance online teaching
While we strongly suggest you teach with an online teaching company as a beginner, when you outgrow your company and want to go completely freelance these are the options we like.
1 – Fiverr
Fiverr is a freelance platform where you can teach language lessons to language learners. It’s a broad platform for all types of freelancers, but it’s still under rated as a spot to conduct class.
2 – Outschool
Outschool is an after school aimed at American students primarily. You can become a teacher if you pass their vetting process and have your course within their marketplace.
3 – iTalki
iTalki is a great choice for any teacher who wants to have their own client list of adult language leaners. Also, you can teach any language on iTalki, not just English.
4 – Udemy
Udemy allows you to create one off courses about specific subjects. You can also find very affordable courses to improve your own skills. As Udemy is a marketplace, you can get organic sales of your language course without needing to do any marketing.
Digital Education Tools
There are quite a few online education tools available that a lot of educators (and students) are not aware of.
1 – Manycam
ManyCam is a fun, feature rich program that allows you to add fun and colorful graphics in real time to your online class. ManyCam is compatible with numerous online teaching platforms like VIPKID, DADA and Palfish.
2 -Edmodo
Edmodo is an all in one learning management system that combines in house communication, collaboration tools as well as helpful tools and resources for conducting and managing Zoom calls.
3 – Socrative
Socrative is a helpful app for in-class teachers to manage their students performance and understanding. Faster grading and feedback for both teacher and student.
4 – Kahoot!
Kahoot is game based learning. Perfect for work, school or home. You as a teacher can create and host games online for your students.
More? More!
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