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If you’re already teaching English or perhaps waiting to get hired with your new TEFL certificate, now is the perfect time to take TEFL/TESOL Micro-Credentials. These short, topical Bridge courses are online and self-paced and provide targeted training in specific skills and topics. Beyond the valuable learning and access to resources gained when completing Micro-credentials for TEFL/TESOL, they also provide an opportunity to stand out among the competition as verifiable certifications and digital badges can be added to your resume and posted to online profiles. Let’s explore the many benefits of completing TEFL/TESOL Micro-credentials.
Micro-credentials for TEFL/TESOL are a great way for certified/experienced teachers to learn new skills
The field of English language learning is constantly evolving and over time, teaching practices and methodologies evolve to meet those needs. Micro-credentials are a great way to stay current on the latest TEFL practices, methodologies, resources, technologies, and more. There are new topics, new tests, new course delivery methods, and new materials that teachers can use and integrate into their classrooms to make the most of the time they have with their students. Micro-credentials can help you learn these new skills and stay current in your profession.
Here are the current Bridge Micro-credentials available, but be sure to regularly check the Micro-credentials site as courses are frequently updated!
General Micro-credential courses:
Micro-credential courses in Teaching English Online:
Micro-credential courses in Teaching 21st-Century Skills:
- Introduction to Promoting 21st-Century Skills in the Classroom
- Promoting Creative and Innovative Thinking in Your Classroom
- Promoting Critical Thinking Skills in Your Classroom
- Teaching Communicative, Collaborative, and Interpersonal Skills
- Promoting Social, Cultural, Global, and Environmental Awareness in Your Classroom
- Promoting Digital Literacy in Your Classroom
- Instilling Confidence and Leadership in Your Learners
- Developing Students’ Education and Career Pathways
When you complete a Micro-credential course, you’ll be able to use what you learn right away to improve your teaching. For example, maybe you notice that your students could really use a hand with their listening skills. The Micro-credential course on Teaching English Using Podcasts would be perfect for this situation. You can leverage this popular medium for 21st-century learning, and the course also introduces ways to encourage your students to make their own podcasts to share. You’ll promote creative thinking and confidence by teaching with podcasts.
You may also find you need to modernize your teaching skills to better prepare your learners for the future. The suite of 21st-Century Teaching Skills Micro-credentials is designed for exactly that, providing strategies and resources to teach your students skills in digital literacy, creative and innovative thinking, and communicative, collaborative, and interpersonal skills. Through courses like these, you’ll be able to identify the modern skills your students will need in the 21st-century workforce and beyond, and learn effective ways to teach them.
Bridge alum, Betsy an online Business English teacher, shared: “I love that Bridge offers such a wide range of Micro-credentials because you can expand your knowledge and skill set by going deeper into a specific type of student or topic. I really enjoyed the course on Health, Safety, and Mental Attitudes in the Online Classroom. Since the courses take around 10-30 hours to complete, they are completely doable even if you have a busy schedule.”
Micro-credentials provide ongoing professional development
Professional development and constant learning are the hallmarks of a great teacher! It’s so important not to get stagnant and out-of-date in terms of your thinking, skills, and knowledge. Think back to the worst teachers you had in school. They most likely had simply given up learning new things and just taught the same thing they had for decades, right? You don’t want to be them.
Show dedication to lifelong learning
ESL professional development, like Bridge Micro-credentials, demonstrates that you are dedicated to learning and changing throughout your teaching career. This is key to your success and ability to adapt to the constant changes of the 21st-century classroom. Just think of the recent shifts in education, and you’ll see that the benefits of a Micro-credential course about using videos in the classroom or adapting to online teaching can be myriad.
Fulfill professional development requirements
Do you work for an online or in-person school requiring teachers to participate in ongoing professional development? Micro-credential programs are a fun and easy way to fulfill such requirements.
Bridge alum Kaylynn, from South Africa, completed the Teaching English Online to Groups Micro-credential when she began teaching adults, which included teaching English online to groups. “Teaching group classes requires different skills,” she said. “Earlier in the year, I received feedback during teacher observation rounds, and some of the feedback also motivated me to take the course.”
She shared that “the Micro-credential course also had a section focused on writing skills, which I was really interested in learning. I really like to incorporate writing into my lessons.”
Micro-credentials enhance your TEFL/TESOL resume with verifiable credentials
Of course, learning for learning’s sake is important, but are there also concrete career benefits to taking these courses?
Add as many new skills as you like with targeted courses
There’s no limit to the new skills you can acquire and add to your resume, such as materials development or IELTS test prep expertise. These courses can make your TEFL resume stand out from other applicants in this competitive industry.
Earn certification and digital badges
Micro-credentials allow you to boost your resume further. You’ll be assigned a tutor to offer personalized feedback and answer questions, and, upon successful completion of the assessed components, you’ll earn verifiable credentials, such as a TEFL/TESOL certificate and a digital badge.
This digital badge is verifiable, as it’s backed by blockchain technology, and graduates often share their badges on their LinkedIn profiles, on their resumes, or in their email signatures. Potential employers will be able to click the badge and look up the specific content that you’ve mastered in the course.
There’s no limit to how many stackable credentials you can earn, especially because Bridge is continually adding new Micro-credential courses! Every time you complete an online TEFL course, your Bridge TEFL/TESOL certificate will update to reflect the new hours, and you’ll be issued a unique digital badge.
Micro-credentials can increase your earning potential and help you qualify for more TEFL/TESOL jobs
If you’re trying to break into the TEFL/TESOL market at the higher end of the pay scale or you’re working to advance your career, having more qualifications and specialized skills is a great way to set yourself apart as an English teacher.
Learn in-demand skills in a particular niche
For instance, one of the most in-demand skills for TEFL/TESOL in the world at the moment is the ability to teach English language proficiency exam preparation. Tests like PTE, IELTS, and TOEFL are the standard for many English-language university programs, job interviews, and study abroad opportunities for those who speak English as an additional language. The 20-hour PTE Test Prep Micro-credential, 20-hour IELTS Exam Prep Micro-credential, and 20-hour TOEFL Test Prep Micro-credential are gateways to being able to help students with these tests, and you may be able to carve out additional pay. Even if you teach young learners, you may find that your skills are in demand among parents and managers for specialty courses, individual tutoring, or advanced English lessons.
Bridge alum, Shane, from Jamaica, teaches Business English with several companies and provides private tutoring online. In addition to completing the IDELTOnline™ and Teaching English Grammar Specialized Certificate, he also completed the Error Correction in the EFL Classroom Micro-credential.
He remarked, “The Micro-credential in Error Correction has helped because there are some students who want to be corrected in the moment and there are others who like to be corrected at the end of the class. From this course, I learned different ways to provide feedback, different times to correct the students, how to correct them, and so forth.”
Explore the most popular ELT niches.
Broaden your career opportunities
It’s always better to have more skills! You can use what you learn in a Micro-credential course for career advancement in your current position or to find additional opportunities in the wider job market. Senior teaching positions and management in the TEFL/TESOL world often primarily involve training new teachers, and having additional knowledge from your Micro-credential courses may allow you to take on these leadership roles.
To start reaping the many benefits of these specialized courses, identify the Bridge Micro-credentials that will best benefit your needs or aspirations and begin taking courses! You’ll be able to put what you learn into practice in your classroom immediately, and you’ll be on your way to being the best teacher you can be. Use these targeted online training courses to enhance your resume, continue your professional development, and earn credentials you can showcase and share as you advance your career.
