great! i am glad, Del

Hey! They are working now. :)

this is strange…i can see them posted here on my side of the world….hhhmmm…

Hmm, it now looks like I can’t view any of the videos on the website at all. I sent a message to EduFire help.

I can’t view the videos. They all say ‘inappropriate’.

Good advice

Love all the smilies! :D

Great to see you Terry!

Welcome to eduFire Terry! I see you are in both of the orientations, perfect! I look forward to seeing you around eduFire :)

I hate security suites! :)

Welcome to eduFire Terry! :) You will enjoy the orientation!

Though Valerie is never off topic! :)

I totally agree, teaching online and face-to-face is the same. I was only referring to refunding. Face-to-face you have a more student/teacher relationship as in, you’ve met, they may be local etc. When they can’t make it they usually call, they already know you have a no refund policy if you are sitting in the class waiting. Most reasonable people wouldn’t expect a refund if they have paid you and don’t bother telling you they can’t attend (genuine ‘emergency’ reasons aside).

Online however, it is a little different and hence refunds are given more willingly.

Hi Momen and welcome to eduFire! I don’t believe you have attended the teacher orientation classes yet which I highly recommend. It will teach you how to use the virtual classroom and much more. clicky here If you need anything, just let me know and enjoy teaching here!

Hey, Katia gave a great reply.

There’s a fine line between hard rules and scaring students away. So far here we have never had refund disputes to my knowledge. A teacher is usually the first to tell us to refund their student. And other times we have students who missed a class and want to pay the teacher. We will act from what you both decide. If we impose a rule, then it becomes an ‘eduFire’ rule whereas was want to give you the autonomy to decide your own rules.

You’re right Mary, time = money. Then there is the other side of the coin and if we were to impose such a rule for students where they are expected to financially take a hit if they don’t show (arguably fair), what do we do when teachers don’t show and they have a group of students waiting? No easy answer.

From my experience there is a difference between online and face-to-face teaching in so far as refunding students. For me, and from what I see from top teachers, the strategy is to refund. This pretty much guarantees the student remains your student which is a long-term financial gain. If the student feels that they should have had a refund but the teacher insists that they are paid regardless, the student usually says ‘ok then, here’s your money, I’ll go look for another teacher’. If you have a student that continually wastes your time then the chances are you’ll not want to have them as a student.

It is a difficult one and I think there is no ‘one’ answer that will suit everyone.