Getting certified: Part IV—How about i-to-i?

(Continued from February 18, 2007)

In my mission to find authentic reviews, I became increasingly frustrated. It seems that i-to-i has paid just about every ESL source to promote it. Even within the informal Dave’s ESL Cafe discussion forums, i-to-i representatives were posting “friendly notes” about their program.

The librarian in the University of Oregon Career Center couldn’t tell me anything about specific online programs, but recommended that I check them out online through the Better Business Bureau. I thought this was a great idea, and a couple of weeks ago found that i-to-i had an unsatisfactory record, with two unresolved complaints. Then, today I looked back and all of a sudden they have a satisfactory record. It showed that there was just one complaint regarding advertising issues that has already been addressed. Apparently the Better Business Bureau made an update within the past few weeks. I couldn’t even find archives to show the company’s ratings from past reports.

This, along with the redesigned website and company sponsored blog posts caused me to pause and think about some of the disadvantages of research on the Internet.

Because the Internet is easily updated and constantly evolving, you can’t rely on its permanency the same way you can with print sources. Potentially revealing information can be there one day and gone the next.

Also, there is high potential for fraud among blogs and discussion forums. That person who says he just loved his experience with i-to-i could be an i-to-i representative posing as a past participant.

I still think the good outweighs the bad, because I wouldn’t even be able to find so much information without the Internet. And in the end, I was actually able to find a couple of believable, seemingly authentic reviews.

One review discusses i-to-i’s volunteer placement services rather than its online TEFL certification program. I still feel, however, that it provides insights as to how the company operates. It says that i-to-i charged volunteers and then placed them with Habitat for Humanity. Those volunteers were surprised to find that others, who volunteered for Habitat directly, didn’t have to pay a dime. The review also expressed that i-to-i was not helpful at all when it came to in-country assistance.

Another review, from the AAC ”TESL/TEFL Courses” forum also critiques i-to-i’s customer service, this time in regards to the actual online TEFL certification:

“i-to-i is OK but will not prepare you for the real world or the travel and their customer service response is generally 4-7 days rather than the 8 hours they post.”

From what I’ve learned so far, I don’t feel that i-to-i is the program for me. Perhaps Bridge-Linguatec or International TEFL Teacher Training will come out ahead, after I investigate them in tomorrow’s blog.