Many students are taking to online tutoring in an effort to battle covid-19’s challenges. Online tutoring—which offers both students and tutors the opportunity to work from home—is surging. And its impacts are significant. Studies demonstrate that tutoring can effectively remedy “pandemic loss.” This is something that we all seemingly experienced.
Online tutoring can provide targeted teaching, which means the tutor can adapt the lesson to a student’s individual abilities and weaknesses. This can lead to substantial improvement in a short amount of time. Tutoring also yields social and emotional development through continual and intimate one-on-one work.
As the pandemic continues to rear its head, online tutoring may become the new and improved tutoring.
Why you should be an online tutor
If you’re passionate about education and shaping young minds, online tutoring is a great way to get your foot in the door. This is especially true if you’re not sure what you’d want to teach. With online tutoring, you can try out different subjects to see which is the best fit.
Becoming an online tutor is also an excellent way to give back while earning some extra cash. This may be a great opportunity if you’re a college student with financial responsibility for your tuition, meals, and textbooks.
Online tutoring also offers conveniency. You and your student can work around your schedules and plan sessions at the last minute.
Not only does it benefit students, but online tutoring can help you, the tutor, if you’re having trouble acclimating to online life. Regular online sessions may allow you to become more comfortable with communicating through a screen.
Plus, it’s always great to see your work directly impacting someone else.
In addition to the benefits you’ll enjoy, online tutors are currently in high demand. This means you’ll have a better chance of getting work. According to a study from Technavio, the global demand for online tutoring will grow annually at 14%. And, the online tutoring market has the potential to grow by $153.07 billion between 2020 and 2025.
Finally, online tutoring is great because it eliminates geographical barriers. Consequently, tutors are more capable of providing their specific services regardless of proximity to the student. And, neither the tutor nor students has to worry about transportation arrangements and/or fees.
If you’re considering becoming an online tutor, there are a few things to know about what you’ll need to do and what you can expect.
Determine your niche as an online tutor
In order to be eligible to become an online tutor, you’ll need to have a pretty high mastery in one or multiple subjects.
A specific degree is not required, but if you’re going through a separate company, you’ll likely have to demonstrate your educational knowledge and background. You may have to provide grades, test scores, or coursework. Ask yourself which subjects you’re interested in and whether or not you have enough knowledge.
Additionally, think about whether you’d thrive in solely teaching K-12 subjects, or doing standardized test prep or AP exam prep, as well. Are you good with younger students, older students, or a combination? Would you be better at teaching beginner or advanced students?
If you want to be an online tutor but don’t feel confident in your knowledge, there are many training and certification programs that you can take. Whether you pick online or in-person training, this type of program can help you become equipped to be an online tutor.
Practice patience
While patience is necessary for in-person tutoring, it’s particularly important when teaching through a computer screen. The computer acts somewhat as a barrier between you and your tutee. That is, it can make communicating a little bit more challenging.
In fact, research shows that technology can negatively impact conversations and general communication. One major reason for this is that communication is majorly affected by non-verbal cues, such as facial expressions and body language.
In order to effectively progress with your student, you’ll need to be patient and potentially use a trial-by-error system to see what actually works.
Additionally, students and/or tutors may experience some type of technological difficulties at any given time. When it’s crunch time, an issue with Zoom or Google Drive can feel like the end of the world. Remember that sometimes these issues are out of your control, and you’ll need to practice patience and fortitude.
Access to WiFi and technological services
Since you’ll be working from your computer, WiFi is essential. It’s also pretty important that your access is decently consistent, since it’s frustrating for both parties when you regularly cut in and out.
In this technology-driven world, there are so many different tools at your fingertips. The tool you use may vary depending on what you and your student are working on. The student’s learning style will also play a role. For example, many students love to learn by video or in other visual ways. You can create slideshow presentations, diagrams, and tables as needed.
Is your student struggling with word problems or chemistry equations? You can utilize technological tools such as an interactive whiteboard to your advantage here. You can use the whiteboard throughout your sessions to visually explain different concepts and jot down important equations, key information, and helpful sketches. Plus, your students can work on the same board.
Using a collaborative Google Drive or other type of content management system is a great way to stay organized and enable your student to have constant access to notes and worksheets.
After you’ve gotten to know your student(s), you can provide them with suggestions for apps to help with online learning. The great thing about living in such a tech-y age is that if your tutee needs to ask questions or your help, they can get in touch with you, whether it be through text or google chat.
Getting started with online tutoring
You can opt to be an independent tutor or you sign up to tutor for a tutoring company. The latter won’t require you to spend time advertising yourself and building clientele, and so it may be the best option if you already have a lot on your plate.
However, if you join a company, you may not have as much freedom over your schedule and rate.
As an independent tutor, you’ll need to invest more time and effort in promoting your business, finding consistent clients, and working out kinks such as creating a website, appointment-slot system, and billing. But, you’ll have complete freedom over your rates, schedule, and entire system.
You’ll also want to decide on a video conference tool. Zoom is booming in popularity, but has its downsides—for instance, free Zoom accounts only allow you to connect with two or more students for up to 40 minutes (although there’s no limite for 1-on-1 sessions). Other potential options include Skype (on which you can talk for as long as you want), Webex, and Google Workspace.
If you’re interested in working from home and helping students, start considering online tutoring.
My Private Professor online tutoring
If you’re looking to get started now, My Private Professor (MPP) would love to hear from you. We are an innovational tutoring service, and we love sharing the opportunity to make a difference for students. At MPP, you get to choose your own rate and availability. If you’re passionate about education, and are interested in becoming a tutor, apply to MPP today.
Author: Lydia Schapiro
