The potential benefits of online tuition are huge – you get to choose the best tutor from anywhere in the world, instead of having to find one that lives nearby. And neither party has to travel, so this saves time and money. Online tutoring also means that the tutor and tutee can easily share websites, documents, or problem sets online. But despite this, there is still some resistance to it.
Some of this is understandable. Parents may be wary of people who they haven’t met in person teaching their children. Or they may feel it is difficult for the tutor and tutee to develop the kind of rapport needed for successful learning. Or they may feel it’s just too clunky and inconvenient to share and collaborate on say, a maths problem, over the internet.
Most of these issues though, can now be overcome. Parents who are nervous should always ask for proof of DBS, qualifications and/or references before they engage a tutor. (I’m more than happy to provide them – just ask.) Wifi signals are now generally fast and reliable (although a small number of people still have issues). And, as ever, a reputable tutor will always be happy for a parent to sit in on some or all of a session.
Young people now grow up living half their life online – so the barriers to developing a rapport with a tutor are mostly imaginary. This generation would often prefer a virtual interaction to a face-to-face one! Being online allows a tutor and student to communicate in many different ways: talking, seeing each other’s facial expressions, messaging, or drawing pictures. This means that sometimes you can build up a richer rapport with a student than you can when they are right next to you!
The idea that working on a maths problem together might be difficult online has now been completely solved by good, free online whiteboards, for example AWW APP. These allow the student and tutor to write and see what each other is writing in real-time. You can also erase, use text, draw diagrams and insert pictures. If you combine them with a tablet and stylus it can be a very powerful way of learning. You can even export the board so that the student can keep it for future reference.
I have now taught many students online, and increasingly I believe it is the future of tuition. So, wherever you live, if you would like to be taught by me, please do consider online tuition and get in touch! I think you’ll be surprised how beneficial it can be.