With the explosion in use of the internet for learning, online
tutoring has become a favorite for students all over the globe. Online
tutoring offers tremendous flexibility to the students as well as the
tutors the major advantage for both the students and tutor being that
they can learn/teach from the comfort of their homes.
Another major reason for the success of online tutoring is the lower
cost of tutoring. The availability of tutors was earlier limited to
those living close-by to the student. However with the online tutoring,
the tutor can now be located in any corner of the world. Thus the tutors
located in the third world countries while being equally competent as
their counterparts in the developed world are able to offer their
services at much lower prices – primarily due to the difference in
valuation of their currencies with the dollar. While a face to face
tutoring session would cost nearly $ 70 – 100 per hour earlier, a online
tutoring session from tutors in USA / UK costs $ 30 – 50 and those from
tutors located in India is available for $ 12 – 15 per hour.
soutien scolaire As the demand for online tutoring grew, a number of tutoring companies
surfaced on the horizon. These Online Tutoring Companies generally offer
tutoring in a variety of subjects so that a student can obtain tutoring
in any subject desired by him. This follows the culture where all
subjects are available under one roof.
This company culture in tutoring however cannot be termed as the best
solution in online tutoring. Most parents would agree that the vital
aspect to achieve supportive learning help is the continuity of the
tutor with the student. The tutor needs to develop a rapport with the
student and identify his strengths and shortcomings. He must then
empathize with the student and focus upon helping him overcome his
shortcomings while reinforcing his strengths. With large tutoring
companies this is often a problem as their tutors cater to a large
number of students and thus are not dedicated to a single student. While
most online tutoring companies offer the ‘preferred tutor’ system in
some form or the other, the availability of the favorite tutor cannot be
guaranteed being booked by a number of students. Thus the child is left
to adjust to each of the tutors he comes across and at best is able to
achieve ‘topic help’ rather than supportive, continued learning.
Freelance Tutors. On the other hand are the freelance tutors who
offer Online Tutoring on the internet. Most of the tutors list with the
tutor directories for their availability. Tutors having their own
websites are a rarity – probably due to the costs involved. However the
ones who do have their own websites and thus are able to make themselves
available on the internet are probably the best choice for online
tutoring. They combine the best of online tutoring and offer continued
supportive and dedicated learning support to the students.
Training Content. Some of the tutoring companies use their own
‘unique training content’ which is specifically developed keeping in
mind the requirements of the students. There is no doubt that specially
developed training content is helpful in imparting instruction. It must
however be remembered that there is no shortage of training content on
the internet with most schools and college websites providing free high
quality training content. What is most important is ability of the tutor
to make the student imbibe the training content properly.
Tutor Remuneration. In case of freelance tutors, the complete
remuneration made by the students goes to the tutor who is free to set
his own price. However in case of tutoring companies, the company would
pay the tutors minimum wages, keeping most of the profits for
themselves. The tutor compensation in some of the tutoring companies can
be as low as $ 2 per hour. This obviously affects the quality of tutors
who would be ready to serve with them.
Selecting the Right Tutor. Making the right choice of the Online
Tutor however can be difficult. Considering that the websites offering
these services are not the swanky big banner sites, it is difficult to
gauge the prowess of the tutor at the first instance. It is advisable to
go over the credentials and experience of the tutor. However before
finally selecting a tutor, the student must ask for a Free Demo Session.
Nearly all the tutors offer the introductory demo session so that they
can interact with the student. This provides a good opportunity to the
student to gauge the tutor first hand and if found suitable, he can
interact with the tutor to finalize his schedule.
The quality of tutoring also depends on the tools for teaching used
by the tutor. The demo session would also help to confirm the
suitability of the web conferencing software including the audio,
whiteboard and file sharing. The student should evaluate them well
during the demo session before signing up for online tutoring.
