Blog #38 – EFFECTIVENESS OF ONLINE TUTORING
Parents are always wondering how effective online tutoring is when compared with in-person tutoring. I have done both and after having tutored since my retirement 12 years ago, I have concluded that the benefits of online tutoring outweigh the benefits of in-person tutoring. When I tutor online, I connect with the student using Skype. Skype allows me to see and converse with the student. Being able to see the student’s face and read their expressions gives me a wealth of information that I usually can’t get from in-person tutoring. When I am tutoring in person, the student usually sits next to me. This means I can’t read their facial expressions. When I see them on Skype, I can tell if they are sleepy, distracted, confused, and many other things.
Another advantage of when I do online tutoring is that I have hundreds of documents at my disposal on my desktop. In general, I have a primary document which I email to the parent of the student and which I use during the tutoring session. This primary document could be used in both tutoring situations. However, many times when I am tutoring, there are situations in which I need examples of other problems to teach prerequisites for the concept the student is learning or for reinforcing the concept that I am tutoring. In a matter of seconds I can find a document on my desktop, which I can put on the screen that will make my tutoring more effective. This could only happen during in-person tutoring if I brought my computer to the lesson.
There have been instances when a student asks me a question or definition that I am not familiar with. During online tutoring, I can Google the information or I can make use of YouTube to find an explanation of what I am teaching. These are possible because I have access to my computer and the Internet. If I was doing in-person tutoring, there is no guarantee that I would have access to the Internet at the location that I am at. During online tutoring, parents always make sure that the student that I am tutoring is at a location that is quiet and has no distractions. That is usually not the case with in-person tutoring. If I am tutoring at a library, there are people walking around, which is usually a distraction. Distractions during online tutoring are rare. When I tutor online, I connect a tablet to my computer, which I then share with the student on Skype. I always use a black screen and bright colors to explain solutions to problems. This is visually stimulating and adds to the tutoring experience. Transporting my computer, tablet, and stylus to every in-person tutoring session is possible, but is a lot of extra work. The other problem with doing this during in-person tutoring sessions is that it takes a lot of space. Online tutoring allows a student to work in familiar surroundings (their own home in most cases). It is not always possible to do the same with in-person tutoring.
Financially, it is best for the parents when I do online tutoring because my hourly fee is less. If I have to travel to do in-person tutoring, I have to increase my fee based on the amount of travel time needed. If I had to tutor in person, I would have to cut down on the number of students that I tutor. When tutoring online, I only need a 5-minute break between lessons. My ability to tutor more students online means that I can minimize how much I charge for tutoring. Lastly, students that are tutored online love that I am integrating technology into the learning experience. In conclusion, although I have been successful with both types of tutoring, I have found that online tutoring is best for the student.