Discerning students and parents will want to carefully analyze the reasons for choosing online tutoring services. Because, the right kind of tutor is crucial not only for grades at school but also to forge a wholesome attitude towards learning. Therefore, for most parents and pupils, the search for the right tutor is a highly involved process.

There is no denying that in the post-COVID era, “online” is the new normal. That said, there are several questions that one reflects upon before embarking on the search for a tutor.

• Are there cost considerations while choosing an online tutor?
• How do we know if the online tutor is qualified and reputed?
• Does the comfort of a home environment impact learning negatively or positively?
• How does online tutoring address vital aspects or education like enforcing discipline, dealing with distractions, skill transfer, etc.?
• What kind of extra help can you expect from the tutor online? Would they help with exams or homework or a niche subject area?

The benefits of online tutoring versus in-person tutoring are becoming increasingly apparent. This article examines some of those benefits for parents and students and, in the process, attempts to address the more popular queries related to online tutoring.

Flexibility of Online Tutoring

The main thing about online tutoring is that you get to fix up your session timings with your tutor through mutual agreement. Imagine an in-person tutoring scenario where you have fixed your weekly schedule in advance. What appears to be a convenient time slot in the start of the year may just turn into a nuisance once your course work goes full throttle. Let’s say, there is a sudden Physics project or a Biology class test for which you need to prepare. But there’s also a Math tutoring session you have to struggle to squeeze in. Now throw in the added trouble of travel time and it can get rather taxing on your day, pretty quickly.

With online tutoring services, you save yourself the trouble of keeping to an inflexible schedule. If you’re a busy student with a tight calendar, there are several online tutoring services that allow you to fit your session into the day without disrupting your course work or even your other activities, like say, your music lessons. With the hassle of travelling removed, both you and your tutor can agree to connect for a “pajama-session” very early in the day or late at night!

The benefit of online tutoring versus in-person tutoring becomes even more obvious when you have a Math class test tomorrow. But your Math tuition session is at the end of the week! Now that can be pretty annoying. Online tutoring services are a huge relief from this scenario. Because, many of them let you sync up your sessions to your curriculum emergencies.

The flexibility aspect of online tutoring reaches a whole new level when you can take your lessons while on a holiday! As long as you have your computer and an internet connection, anywhere is a good place.

Value of Online Tutoring Services

Education isn’t cheap. For an academically brilliant student, it can get galling if a perfect score is dented because of weakness in a subject or two. Traditionally, extra help from a private tutor has been the answer, but we all know how hard on the pocket it can get. Students often opted for tutors in the vicinity of their home or school for lack of better choices. If there is just one coaching institute nearby, every student in the neighborhood would flock there. The tutors can pretty much charge what they like, due to demand-supply dynamic.

Now with the plethora of tutor websites, the location restriction issue has been completely removed. This opens up a whole range of options for overall tutoring services. It also encourages these services to price their services competitively. You can now reach out to an outstanding tutor 5000 miles away and for cheaper, if you don’t want to put up with the grumpy Math tutor two blocks away!

The value proposition of online tutoring for kids and adults is incredible compared to the in-person-tutoring model. You save on travel cost, obviously. Many tutor websites offer flexible packages that allow you to switch your tutor if your wavelength doesn’t match with his or hers. You’re not locked into a long-term engagement with anyone. Several online tutor websites even offer trail free online tutoring services for good measure. And you can access the tutor online whenever you need him or her, literally 24/7.

Last but not the least, online tutorial sites make it easier to ask the uncomfortable question, “how much is it going to cost me?”. They let you decide at your own time and pace. The value proposition is a no-brainer, especially when you can try it out with a trial, free online tutoring services.

Technology Support of Online Tutoring

Thanks to the tangible advantages for both students and tutors, online tutoring has turned into a serious business. We all understand the flexibility, convenience and cost-effectiveness of online tutoring. Nevertheless, many have raised questions about the efficiency and effectiveness of online tutoring services in the proper transfer of skill and knowledge. Some question whether online tutoring is able to hold the students’ attention to forge the ever-so-important student-teacher bond. However, the latest technologies have enabled online tutoring services to teach with the same ease as teaching in person.

What online tutors do is to tap into the incredibly diverse software resources and learning aids available to them that provide the best learning conditions in any chosen subject. From video chats to virtual whiteboards and screen recordings, online tutoring services these days have a full-stack technology setup. As a result, online tutoring now offers seamless, real-time, personalized and as effective for you as in-person tutoring. The tech-savvy generation has had no trouble catching up on these developments.

It’s worth noting that online tutoring services fill in a vital gap seen in large group classroom sessions that rely on automated online tools. Over there, you miss out on the benefits of one-on-one attention while your tutors online are completely aligned with what works for you.

Safety with Tutor Websites

Travelling from point A to point B invariably puts you in the way of unsafe road behaviors, driving distractions and what not. Whether you’re on a bike or an automobile or on foot, things can get ugly if you’re in a rush. While road safety is always an issue, we rarely discuss another concern related to personal safety and security.

While seeking in-person tutoring services, a thought does cross every parents’ mind about personal safety. Without any intention to diss the tutors out there, let’s face it, in today’s world one’s got to be mindful of the security aspect.

Will you be safe with your tutor? Now that’s a sensitive issue that online tutoring for kids and adults provides a ready answer to. Students receive sessions in the comfort and security of their home environment. Therefore, with online tutoring services, the parents can indeed sit back and relax. The focus now shifts to the more important thing, which is learning. Several online tutoring services track sessions closely to ensure your safety with the tutor online.

In addition to that, tutor websites often provide the added service of background checks and back that up further with lesson recordings. This leaves no scope for misdemeanors of any sort.

Improved Tutoring Services

Imagine a scenario where you’ve paid upfront for an entire term, for the services of an in-person tutor that you can’t get along with. You can find yourself locked into a deal that isn’t doing your grades any good.

Online tutor websites are changing the dynamics of tutoring. They are allowing you to claim a refund or redressal for a service that you’re not happy with. You can request the online tutoring company to replace your personal tutor if you’re dissatisfied with their teaching style or uncomfortable for any other reason. You are enabled with a formal feedback and complaint procedure. To make the tutor hunting efforts more student-friendly, many online tutorial sites provide you with trial free online tutoring services. This helps you gauge the tutor assigned to you before paying up. The whole process is in your control. This is a definite value-add compared to a traditional in-person tutoring arrangements.

There is another dimension to online tutoring that improves the experience for you. It’s the quality of tutoring services. When your tutor options were limited to the local Math guy, you didn’t have the luxury of scrutinizing his creds, did you? Many tutor websites maintain a rigorous selection process and top it up with centralized and regulated training programs for their tutors. Personal tutors have incentive to stay on top of their game to keep their ratings consistently up. You have a clear upper hand in driving up the service quality of online tutoring services.

Access to Expert Online Tutors

Just a decade ago, the stereotype image of a tutor was that of a university student trying to make an extra buck by tutoring in the spare time. That image has seen a complete make-over with modern online tutoring services becoming a serious business. They are recruiting more and more full-time professionals to work as personal tutors. You now can access highly qualified and well-trained tutors who know their stuff.

Another big advantage for you is that online tutorial sites have knowledge repositories. You can access these resources to address all your queries and learning needs. While every student gets a specific individual as online tutor, the collective knowledge the student can access through resources pages and what not is actually much wider. Online tutoring for kids and adults becomes a far more enriching experience than in-person tutoring.

There’s another interesting theme that is emerging with the growing popularity of online tutoring. We are all aware of a large number of online video courses on a variety of subjects. Such videos, both common and esoteric, are now being available on multiple online learning platforms. Taking advantage of this upsurge, a number of niche subject area specialists are stepping forward to be available for one-on-one online tutoring. Especially for students who want to branch off into careers that are not so mainstream. This is a huge opportunity. The choice of personal tutors is going beyond school curriculum. Given the great diversity in career choices available to students, this is a development one must look to take advantage of.

Quality Learning

Online tutoring is in a sweet spot between personal and high tech. While technology provides great learning aides, the online tutoring services impart skill and knowledge through instruction and guidance. Teaching techniques are tailored to the needs of the student. The high degree of flexibility that online tutoring can afford to give students has a significant impact on learning outcomes. This is particularly evident in the more timid children who like to take thing in at their own pace. The physical distance between these students and their personal tutors often helps them feel less intimidated and encourages them to ask more questions and interact freely. Likewise, the tutor online also becomes engaged and enthusiastic about the student’s progress in a positive feedback loop.

Even though parental monitoring may be necessary in online tutoring to enforce discipline, ultimately the comfort of a home environment can make learning less tedious. Think hot chocolate while solving a math problem. It’s been observed on many occasions that, as time passes by, students do take greater responsibility for their learning. That can happen only with well-trained personal tutors which only reputed tutor websites are able to offer. All in all, the learning independence that online tutoring provides goes towards preparing students for university education in the future.

The Last Word

The world of personal tutoring is witnessing a paradigm shift. Both teachers and pupils are warming up to this shift with technology acting as the main enabler. Online tutorial sites are working to solve the inherent problems present in one-on-one tutoring. They are doing so by exploiting the generation’s natural affinity towards technology. Now, online tutoring services have written off all the hassles associated with finding a personal tutor who’s the right fit for you. Scores of world class educators are also stepping forward and taking the opportunity to become online tutors.

Parents and students serious about tutoring will naturally weight the pros and cons of in-person and online tutoring. Whatever the choice, it goes without saying that a quality tutor makes a world of difference. And this is not limited to grades obtained in school. It impacts one’s experience with learning and outlook towards education as a whole.

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Additional References

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