Online tuition has gained significance to a great extent especially over the past decade as various changes have taken place in the education system. Countries in general are attempting to step up the difficulty level of education system as more focus is placed on the younger generation to hone important skills at a younger age.
Skills such as critical thinking and in-depth information analysis which were taught to students or rather organically picked up by students at the age of 18 a decade ago, is now being woven into the syllabus for 12-year-olds.
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This steep arc is challenging for children to cope up with and parents are unable to guide their children. This is the prime reason for why private tuition and online tuition has become famous. More and more children are benefitting from this as now parents recognise that tutoring agencies have many well-trained tutors whose expertise can help students progress at a much faster rate and learning issues can be nipped while it’s still a bud.
While many private one-to-one home tutors are willing to shift to the digital space, they are unsure as to how to be successful in their career given the change in the teaching environment. The change may seem drastic, but once the right steps are taken to adapt quickly, the benefits can certainly be reaped!
So, here are some things that an aspiring online tutor take note of…
QUALIFICATIONS
Formal qualifications may not be necessary to apply to become an online tutor. However, many tutors will have degrees in the subjects that they teach.
Having a degree will however increase the confidence of potential students in the quality of teaching. Many students will be much more hesitant if a teacher does not seem to have much qualifications to teach.
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Tutors can also sign up to become members of the Malaysian Professional Tutor Association (MPTA). Joining this association will ensure that a tutor would have met a minimum standard set by the MPTA, which can be helpful for tutors to promote themselves.
EQUIPMENTS
An online tutor must have the necessary equipment to be successful. Here are the necessary equipment required:
- Firstly, a functional computer is necessary (obviously). Tutor needs to make sure that there isn’t any interruption during lessons so it’s good to send the device for re-service to check for the level of its quality.
- Secondly, the computer must be able to have a stable internet connection. It will become very annoying for both parties if the video and audio keeps lagging and thus this is one of the very important requirements to meet.
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- Thirdly, it is advisable for tutors to use external microphones instead of webcam microphones. Webcam microphones are of very low quality and will provide a lot of unnecessary audio issues. Using high quality microphones will ensure to limit all audio issues and will make the lessons much easier to follow.
- Fourthly, tutors would also have a headset to prevent issues of feedback and echoing audio. Lastly, tutors should have a functional webcam as this provides a connection between the student and the tutor. Staring just at a screen of words will make the lesson very boring for a student.
Being able to see the facial expressions of the tutor will help to make the lesson seem more like a face to face lesson.
GETTING RECOGNISED
It is impossible to become a successful online teacher without any advertising. Setting up a website is a good start to advertise their services. Stopping here is not enough as the chances of potential students randomly finding the website is probably very low.
Some money might need to be invested into things such as paid online adverts and newspaper adverts. It is also important for tutors to set up and be active on social media such as Instagram, Facebook, twitter, etc.
Social media platforms are very useful in advertising tutoring services as other people can also start promoting the accounts to others much more easily. When setting up this online profile, it is also important for tutors to ask their students for reviews and feedback as this can help to attract other potential students.
ORGANISATION
Tutors should have a fixed and specific course model that is able to differentiate them from other tutors. Students will refrain from choosing tutors who do not have a fixed curriculum as it will seem risky since the tutor will look like he/she is unprepared. Preparing a fixed course or curriculum may seem difficult but it is necessary for tutors to put in time and effort into doing so.
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Tutors should break the topic that they have chosen to teach. Break it down into subtopics, brainstorm some ideas and organise them into an order that makes sense. This curriculum can also be improved with more experience and time spent teaching.
BOTTOM LINE
Newly trained young tuition teachers need not doubt themselves about whether they fit the bill to be good tutors and older tutors need not be afraid to explore and be adventurous with electronic gadgets to become successful online tutors and offers the best online tutoring services. A great teacher is one who never stops learning and is always unafraid to try new ways to impart knowledge to their students!