How Effective Is Online Tuition?

I must admit that when students and friends both suggested that I offer my clients an online tutoring facility, I was sceptical at first. Until last year, I had only ever known teaching in either a classroom or over a dining room table where I would be sat immediately opposite my student. The biggest problem with the latter option is the opportunity cost of time taken to travel to and from a students home, such travel over huge distances incurs additional costs and prevents other students from booking appointment slots. Having to turn away countless students in need of my help, I was becoming increasingly frustrated with the geographical boundaries of face-to-face tuition.

I realised that there were many students out there across the UK, not to mention expat students abroad, who desperately needed a service like mine. How was I to reach them?

In October 2012, an economics student approached me and suggested that we use Skype to conduct tutor session and thus negate the need to drive a three hour round trip and incur travel expenses. At first, I was not keen on this idea but after the first session, I realised that this was the best way forward to reach all those students who require my help. I used to be concerned that online tuition would diminish any rapport I might have with my students, especially as trust is so vital in the tutor-tutee relationship. Another concern was being able to chop and change the direction of the session without being able to refer quickly to a textbook or worksheet but I soon realised that a good scanner and email adequately allows for this. As a classroom teacher, learning objectives and lesson tasks are always predetermined before the lesson, and this is something which sets tuition apart from school based lessons. There is no predetermined learning agenda, the tutor is on hand to adapt and satisfy the needs of their tutee as those requirements become apparent. This can still be done using online tuition although it puts the onus back on the student to think about what it is they would like to cover in the next coming sessions. Tutors can then collate information and learning tasks which can be emailed to the student in advance of the session.