The growing popularity of home tutoring online is attributed to the many positive benefits it brings to students and educators alike. Students can go at their own pace and educators enjoy the convenience of teaching in the comfort of their own home and the time saved from commuting.
Although online tutoring is proven to be an effective way to help students reach their goals, some of the most common drawbacks are:
• The ability to demonstrate problem-solving
• Freeform collaboration needed for subjects such as math and science
• Holding the student’s attention and encouraging engagement
• Sharing worksheets and information guides
The good news is, there are solutions to these issues with the help of new online tools and software. Here are some online home tutoring tools we recommend to help students reach their academic goals.
Some of the earlier challenges that online tutors faced were having the ability to collaborate, show an exercise on paper, and demonstrate problem-solving on a board. With innovative online tools available today, virtual whiteboards have continued to improve their applications and satisfy the following needs:
• Educators and students viewing the same document in real-time
• Freeform collaboration with multiple people able to work on the document simultaneously
• The ability to save and store sessions so that the student can review the lesson afterwards
Traditionally, tutoring in-home was done in person which gave the advantage of keeping students engaged and attentive. Up-to-date video chat platforms with no lag time allow the student and tutor to converse in real-time while providing the added benefit of video recording and scheduling group sessions in advance. This tool is especially beneficial for students who want to go back and rewatch the recorded session.
Free online tools like Google Docs allow students and educators to save documents where they can easily make changes, comments and collaborate. These documents are easy to access on computers, tablets, and any mobile device.
Screen recording for home tutoring online can be used for a multitude of different purposes. Not only does it allow students to review lessons, but it’s also a great tool for tutors to critique and make improvements to their teaching methods. It can also be used to prepare courses in advance that can be saved and sent to multiple students.
Tools like virtual whiteboards, online video chat, document collaboration, and screen recording have helped to smooth out the process of home tutoring online. These convenient and easy tools also offer additional benefits that a traditional face-to-face tutoring session can’t.
Quality online tutors have the aptitude to utilize the resources available to improve their students’ study skills, ease test anxiety, and achieve better grades.