Can I Get Some Help Please? Is Online Tutoring an Option for You?
Online tutoring is fast becoming an alternative for teaching and learning online, especially when the students are bound by constraints such as transportation and no available locale tutors in their area. But just want is online tutoring? Online tutoring refers to the process where knowledge and skills are imparted from a knowledge provider expert to a learner using online communications. Although it has been around for quite a while, it has seen significant grow with increasing bandwidth. Tutoring takes various forms:
1. Tutoring via email occurs when the tutor provides learning content, review information and tests, and the learner then accesses the information and reviews it at their own pace and time in their own space. Interaction is also primarily via email where feedback is provided via the same format.
2. Real-time tutoring online depends on good bandwidth and learners and tutors engage online in various activities at the same time as they would in a face-to-face classroom. The tutor and learners make use of tools such as the white board, chats, and instant messaging to transmit information back and forth. Some tutoring programs take advantage of audio and video resources. Many of these programs also allow the session to be recorded for later review if necessary.
A good online tutoring strategy may incorporate both forms of online knowledge delivery for effective and lower cost knowledge delivery. Some critics worry that a learner can get too much help from a tutor outside the classroom, but good tutors and tutoring companies guide students through the course content not give away the answers. After all, what is the point of doing well on a test but not be able to apply it in real life!
So, what features should you look for in a good online tutoring program? 1) Affordability. Is the program good value for your money? 2) Does the program include all components of learning - instructional, demonstrative, collaborative, and individual work? and 3) Does the program emphasize a good level of online security for students and tutors?
Many programs have round the clock service with many tutors who have expertise in different areas. The services offer tutoring in many subjects for example mathematics, sciences, reading, etc. It all depends on what your individual needs is.
The demand for online educational services can be attributed to various factors which include an increase in the number of non-traditional students who do not have a lot of time to look for other resources, a more competitive educational landscape in which colleges and schools are trying harder to attract students with extra services and students' greater familiarity with the Internet.
Unlike face-to-face tutoring where the tutor can see the expression of the learners and reiterate the content on a personal level, online tutoring requires additional preparation of course material so that it is delivered faster to the student, typing into the whiteboard. It is therefore best to look for online classes that are small so that the students get more individualized attentions when a lot of interaction is required.
Attendees are in remote locations and tutors direct access to demand attention. As a result, online tutoring might be more difficult for tutoring younger children or those with little attention span unless there is additional adult presence, for example the parents, to work with the student.
As more learners become comfortable with technology, the competition for online tutoring services will continue to grow. Likewise, there is reason to believe that as online learning continues to grow, so will online tutoring.
Sophia P. is the editor of http://www.about-elearning.com/online-tutoring.html an information and resource guide e-learning. Resources include information on online distance learning, books, software, and tools.