Reasons Why Online Tutoring is Here to Stay

Prior to March 2020, the majority of tutoring took conducted in schools or in people's homes. Students and tutors get together in person to teach and learn. The outbreak of the pandemic effectively put an end to such gatherings. Schools and tutors alike struggled to adjust to the new reality during the first lockdown, transferring lessons online.

The changes created a lot of concern among tutors at first. They were concerned that online classes would be inefficient, impersonal, and riddled with technical issues. It was unclear if digital platforms could ever be a fine replacement for face-to-face education, or whether particular tutors like maths tutors could even be taught adequately.

Two years later, in-person sessions have been given the green light to resume. However, the industry has been irreversibly altered: many teachers have chosen to continue providing lessons online indefinitely. It's likely that a large portion of tutoring will be done entirely online in the future.

Why has there been such a shift in perceptions in just two years?

1. A convenient way to get around

For tutors becoming online tutors can save them half the time they would normally spend on classes. The convenience of logging in from a desktop is allowing them to save time and money on commuting which would otherwise add thirty minutes (or more) each way in order to teach one hour a day. It is possible to teach lessons one after another without any gaps between them.

For individuals who work as tutors part-time or full-time, this can mean the difference between cramming one lesson into an afternoon versus comfortably accommodating two or three. It's the most significant difference of all. The online model also provides a great deal of flexibility, since students can now log into their lectures from home after school.

Volunteering used to be difficult to schedule for those who worked 9-5 jobs. It's now fully feasible, allowing those who might not have considered it previously to do so.

2. Radius of tutoring

If you tutored before the pandemic, you may remember selecting a radius on a map to indicate your location and travel distance to teach. In-person lessons had a substantial geographical limitation in that tutors could only offer sessions in their own city or area. In larger cities, students might only have the option of choosing a quarter or borough.

The advent of online tutoring has dissolved those geographical boundaries. Tutors can now take on students based anywhere they wish. All subject tutors can teach any student from anywhere without any inconvenience.

The possibilities that have been opened up by the removal of geographical boundaries are only now taking shape. Areas of the world where tutoring is a thriving sector will be able to pool resources with more rural areas where pupils lack easy access to tutors. Tutors will also have more freedom and flexibility to live wherever they like, knowing that they will be able to find online pupils regardless of where they are physically located.

3. Styles of learning

Private tutors or face to face tutoring will always have a demand. Because every student has different learning needs.

On the other hand, some students benefit from online instruction. A busy schedule may have allowed them to squeeze in an hour of tutoring per week. Logging in from the familiarity of their home may simply make them feel more relaxed and secure. Online tutoring may feel natural to them since they spend so much time online anyway. They may not even enjoy school very much, and online sessions after school will provide them with a safer environment where they can take on a love of learning without being judged by their peers.

As varied as the reasons, it's true that online teaching has become more and more popular with students as they age. Interestingly, students tend to adjust to changes better than their older peers. Tutors have reported that online teaching has been more successful than they had anticipated.

It is an effective manner of teaching, and it is here to stay. During the transition from the pandemic to life after, we can hope that face-to-face and online tutoring will be able to find their place in an entirely new landscape of education. Both students and tutors are able to benefit from it.