Over the years, in order to receive academic assistance, students had to additionally attend special individual or group classes. However, advances in new technologies and, in particular, the emergence of the Internet, have changed the approach to teaching.
If earlier the only option was to invite an unfamiliar tutor to your home or to meet with him somewhere outside (for example, on courses), now this can be done online. So, what are the advantages and disadvantages of becoming a tutor?
You decide when and how to work
Teachers who work in schools have been taught to be content with little. Salaries were never competitive and the number of responsibilities was terrifying. There is a stereotype that a teacher cannot earn much. Now, when there is the Internet, you can work as a tutor online. You don’t have to go somewhere far to make money, and you can see it for yourself by reading wyzant review. By giving tutoring an additional 2-3 hours a day for a month, you can get the desired payment per month. It is a good increase in wages.
The main advantages of online tutoring are:
- You can work without leaving your home;
- You can earn extra money on maternity leave;
- You can do remote tutoring in retirement;
- You can work at school, and after work earn extra money as a tutor remotely.
That is, distance employment is similar to freelancing, which allows you to combine several projects at the same time. If you decide to become a tutor, you don’t have to give up everything and devote your life to remote work. You can also work at school and additionally study with students offline, but at the same time, you can receive additional income from remote work. That means, in tutoring, you yourself determine how much you work and how much you earn!
Disadvantages
1. High competition. Together with the demand for services, the supply also grows. To count on a good stable income, you will have to compete with other tutors. Firstly, it is a matter of customer confidence: specialized diplomas, certificates, and documents confirming your competence will become an advantage. Secondly, this is the problem of promotion: you will have to actively promote your services in order to gain an audience.
2. Unstable earnings. This is true for any profession that involves the provision of services on the Internet. A student might leave you for another tutor – in the online mode, there is no such client “bindings” as, for example, a good location. Thanks to the Internet space, the student can find a more profitable replacement if the tutor is not satisfied with something. In addition, the dependence of classes on the Internet entails various unforeseen circumstances: the Internet does not work well, the communication program slows down, the lights turn off… All this can disrupt the lesson and negatively affect the quality of the classes.
3. Challenges in face to face interaction. When lessons are face to face, the teacher sees how the fulfillment of certain tasks is progressing, has the opportunity to immediately point out the mistakes to the student and correct them. But this feature is almost absent while working online.
Where to begin?
At first glance, tutoring seems simple. But in practice, this turns into a complex process that requires preparation and attention to detail.
You need to start by determining the level of your qualifications such as this TEFL certification online and, based on this, your target audience. It is easier for beginner tutors to start with the school curriculum. To do this, you do not have to develop a special course, it will be enough to adhere to educational standards. If you are a specialized expert, then you can start from any level of complexity. As a rule, the workflow is structured in this way: first, the teacher gets to know the student, studies the level of his knowledge, and then builds a learning strategy.
Considering all the pros and cons of this profession, one cannot ignore the fact that the demand for online tutoring service is growing rapidly. This means that over time, this niche will become even more competitive, which means that it is worth starting to develop in this direction right now. In addition, you can stop working as an online tutor at any time you want.