There are many myths about online tutoring- things people believe about how it works and how people will respond to it .
Like many long held beliefs, many of these are simply not true and for the last 8 years now I’ve been trying to field these objections in a bid for others to sees the great advantage of working this way .
In the interests of fairness , I’ll set out the problem and then my response to it . Let’s have a look firstly at what these myths about working online are
Things tutors say about why they’re NOT tutoring online:
- Technology is too difficult
- I’m not an expert in my subject3.
- Someone else is already doing a course that I want to teach
- It’s all just too scary
- It will take too much time
- I don’t want to wear pyjama bottoms to work
- I’m not sure what to launch
- Parents prefer face -to- face tutoring
- I don’t think pupils get as much out of online tutoring.
- Nobody will want it.
And here then is the truth about online tutoring – after all I’ve been doing this for over 8 years now
- I can do it and I’m the least techy person you could meet.I can’t replace a plug or fix a tyre but I can teach a class of 60 or more pupils online- yeah me!
- Who is? You know your subject inside out? You can teach in a classroom or face to face? You can teach online. End of.
- Good.That means there’s a demand for it .
- Man up!
- Think of the time you spend travelling to and from a pupil’s house. The time it takes to talk to parents at the beginning and end of your lesson. The time it takes to settle down to work-way more than the hour you’re being paid. Online tutoring- one click, boom, you’re on!
- But you can if you want to!
- You will have so many choices it will make your head spin. And you can do one then another then another.
- Only those who don’t know any different say that. It’s like shopping online and shopping on a High Street. Once parents have experienced that they don’t have to leave the the house or clear dinner plates or hoover, they’re in.
- I know I would say this, BUT my experience is that they get more out of it.1:1 online tutoring is more intense (which is why I only offer 45 minutes 1:1). With small groups or online classes students get really involved.
- Ha! Too late for that one. With 5.3 billion people online by 2020, it’s already happening
So …..any other excuses?