Online tutoring has become a highly popular and effective learning option, delivering great results for both students and tutors. The pandemic introduced many teachers and students to online education for the first time, and while some adapted quickly, the quality of online provision varied widely. Many students turned to online tutoring to support their learning at home, with top tutoring companies like Dukes Tutoring already equipped with advanced, interactive online platforms to meet their needs. Even tutors accustomed to face-to-face teaching quickly embraced the shift to online lessons, adapting enthusiastically to continue providing high-quality support.
Does online tutoring work?
Yes, online tutoring can be just as effective as in-person tutoring when done right. In fact, it offers several unique benefits that can enhance your child’s learning experience. Here’s why online tutoring works:
- Convenient and flexible learning from home
- Access to expert tutors regardless of location
- Personalised one-on-one sessions tailored to your child’s needs
- Interactive digital tools like whiteboards and screen sharing
- Effective results in boosting confidence and skills
What are the Benefits of Online Tutoring?
Online tutoring has become an increasingly popular choice for students and families, offering a variety of advantages over traditional in-person lessons. Here are some of the key benefits:
- Access to a wider range of tutors: No more worrying about local availability – online tutoring means we can match your child with the best tutor based on their learning style, needs, and personality, no matter where they live.
- Improved learning continuity: Whether you’re away on holiday or dealing with illness, online lessons can continue without interruption, so your child won’t fall behind.
- Convenience with online resources: Sharing resources, looking up information, or using interactive tools is a breeze with shared screen platforms – making learning smoother and more engaging.
- Environmental and time efficiency: Forget about travel time. With online tutoring, you save time and reduce the environmental impact by learning from home.
- Comfortable learning environment: Some kids find online sessions more relaxed without the social pressures of in-person lessons, and they don’t have to worry about tidying up before the tutor arrives!
Who and what can be taught online?
Maths, English and the sciences are very popular online subjects, but they are also popular tutoring subjects in general. For Dukes Tutoring, many of our students are preparing for entrance exams, so maths and English, along with verbal reasoning and non-verbal reasoning, are core components of what is studied. We also teach many GCSE and A Level students online, covering a broad spectrum of exam subjects very successfully.
Although online tutoring probably used to be considered more appropriate for older students at or above GCSE level, we have found that younger children adapt to and positively enjoy online tutoring. For example, all the 2021-22 cohort of 11+ students were tutored online for their entrance exams, and they achieved a 97.4% success rate. This shows that online tutoring services have proved themselves to be the equal of face-to-face tutoring when the quality of teaching is high, and that online learning works brilliantly for this age group.
Some types of tutoring are sometimes still better undertaken face-to-face in the same room. These include teaching the very young, or students with Special Educational Needs. For example, it can be challenging to keep the attention of younger children through a screen, and requires more active parental involvement, whereas even very experienced teachers find it much easier to engage and teach very young children in person.
Is online tutoring safe?
Safeguarding is as important for online tutoring as it is for tutoring conducted in person. We take this very seriously and Dukes Tutoring are committed to providing the highest standard of safeguarding for both students and tutors. All our tutors are DBS checked, they all undergo rigorous interviewing, and their references are carefully verified, whether they teach in person, online or both.
As specified in our Parent Handbook, the online tutoring platform we use is carefully designed to ensure students and tutors work together in a safe environment. We have a code of conduct that is clearly explained to tutors, parents and students. Parents and guardians will always be responsible for the welfare of the student during teaching sessions and should be close by, just as they would be during a face-to-face lesson. Students are only permitted to record video, still images or audio of any tutoring sessions for learning purposes and both tutors and students only share links to online content or educational resources that directly link to the content of their sessions. Parents need to ensure the general online safety of their children and know what they are seeing and doing online, but reputable tutoring companies will support that by taking every step to protect the safety of both students and tutors during online tutoring sessions.
What’s the future?
It’s possible that, just as people have gradually returned to attending the theatre, cinema, restaurants (and schools) in person after the pandemic, there may be a slight shift back to more face-to-face tutoring in students’ homes. Some people simply prefer the face-to-face experience. We are recruiting more consultant tutors to teach in person, but it is clear that online tutoring is here to stay.
Online tutoring platform provider Bramble conducted some research* to find out how students, tutors and parents feel about the future of tutoring delivery. The results, from 2,700 participants, show that 50% would like to go forward with a combination of online and face-to-face tutoring, while 27% of respondents would prefer ongoing online tutoring rather than any return to in-person tutoring. No doubt these results delighted Bramble, given the nature of their business, but it’s an interesting outcome that didn’t surprise us at Dukes Tutoring, as many of our tutors value the benefits of online teaching very highly.
We predict that online tutoring will continue to represent a high percentage of total tutoring hours in the UK. Our overseas students rely upon it to access quality tutoring from the UK as well as help with school or university choices and applications, but it has become central to our work with our UK client base too. As online technology continues to improve, perhaps online tutoring will continue to grow even further.
*https://about.bramble.io/blog/three-quarters-prefer-online-tutoring-2021.html