As a result of the pandemic, the entire dynamics of education and teaching has changed to a great extent in various ways. Everything has transferred onto the online platform and 2021 is looking much different from any other years before as far as education is concerned.
This has caused many tutors to consider shifting their teaching method from in person tuition to an online tutoring job from home as most students prefer online tuition now. With more demand for tutoring jobs in Singapore, undergraduates are also willing to explore their career option as a tutor by committing themselves to part-time tutoring job.
So, for all those online-tutoring enthusiasts, here are some best tips to start online teaching in 2021!
#1: UNIQUENESS
Before deciding to become an online tutor, people need to think about their own selling points. Their first step must be to find their target audience. Many people have too vague of an idea while starting off and this can easily result in the downfall of their plan. The target audience can be chosen based on age, subject or performance depending on their preference.
Once choosing this target audience, they must think of what makes them different from other potential online tutors and how to persuade their audience of this unique selling point that they have. This unique selling point can be a diploma or degree, previous experience, or just anything that can convince others that they can be a good tutor.
#2: QUALIFICATIONS
People need to be qualified before deciding to become an online tutor and thus there are important prerequisites that they need to meet. Education is the main requirement that tutors need to meet before entering into the business. If people only have a high school diploma, O levels or any equivalent, they will only be able to teach primary school students.
If they have a polytechnic diploma, A levels or any equivalent, they will be able to teach secondary school students and below. Simply put, with a higher educational qualification, people will be able to teach a larger number of students. Potential tutors can also make them seem more qualified by volunteering to teach for free first to gain experience and strengthen their portfolio.
#3: RESOURCES
Online tutoring requires tutors to obtain a lot of equipment to ensure that their lesson goes smoothly. Tutors first need to find a suitable place to carry out their online lessons. Their location must be quiet, must not have any visual distractions in the background and must not have any unnecessary movement in the background.
Without meeting these requirements, tutors can easily distract their students from the lessons which will greatly reduce the effectiveness of their teaching. Tutors also need a computer with a functional webcam, headphone jack, microphone and be able to connect to a stable internet connection.
These equipment are necessary to ensure that there will not be any audio or connection issues throughout the lessons. It is also recommended for tutors to use a headphone with a good quality microphone so that the students will be able to hear the tutor clearly during lessons.
#4: MODE OF LEARNING
Once tutors have settled their equipment, they need to think about what software to use. Online tuition requires tutors to share their video, share slides and distribute documents and other content. Tutors need to decide on a video calling software that is also able to share their screen. Zoom is popular for this. Tutoring online on Zoom may seem overwhelming, but as soon as you got your head around it, tutoring with Zoom in one-on-one and group classes is extremely simple and has many great online class features. Zoom is a unique video conferencing platform that helps you interact with your students by only using a webcam, headset, and microphone. And you can also use a zoom teleprompter app and take the video conference to another level.
There has already been many established free software that they can use such as Zoom and Google Hangouts. Tutors must also think of how to teach the content that they want to cover. This can be in the form of slides, virtual whiteboards, etc. Regardless of what it is, tutors just need to have a software planned in mind that is able to share their content in their chosen video calling software.
Tutors must be able to share their study material with their students. This can be through using things like Google Docs or Microsoft teams. This will make it easier for students to access previously taught content making it easier to revise. In their free time, students can learn embroidery using the best machines avalaible.
#5: RATE
Tutors need to decide on the rate that they are going to charge for their teaching services. Rates depend greatly on the education level of the tutor, subject that they teach and the needs of the student. Certain topics that are of high demand can be charged much higher such as SAT prep, BMAT prep and secondary school Math and Science while other subjects cannot be charged as high.
Deciding a suitable rate is much more difficult than people think as it requires a lot of research to pick one that is not too low but also not so high that it deters students from hiring them.
Tutors need to research the average rates of the subject they teach, average rates of the tutors around them and average rates that tutors of their education level charge. After taking everything into account, tutors should be able to conjure up a reasonable rate for their services.
#6: BECOMING KNOWN
Tutors can register themselves as an online tutor on tutoring websites with their portfolio. The tutoring websites will help them advertise their services for them. If tutors want to be more independent in their business, they can also choose to create their own website. With website developing tools that can be found online for free, tutors can create easy to navigate informative websites in just a few days.
Having a website is not enough, however, as the probability of someone randomly finding the website is very low. Thus, tutors should also have social media platforms to assist with increasing their popularity. These social media accounts must be strictly professional so that potential customers are not confused when accessing them.
Tutors can also make a small investment and pay for advertisements on newspapers, other websites or pamphlets to help increase their popularity.
IN CONCLUSION, online tuition has become the new norm and it is of utmost importance for tutors as well as students to roll with the punches and learn to adapt to the changes!
