When the pandemic started, the children were locked inside their homes. They were not able to go to tuition classes and were studying from home. During this period, the tutors and their learners worldwide needed a medium to connect. And online tutoring methods acted as a bridge between them.
Though online tutoring has existed for a long, it has grown at an increased rate of 13.2% in the last two years. And, the experts are expecting it to grow by 15% by the end of 2025. In this scenario, it is very important to discuss the various aspects of online tutoring in detail. In this blog, we are going to the same! We will first understand what online tutoring is. Afterward, we will take a look at the 5 significant benefits of online tutoring for students.
What Is Online Tutoring?
We all know what online tutoring is, isn’t it? We do know that it is a process in which the tutors connect with their learners using online tutoring platforms or video calling platforms. But, online tutoring services sometimes go much beyond this simple definition. In recent years, online tutoring has evolved into a well-organized system where learners can learn any subject or topic of their choice from reputed tutors. Best tutoring services providers have started online tutoring courses, managed at par with any regular course or degree.
And, due to this increase in popularity, many new features are also added to it. Some of them are:
- Animated PPTs to accompany the lecture notes. These animated PPTs make the online tutoring classes interesting.
- Interactive assessments. These interactive assessments can be in the form of MCQ questions, grab and drag matching, and others.
- Live chatbots. The learners who can’t interact directly with the tutors take the help of these chat boxes.
Now that we have seen how online tutoring is maturing, let’s look at the 5 key benefits they offer to the learners.
5 Benefits of Online Tutoring
The benefits of online tutoring are many. Starting from increased scores to flexible learning, it has given learners a new way of learning. Still, we have selected the five most significant benefits of online tutoring and listed them below.
- Making Learning Portable
With online tutoring, the learners can now learn the topics from anywhere. They just need a stable internet connection on their device. That’s it! It has helped them keep connected to learning even during their vacation or when they are out of their homes.
This portability feature has another important aspect. We are going to discuss it in our next point.
- Access to the Best Tutors
As online tutoring stands for portable tutoring, there is no need for the learners to be present in the same city as their tutors. And as a direct consequence, the learners can now enroll in the courses delivered by the top tutors in their respective domains.
So, with access to world-class tuition, learners from remote areas are getting an opportunity to grow. It is an important reason for the improvement in the overall standards of education. It is also providing equal opportunities to everyone.
- 24×7 Doubt Clearance
We all remember the times when there was a fixed time for the tuition classes. Well, it was pretty predominant even around two years back. And, in some cases, physical tuition classes with limited timings take place even today. But, with the infusion of online tutoring, the learners can connect to their tutors even after classes, in case they have doubts or face difficult questions.
In many cases, the tutors themselves organize special doubt clearing sessions for their learners. And the learners can even request such sessions to discuss their doubts. Also, the instructors may call their learners before exams to check if they are doing well with their preparations. Such kinds of personalized tutoring are not very common in offline tutoring.
- Engaging Content
Any form of online content is bound to be engaging. If not, then there arise questions on their efficiency. For example, the major motive behind publishing audiobooks is to kill the boredom of reading black and white pages. Similarly, the online learning content includes audio-visual aids like animated videos, interactive whiteboard videos, motion graphics, typography, etc.
Studies have shown that the audio-visual content increases and content has higher retention rates. Hence, learning videos have more efficiency than textbooks. Also, understanding the topics become very easy when the learners get to see what is being explained.
- Increased Retention
As discussed above, the audio-visual content displayed during online tutoring classes increases memory retention. But, only audio-visual content is not the reason. There are some other reasons as well.
- Inside the classrooms, peer-to-peer interaction might distract the concentration of the learners. In online tutoring, such interactions are limited.
- In online tuitions, the learners attend the classes from their home environment. So, they can adjust their setting according to their comfort level.
- Sometimes, the teachers record the classes and give the recorded file to their learners. Hence, the learners can revise the concepts whenever they feel necessary.
How Modern Online Tutoring Actually Works?
Now that we have discussed the benefits of online tutoring in detail, you must be wondering how it works? Well, let us explain the work process of online tutoring in the current era.
- Firstly, there are many prominent online tutoring websites and platforms. The best tutoring services hire the best tutors and offer them a platform to connect with needy learners.
- The learners need to register themselves in these platforms and then select the tutor available for the subject they are interested in. When there is more than one tutor available, the learners can select whom they like the most.
- Once the learners are tagged with their respective tutors, their classes begin.
Hence, in the current scenario, the learners can hire online tutors quite easily. And they can even check the reviews, credentials, and demo videos before choosing.
Even the process of online tutoring has changed a lot! Now, the reputed online tutoring companies often outsource their requirements to the best tutoring services providers in the market. Such tutoring services develop efficient study materials, learning videos, and learning management systems for the tutors.
Impact of Online Tutoring on Education Industry
Now that we know how the online tutoring services providers operate, it is now important to know about their impact on the education industry. Well, the online tutoring services have connected tutors sitting in Europe to learners sitting in Asia! It has opened up the global education market for everyone. So, let’s discuss some of their major impacts in detail.
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Decreased the Cost of Education
Offline learning requires printed books, travel from one place to another. These add to additional costs that can be easily eliminated in online tutoring. In online tutoring, the learning materials can be shared online. Also, the learners do not need to spend extra money on travel expenditure and they can study from their homes.
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Gave Opportunities to Learners in Remote Areas
For a long time, the learners living in the remote areas could not study from top tutors. But, online tutoring has given them this opportunity. Now, they can enroll in online tutoring classes conducted by their favourite tutors. As a result, the quality of education in the remote areas has improved significantly in the last few years.
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Made Learning Possible Alongside Work
With the help of online education, the learners could avail tutoring services at their own convenience. Even the working professionals can enroll into the courses as they can take the online classes even after working hours. So, with the help of online tutoring and training, it has become very easy to upskill the workforce of a company.
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Some Challenges to Overcome!
As discussed above, there are many advantages of online tutoring. But, as the popular saying goes, even the roses have thorns! And, online tutoring also has multiple challenges to face! We have listed some of the most prominent challenges below.
- In many areas, internet connectivity might be an issue. Even if the tutors and learners do not face this issue inside the US, this issue might be a challenge when foreign learners enroll in the courses.
- One of the biggest issues in online cross-country tutoring is the language barrier. The learners might not be comfortable in the instructor’s language.
- Also, the online tutors need unique interactive videos and graphical content regularly. But many times, they cannot produce them on their own. And the person who develops them lacks sufficient subjective expertise. It decreases the efficiency of the learning content.
Conclusion
The best tutoring services offer portable learning at affordable prices. Also, the learners get the freedom to hire online tutors of their choice. But, online tutoring companies also need regular inputs on learning videos and interactive content. They also need to localize their services for learners with different native languages.
The best tutoring services help tutors by offering them high-quality learning content regularly. By hiring the service-providing companies, the tutors get content developed by experienced subject matter experts. And their learners get a highly valued learning experience!
