What to Expect from Online Tutoring

Many people ask us what to expect from online tutoring or if they can have an example of online tutoring. A specific example of online tutoring is hard to describe, but suffice to say, it is basically what you would expect. During an online tutoring session, a real educator, such as a substitute teacher looking to make some more money or a teacher in training, will sit on his computer at home while you are at your home. You will both have your computers on and using a workable webspace, where you can write out examples. Some web services provide voice over IP, which is basically a telephone capability over your computer. In this example of online tutoring, the student and tutor are able to communicate with speech as well as visually. This makes it much easier for the student to understand what is going on and for the teacher to understand the child's problems. Of course, you don't need to pay for long distance when talking over the internet, so that is a big advantage of this format.

To get an idea of what happens during the session, let's say "Joe" needs help with an essay for English class. In the example of online tutoring, Joe would be able to show his entire essay to the tutor, and the tutor would in turn be able to verbally tell Joe some of the problem areas of the essay, as well, as correct the errors so that Joe can understand what he is doing wrong. If Joe needed help with math, he could type the math problem to his tutor or talk to the tutor if typing doesn't make sense. Really, online tutoring is no different than a real life tutor, except that you have access to great tutors across the country, rather than who is available in your area.

So, as you can probably see, it is hard to give an example of online tutoring since so much is done verbally, even though the student and tutor are working on their computers. However, it is a great way for a child to get help in many, many subjects.