Advantages And Disadvantages Of Online 1v1 Tutoring |...

The rapid development of the Internet and portable technologies has led to the possibility of conducting online classes—a couple of decades back, a personal computer with a peripheral web camera, microphone, and cable internet access was required (and the internet connection itself used to be rather slow and unreliable). Nowadays, a laptop combines these, and even a smartphone is enough (though not ideal) for online lessons. Indeed, it is safe to assume that every household has either a laptop or smartphone and internet connectivity, whether from Wi-Fi or cell networks.

The convenience of this format is obvious, and it is gaining popularity among students by the day. Furthermore, the lockdown caused by the COVID-19 pandemic has shown everyone that online education, even one-to-one maths tuition via real-time video conferences is definitely doable. However, even though the COVID restrictions are finally slowly fading away, many students are not eager to return to the old offline routine. They instead prefer to continue the ‘quarantine way.’

As always, demand creates supply, and more and more companies are looking to hire teachers online to conduct classes via Skype, Zoom, Google Meets, or other means of communication. Some platforms can even help fill vacancies quickly with live online teachers by having a database of specialized teachers at hand that suit every need. Online services and aggregators of tutors are also being created to provide tutors and students with convenient ways of finding and contacting each other. The competition forces the progress, so some online resources – like oxbridgemind.co.uk, offer additional services like tailored programs or access to libraries. Let’s then dive into the pros and cons of online 1v1 tutor lessons.

The requirements for tutors working online:

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High level of professional qualification;
The ability to find an individual approach to each student;
Honesty, a high level of personal responsibility, and integrity.
The mastery of modern communication technologies and overall PC literacy.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Online Education

Advantages

Like other ways of learning, additional online classes have their advantages and disadvantages. However, online education indeed got its perks:

The student spends his time in a comfortable home environment. That is especially important for those suffering from anxiety and for children, which additionally allows their parents to control the learning process;
Online education is a budget-friendly option since there is no need to spend cash on transportation, whether for fuel or public transport tickets. The tutors’ pay rate for online lessons is also usually slightly cheaper, which is understandable given the lack of collateral expenses for such a way of learning.
Since there is no transportation, students also do not waste their time needlessly and can therefore assign more time to the actual learning process, increasing overall productivity.
Online education allows access to a broader market of tutor services – you can hire any tutor you wish and base your choice solely upon the tutor’s qualification, not geographic location. That is especially important for the residents of the small towns.
Online education offers the unmatched flexibility to choose the most convenient time possible for the start of your private lessons and their duration and break times.
Online education, especially the one provided by large enterprises, makes it possible to choose an individual learning program and the speed of influx of new information during the lesson.
After all, online tutoring is still the safest method of obtaining knowledge regarding potential health issues (a pandemic is not over yet) and proper confidentiality and personal safety.

Disadvantages

Even though online tutoring has undeniable advantages, it is still, like every other thing in this Universe, not ideal. There is a number of disadvantages while using the method of learning:

Not all tutors can provide online lessons since it requires at least an intermediate PC literacy. Consequently, you may miss out on some elderly super experienced masters that have been tutoring for their entire lives. Moreover, online tutoring requires a corresponding set of interactive didactic materials, which are not available to everyone.
The internet connection quality still lags behind in some places, especially in rural areas and small villages, which hinders the ability to participate in online learning. An unstable internet connection, for example, may cause an abrupt end to a lesson, which destroys the continuous flow of education and severely decreases the efficiency of online learning.
Online learning – same as homeschooling – suggests one-on-one lessons. It may handicap the soft social skills of developing adolescents, though there is no scientifically proven link.