Online Tutoring as a Career

Pin It

Do you have a flair for teaching and is looking for a career different from traditional classroom teaching? Are you among those highly qualified people, especially women, who have been forced to quit the job after marriage or having a baby? Then here is an excellent career opportunity for you. Online tutoring alias online teaching or e-tutoring, is a career that enables one to work from home or from any online tutoring centers/ companies.

Online tutoring is exactly the same as giving private tuitions to students. The only difference is that, the tutor and the student is sitting far away from each other and the teaching is done through the internet. Their voice and data is transferred over internet. Online tutoring is mostly one to one teaching and is very effective. Many students are shy and they do not talk or ask questions in the class in fear of being ridiculed. But in online teaching, he is alone with his teacher and there is no one to make fun. Very rarely online classes can be one to many i.e one tutor vs. group of students.

Online tutoring is a system where the students learn through a virtual classroom. The teacher and the student share an interface where both of them are online at the same time. They make use of facilities like audio and video conferencing with the help of an interactive computer attachable white board. In this system, tutor can demonstrate with the help of images, files and diagrams. Just like a normal classroom they do text chat, and speak to each other with the help of a headset and microphone. Students can ask any queries just like in a usual classroom. Classes mainly in demand for online tutoring are in subjects such as Mathematics, physics, chemistry, computers, English, Hindi, German and other foreign languages. So there are opportunities for teachers from different disciplines. Other than the regular curriculum topics, there are requirements for guidance in various competitive and entrance exams as well.

Online tutoring or E-tutoring is a new age learning method. It is a promising career with a great future and is being touted as the next big thing in the domain of learning. Online tutoring is a career especially for those people who consider no service better than teaching and no life better than being with family. There is a wrong notion that online tutoring is a women's field. But many talented men have successfully taken up this career as their profession.

The basic advantage of online tutoring is that the tutor can teach the student from any where, even from the confines of their home. They can take care of their family; do their household work and at the same time get to their students at a pre-fixed time. The best thing about this job is that it can be done part time or full time based on the time available. Moreover it provides a good source of income.

The demand for online tutors is increasing day by day as part of the increase in the amount of outsourced work coming to Third World Nations. Education in countries like the US is very expensive and the tutoring costs are extremely high. Usually parents have to pay $40 to $100 per hour for private tuitions or to American tutoring companies. So they prefer outsourcing this work to countries like India who offer the same quality service at a comparatively less price, normally $20 to $25 per hour. Moreover, there has been a sharp rise in Federal funding towards education and tutoring which makes the role of an online tutor all the more relevant in today's scenario.

Video on Online Tutoring

Eligibility

To become a teacher in a school/ college in India, B.Ed (Bachelor of Education), M.Ed (Master of Education) and other higher qualifications like TET, Ph.D, NET etc. are required.

In universities and colleges, along with the above qualification, tutors need classroom experience to be selected for teaching online courses. But private companies may demand nothing more than a master’s degree and a thorough knowledge in the particular subject.

Personal Skills : The most and the important attribute needed for a prospective online tutor is the passion for teaching. Though language fluency is a must in this field, the slang or accent won't be a big barrier for beginners, if you can communicate well. One has to be patient and need to respect and understand the culture of the students as they are mostly from a different country. Learning methods and syllabuses may be dissimilar in different countries. While teaching online students from different parts of the world, one has to follow their syllabus and structure. So the tutor may have to get updated and restructured in their subject. Tutoring is a serious activity and requires commitment.

Besides teaching and communication skills, online tutoring is possible only with several other components. They are :