Archive for the ‘Tutoring’ Category

How To Find an Online Tutor?

Tuesday, August 31st, 2010

If you want to find a tutor, you will discover that, in most subjects, you are spoilt for choice. Finding a tutor is not difficult in itself, but making the choice among many well-qualified educators offering their services can be a bit harder. The first step in finding a tutor is to be clear in your own mind what the options are and what your, or your child’s, specific needs are. Are you looking for catch-up tuition? Do you want extra help with a subject that you or your child struggles with? Does your child need homework help and supervision? Or is your need to find a tutor geared towards achieving a specific goal, such as excelling in an entrance exam or SAT test? You will also need to think about the kind of service you want. Online tutoring is a popular and often economical option, because the provider’s overheads are likely to be lower than with private tuition conducted in your own home. Which is most suitable for you? A bonus of online tutoring is that, because you are not restricted to educators in your area, in most subject areas you will be able to find a tutor who fits your specifications closely.Your first port of call when trying to find a tutor is likely to be the internet, where you will discover a huge variety of services available. Some online tutors offer specialist services, including test preparation for particular examinations (such as GRE) or online tutoring for young students with learning difficulties. You may want to find a tutor who offers a specialist service of this kind, or you may want more broad-spectrum tutoring help. Cost is always a consideration, especially in tough economic times and online tutoring puts educational help within most people’s financial reach. Price may be important but you also want to make sure you get the best help. A good online tutor will post full details of what you will be getting for your money. When finding a tutor who will deliver what you need, it may only partly be a matter of getting what you pay for. Though you will want to find a tutor with appropriate qualifications and certification and/or experience, you won’t need a tutor with a doctorate to help schoolchildren. Conversely, if you need economics tutoring for your MBA studies, you will have to be prepared to pay for that specialized expertise for best results. Testimonials from former students will always be of help to you when you are making your decision. Their feedback will also give you further information about a particular person’s tutoring style and the methods they favor. A good tutor will also be open and communicative about these issues. When you go about finding a tutor, don’t hesitate to contact people with your queries (and note that it’s worth spending a bit of time formulating your questions so that you get all the information you need). The way people respond to your inquiries will tell you something about the way they conduct their tutoring services.Effective and productive learning depends on a good relationship between learner and tutor, especially since it typically involves one-to-one interaction. Finding a tutor who fits the bill will require some thoughtful effort on your part, but the educational benefits that online tutoring and private tuition can give you will be well worth it.

Online Tutoring and Private Tuition of School Students: Hidden Benefits

Saturday, August 21st, 2010

Many parents seeking online tutoring for their children, or private tuition in their home, will be focusing on academic achievement. Perhaps their child is under-achieving in a particular subject, or requires catch-up help due to illness or absence. Ambitious parents may want to ensure that their gifted child receives more input than busy school teachers can provide.

Online tutoring and private tuition can indeed confer these benefits, helping young learners to master a given subject, or to move from achieving average test results to exceptional grades. However, there is more to achievement, and to educational success, than grades. Online tutoring and private tuition can both assist young learners in domains beyond academic achievement.

Above all else, private tuition and online tutoring typically both emphasize one-to-one, personalized attention. Some young learners will have received little attention of this kind. Sometimes it’s a matter of large classes in which the teacher’s attention to individual needs is inevitably diluted by the demands of the group. Learners whose achievement is neither worrying nor brilliant may not get the extra attention that gifted children, or children whose learning is impaired, receive. Learners of all skill levels may come into their own with individual private tuition.

For learners who do struggle with a subject, or with learning generally, online tutors who provide private tuition can be more than just subject coaches. Experienced and qualified online tutors will recognize learning difficulties that can benefit from specialist attention. For learners with attention and concentration problems, individual assistance that teaches them to resist distractions and focus can work wonders.

Under-achievement can be as frustrating for learners as it is for parents and teachers. A learner who is known for being bottom of the class may come to suffer from problems of self-esteem that extend beyond schoolwork and into the social and emotional domains. Online tutors who provide encouragement and reassurance along with practical instruction can make a big difference. Fostering a sense of achievement that, in turn, boosts learners’ motivation, can also be one of the most rewarding experiences for online tutors.

Under-achieving is not limited to children with learning difficulties, whether those derive from a problem such as dyslexia or ADHD or from a school or home environment that is not conducive to effective learning. Intelligent children who do not receive the stimulation they require in the classroom context may, out of boredom, resort to playing up and acting out. Private tuition, or online tutoring, can assist here too, by providing that stimulation and helping learners to realize the importance of achieving their own, individual potential.

All learners deserve to feel special, no matter what their abilities. Through online tutoring learners can be helped to appreciate their own strengths, at the same time as they receive assistance with any areas of learning where they display weaknesses. Without that feeling of self-worth, young learners may have little motivation to engage, yet alone perform well in their academic studies. Any parent seeking online tutors or private tuition should bear in mind that it is not only an investment in a learner’s grades but also a way to aid children’s personal development.

Tutoring Services ? Different factors of selection

Wednesday, August 18th, 2010

If you are looking for tutoring services online you won’t be disappointed. You will find a wealth of tutoring services advertised on the internet, with tutors offering a wide variety of tuition. You will need to be clear about what kind of tutoring services you or your child needs in order to make an informed choice. Tutoring Services: Your OptionsTutoring services do not all offer the same types of tuition? Some tutoring is subject-specific, dealing, for example, primarily in math help or learning languages. Others are geared to particular goals, such as test preparation, including standardized testing and entrance examinations. Some home tutoring services specialize in college level tuition, others in helping children with homework.Different tutoring services may also design their tuition in different ways. Online tutoring services are popular because of their accessibility to anyone with a computer and internet access. Some deliver course materials and feedback by email. Others use today’s technology and video links to deliver individual tuition on a virtual face-to-face basis, in real time. The kind of home tutoring services you decide are best for you or your child will therefore depend on what you are trying to accomplish. You may be seeking intensive coaching, help for a student with learning difficulties or occasional supervision and assistance with specific projects. Different tutoring services also have different cost implications, not only in the rates of remuneration for tutors but also in other areas. For example, if you want tutoring services by video link you will need to have a suitable computer, a webcam and a good, reliable broadband connection. Once you have decided what kind of tutoring services will suit you best, you are in a position to think about choosing tutors.Finding TutorsFinding the right person among the tutors offering services is the next task. Your most important criteria may be seeking tutors with high qualifications and vast experience. If you are seeking tuition help for a child with a learning difficulty it will be important to choose a tutor with a track record in remedial education, for example. If you are looking for tutors primarily to provide a homework supervisory and guidance service, then your criteria may be different. For a child who is reluctant to engage with schoolwork, the personality and charisma of the tutor may be crucial. It may be more important to consider younger people that the learner can relate to than tutors with decades of experience. Making Your DecisionYour choice will depend on a variety of factors, and doing some research into the tutoring services that seem suitable will pay dividends in the long-term. Don’t be afraid to ask providers of tutoring services, and individual tutors, all the questions that come to mind. It is abundantly clear that tutoring services meet a real gap in the world of education and can make a huge difference to learners, of all ages and in all subjects. If you know what you are looking for you will be well placed to choose amongst the available tutoring services and find a tutor who will meet your particular needs.