In an increasingly digital world, tutoring, too, increasingly takes place behind a computer screen. Distance learning is still very far from the daily lives of many students. And that raises questions! Is online teaching as personalized as tutoring at the kitchen table? How to use your manual if the tutor does not have it in front of him
Where does online tutoring take place?
Online tutoring should not be confused with tutorials. These are pre-recorded videos that you can watch over and over again. Online tutoring, however, is real-time and face-to-face . You and your teacher meet at the same time in the environment where the tutoring takes place. He or she will give you a personal explanation of your questions, and together you will practice the topics that concern you. This online environment is a combination of a video chat, such as Skype, a program with which you can share your screen, such as TeamViewer, and a program where you can take notes, such as a shared Word document .
HelloProf uses an online learning environment designed specifically for tutoring . It combines all aspects of the programs above: one-on-one video chat, the ability to share your screen and an interactive whiteboard on which you and your teacher can write, draw, mark up text, upload and edit files at the same time, create exercises,… There is also the co-browsing option , where you share a website and can work directly on it. This is useful for doing exercises together on a certain site, or watching videos together.
The difference between your screen and the kitchen table
With online tutoring, your tutor is not physically sitting next to you at your desk; You see and hear each other via video chat . Some students have to get used to it. All you need for this digital connection is a laptop or tablet with a camera and microphone. And of course, the biggest requirement is the stability of the Internet . If this is not the case, connection problems may disrupt your conversation, which is of course annoying when the Pythagorean thesis is explained to you.
The digital world, of course, makes using audiovisual materials in the classroom even easier. Additionally, you and your teacher can look at the same screen and take notes on the same board and, in the meantime, independently search for information. Tips for your memory or explanations in tutorial form are even more practical than when you sit at the same computer. The ability to share your screen and have others share it gives you endless options for scheduling lessons, or creating exercises together on an external website.
“(…) Lana is really excited. At first she was a little skeptical about whether it would work via an online connection. Of course, she was worried that she wouldn’t be able to communicate properly or indicate anything thing. But it’s going very well. Ignace explained the material so well that after the first hour, she felt a huge relief towards the test. She is normally very nervous for the week of tests and it’s really less to because of the tutoring. Full of praise!” – Sofie, mother of Lana
Online tutoring for languages and science subjects is also of the same quality as home tutoring. The digital whiteboard used can be described as an updated combination of Microsoft Word and the old Microsoft Paint. You and your tutor can choose from a wide range of letters, sizes, colors, shapes, markers and even math formulas to write and draw on the same board. You can do it at the same time – this way the tutor corrects your exercises or mistakes in real time.