Online teaching offers many bright career opportunities for tutors as most students nowadays prefer remote learning over regular classes. Moreover, a tutor for subjects like English is always in demand. Besides, the tutors working from home have the liberty to teach as per their convenience and availability.
However, to get the best out of online tutoring, one must be familiar with the basics, such as the right equipment, best tutoring platforms, etc. For this reason, we have listed the top tips for online English tutors who want to teach from home. So, without wasting time, let’s check them out.
Tips For English Tutors To Teach Online From Home
Who Are Teaching Online?
Various people, from full-time teachers to the ones working in other professions, are looking for online English tutoring opportunities. Moreover, some students also want to tutor part-time to pay their college fees or other expenses. Because online tutoring provides a decent side income. Also, one can upscale the tutoring business and pursue online English teaching as a full-time career.
Many established tutors have also shifted to remote learning due to its growing popularity. In addition, some absolute beginners started from scratch and now have exposure to a large number of students. In short, people from multiple professions are finding opportunities to teach online, as it is the “Future-Proof” way of learning.
Who Is The Target Audience?
Most students who can’t attend offline classes due to low-budget, health conditions, and many more reasons; opt for online English teaching. Online classes are comparatively available at lower rates.
Because this mode of teaching helps the tutors to save on various expenses. For example, online teachers don’t have to rent a building and buy furniture to arrange seats for the students. Similarly, multiple factors make online classes more budget-friendly for students.
Moreover, many parents enrol their children in Online English Tuitions to improve their language skills during their vacations. When the kids are free from school, they can focus on developing a stronghold on the language. Moreover, the parents who are unable to give enough time to their kids, and help them; opt for online tutoring services.
Best Platform For Online Tutoring
Now comes the question: Which is the best platform for online English tutors? The ideal tutoring platform offers a good reach to the students, and the fees per hour are also more. Similarly, there are many other perks. Tuition agencies are platforms that effectively connect online tutors with students. Moreover, the benefits of choosing a tutoring agency are as follows:
Get Personalised Recommendations
With the help of a tutoring agency, the tutors can get the most suitable students according to their qualifications. Suppose if you are a tutor having expertise with primary level learners, then you will not get the recommendations of high school and college students.
Good Exposure
Reputable tutoring agencies have large user bases. Consequently, the tutors get a lot of opportunities. It helps them increase their reach and multiply their growth. So, online tutors can benefit themselves by utilising the exposure provided by the tuition agency.
Work According To Convenience
Tutoring agencies allow you to become your own boss. If you are not available or can’t teach due to any reason, you can just skip the tutoring assignments. Similarly, you can work more, even on weekends, if you prefer.
Minimum Qualifications For Becoming an English tutor
In online tutoring, your degree and certificates don’t have as much importance as your teaching skills. If you have the practical knowledge and expertise, you can easily get students for online teaching from home.
Although some qualifications are considered a minimum for tutoring professionals. Similarly, for an English tutor, graduation in the subject is considered a basic necessity. Moreover, if an individual has other extra qualifications; they make their portfolio even more appealing to the students and their parents.
For instance, a 100 hour TESOL/TEFL certification course will help you get international students who want to learn or improve their English. Furthermore, online English tutors can record interactive demo lectures to make a good first impression on the students.
Digital Equipment and Other Requirements
To deliver online classes from home, you must keep the following gadgets and other essential requirements in check to enhance the learning experience for the students. So, let’s have a look at them.
A Laptop or Desktop
A laptop or personal computer is one of the basic digital equipment tutors should have. All the other hardware accessories and software programs are dependent on these devices. The same is true if you are assembling a personal computer (PC). Also, make sure to get a system with good processing power to deal with multiple tasks simultaneously.
Stable and Fast Internet Connection
Compare the services of major internet service providers in your area. Afterwards, choose the best among them. However, keep in mind to ensure that the network does not fluctuate. Otherwise, the learners may face lag in the online class’s video streaming.
High-Quality Webcam
It is essential to have a quality webcam so that the learners can properly see what the tutor is writing on the notepad or digital whiteboard. Good camera quality can considerably improve the remote interactions between the students and the teachers. If you have a laptop with a good webcam, you can use that. Otherwise, you need to buy one and connect it to your desktop or laptop.
Good Microphone
The online English video sessions require high-quality audio so that the students can learn various topics without any hassle. On the contrary, if the audio is unclear and noisy; the learners will not engage with your sessions. Hence, an investment in a good microphone is worth considering.
Quality Headsets
To properly listen to what the students are saying, it is essential to have a pair of quality headphones. However, headsets have dedicated microphones attached to them. So, in that case, one can skip buying a microphone separately.
Install A Video Streaming Platform
After being set up with the basic hardware, you should choose a video conferencing application like Zoom, or Google Meet to connect with the students. Make sure that the platform you select is easy to use and has the required features such as screen sharing, chatting, recording, etc.
Conclusion
Teaching from home is convenient but full of challenges. However, with the help of the above-mentioned tips, you can ease up your online English tutoring journey and effectively teach from home. Whether you are a full-time tutor or want to work as a part-time English teacher, these tips will come in handy. Also, working with a tuition agency can fetch you the best possible career outcomes if you continue to learn and improve yourself.
