6 Essential Tips for Online Tutors to Ensure A Secure Career Path

Online tutoring is gaining popularity daily, giving students and tutors many benefits. For instance, online tutoring has the advantage of flexibility in scheduling and interactive tools and resources, which makes it ideal for tutors and students. However, online tutoring can be a competitive area, which means a successful online tutor needs adaptation, exceptional communication, and tutoring skills. Suppose you are new to online tutoring or need guidance about how to be a good online tutor. In that case, this article provides a comprehensive insight into the best online tutoring tips for you, including:

• Choose the Right Platform for Your Online Lessons
• Ensuring a Stable Internet Connection
• Understand Your Students
• Create an Agenda or Lesson Plan Beforehand
• Stay Up to Date with EdTech
• Stay Focused During Your Online Sessions
• Minimise Noises in Your Workspace
• Communicating Clearly about Payment
• Plan for Your Personal Life to Avoid Teacher Burnout

1. Optimise Your Environment for Online Tutoring Success

One of the most essential aspects of tutoring online is the learning environment. Utilising interactive resources and tools to keep students engaged can positively affect your online teaching sessions. But first, you must set up your work area to be a successful tutor. Here are online tutoring tips for setting up a conducive learning environment.

• Choose the Right Platform for Your Online Lessons

When teaching online, finding a secure platform that aligns with your professional goals is essential. The right platform can offer flexibility, allowing you to teach many students and work on a convenient schedule. It also provides access to the best and most updated teaching resources, enhancing the quality of your lessons. For instance, Ostado is a platform that offers these benefits to online tutors.

• Ensure a Stable Internet Connection

A secure and stable internet connection is one of the most important factors in tutoring online. With a stable connection, tutors and students can get the best results without frustration. It’s also advisable to make sure that your devices support the tools and software needed for conducting video calls.

• Proper Lighting and Background for the Video Calls

Proper lighting and background can significantly enhance the virtual classroom environment. Adequate lighting can prevent possible sleepiness, improving student engagement and learning outcomes. Natural white and daylight are the best light temperatures for video conferencing. As for the background, it’s best to avoid a home-like setting, even if you’re teaching from home. Creating a dedicated workspace and a background on your wall can simulate the classroom environment. Wearing a solid colour shirt is also advisable to prevent distractions.

Read More: Highest Paying Tutoring Subjects

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2. Maximise Your Success: Strategically Prepare Materials and Resources

As mentioned above, the online tutoring industry is becoming more competitive. A successful online tutor must keep up-to-date with teaching methods, resources, strategies, and tools and provide adaptive learning materials. Below are our tips on how to be a good online tutor:

• Understand Your Students

One significant advantage of online tutoring is a personalised learning environment. Ensure you know your students’ goals, learning styles, weaknesses, and strengths. This way, you can make structured lesson plans tailored to students’ needs and help them achieve learning goals.

• Beyond the Screen: Unleash Engagement with Interactive Online Tools

An online learning environment allows interactive tools such as virtual whiteboards, multimedia resources, and online quizzes that promote engagement through gamification to create a fun environment. Depending on your student’s age and the subjects you teach, activities like role-play and scavenger hunts are suitable for engagement while teaching online.

Interactive Tools for Online Tutoring
Tools	What Is It?	Benefits for Online Classes
Quizlet	AI-powered tool for creating lessons	Creating flashcards, lessons, and interactive tools
			Whiteboard Fi	Virtual Whiteboard	Interactive quizzes, assessments
Miro	Virtual Whiteboard	Enhanced virtual learning
Screen Sharing	A feature on most video conferencing tools	Great for showing examples and explanations

3. Spark Connection to Engage Your Online Students

Interacting with students and building rapport can boost lesson effectiveness; practical communication skills are essential during tutoring. Empathetic listening, interactive activities, and real-time feedback are valuable strategies for the online tutoring business. Creating a supportive environment and encouraging questions and discussions are also helpful.

• Use Video Conference Features for Group Activities or Discussions

With the advancement of technology, teaching online is more fun than ever. So many online tools can boost your tutoring sessions; one of them is breakout rooms, which online tutors can use for collaborative and peer learning. Here are the best video conferencing tools to conduct tutoring sessions:

 

Video Conferencing Tools for Online Tutors
Tools	Pros	Cons
Zoom	Provides an online whiteboard	Lacks comment control
Google Meet	Apply virtual backgrounds and visual effects	Relatively low video quality
WizIQ	Provides an online whiteboard	Most features are not free

 

• Encourage Participation Through Asking Questions

Depending on the subject you’re teaching, participation can be helpful. For instance, if you are an ESL tutor, student participation is a crucial factor in the quality of your teaching sessions. Assigning tasks to complete, asking questions, and providing the opportunity and context for role-playing games are good examples.

• Be Attentive to Non-verbal Cues

Respond to non-verbal cues in conversations with students to gauge understanding and address any confusion. Making eye contact and positive, engaging body language during online sessions are also essential. Look at the webcam and your students while teaching; putting a little sticker behind your laptop can help you remember where to look. If you hold a physical board or pictures while teaching, ensure they don’t cover your face.

4. Master Time Management Strategies for Online Sessions

Time management is essential for online tutors. With efficient session time, students and online tutors can achieve the best results in a tutoring session. Below are our top online tutoring tips for effective time management.

• Create an Agenda or Lesson Plan Beforehand

If you are teaching a course, you should plan your entire course on what to teach at each session so you can cover all the needed topics during the course. Nonetheless, flexible scheduling is essential for teaching a course or a single session. Set a clear start and end time, and ensure you can cover the needed information for the particular topic during that session. You must provide examples, assign activities, and give feedback based on the subject. Some students might need more examples and explanations for topics; make sure your scheduling is flexible.

• Dedicate a Time to Breaks for Students to Rest Their Eyes and Minds

This tip is constructive if you are teaching younger students. Depending on the subject you’re teaching and your student’s learning style and pace, you can include a two-minute break for 25 minutes of teaching. Encourage students to stand up or do something to relax their minds and eyes during break times.

• Use Time Management Tools for Teaching Online

You can become an effective online tutor with the help of online tools or AI tools for teaching online. Lesson planning and time management are essential strategies for those who teach online. These tools help you have a clear plan for your course and different parts of each session:

 

Best Time Management Tools for Online Teachers
Tool	Benefits for Online Tutors
Toodledo	Creating to-do lists
Planbook	Lesson planning
Google Classroom	Lesson plan, keeping track

 

5. Managerial Tips for Smooth Online Tutoring Sessions

Maintaining professional and clear communication is always a good idea for one’s career. Make sure you stand on the same page with students or their parents regarding the quality of the lessons, learning goals, lesson scheduling, etc. Here are some tips:

• Maintain Professionalism in Communication with Students/Parents

Effective communication is essential for a tutor career; understanding parents’ and students’ concerns is a good start. This will allow you to provide a personalised learning experience. Maintaining a respectful tone, being clear about students and their academic progress, and listening actively are essential for professionalism in communication.

• Establishing Clear Rules and Expectations for Behavior During Sessions

Before starting your online tutoring sessions, setting clear rules and boundaries with students and parents is essential. During your sessions, encourage participation and active listening. Positive reinforcement can also be practical, depending on your student’s learning style.

• Communicating Clearly about Payment

At the beginning of your online tutoring sessions, clearly outline your payment rates and structure with the students, parents, or the online platform you work with. Make sure to mention additional fees, such as cancellations or late payment fees.

Read more: How to write a resume for tutors?

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6. How to Overcome the Challenges of Online Tutoring?

Like many other careers, the tutoring business has its challenges. Below are a few examples:

• Technical Difficulties and How to Troubleshoot Them

Digital literacy is a must-have skill for online tutors. Troubleshooting technical issues while teaching online can be time-consuming and frustrating for tutors and students. Staying up to date with EdTech and ensuring your device, software, and drivers are updated and that all the tools you need for teaching, lesson planning, etc., are supported is essential. 

• Managing Distractions and Keeping Students Focused During Sessions

Whether you teach online or in person, distractions are inevitable, especially when teaching a group of students. There are multiple reasons for students’ distractions, daydreaming, boredom, anxiety, multitasking, or environmental factors. These are a few examples; understanding the reason for distraction is a good start. Calmly addressing distractions is vital; ensure the learning environment is interactive and motivating for pupils.

• Adapting to Different Learning Styles and Needs of Students

Most parents and students choose online tutoring, especially one-on-one tutoring, for a tailored learning experience. Usually, the first step for online tutors is to recognise individual learning styles to provide customisable content and pace; if needed, consider micro learning techniques, which involve breaking down the teaching material into 3-5-minute instructions. Provide assignments and homework tailored to students’ learning goals. The table below gives you insight into diverse learning styles:

 

Main Learning Styles
Style	Characteristics	Best Teaching Strategies
Visual Learners	Well-organised, Great Attention to details	Organise information using colour codes, use visuals, and provide a written lesson summary at the end.
Auditory Learners	Remembers names, Unable to concentrate when noisy,  Enjoy music	aural cues, verbal communications,  mnemonic devices
Reading/Writing Learners	Likes reading out loud, being good at multiple-choice and essay tests	, provide text-based materials,
Kinesthetic Learners	Prefers not to sit still, Likes to touch objects, Enjoys trying new things	Teach via games and projects, allow more breaks during sessions

Additional Tips for Online Tutor’s Professional Development

Here are some additional online tutoring tips on how to be an excellent online tutor:

1. Create a checklist to use before your sessions to make sure you have everything you need
2. Stay focused during your online sessions
3. Stay updated with educational trends and the teaching content
4. Ensure the teaching materials are accessible
5. Consider copyright laws when using online materials
6. Minimise noises in your workspace
7. If you don’t live alone, make sure no one interrupts you while teaching
8. Plan for your personal life to avoid teacher burnout

Online tutoring provides many benefits for students and tutors. An online tutor needs proper preparation, engagement, time management, and effective communication skills to excel in their field. Keeping up to date with methods and teaching materials is another important factor for online tutors.

Start Your Online Tutoring Career at Ostado

Suppose you are passionate about teaching and helping students achieve their academic goals. In that case, Ostado offers valuable career opportunities for you in the UK. At our interactive and secure tutoring platform, your teacher profile will be seen by many students, and you can schedule all your lessons at your convenience. Join us today and see tutoring jobs at the UK!