Working as an Online Tutor: What Are the Main Challenges?

Online teaching has certainly become a true trend in the past few years and unlike other trending job opportunities, this one is certainly not going anywhere anytime soon. Online tutoring has become normalized in our global society and we can be thankful that this job opportunity is open to practically anyone with the desire to teach and those who have a stable internet connection. However, even though this amazing job option is now available does not mean it is devoid of the occasional challenge. Before you begin your online tutoring career, consider these challenges to the industry and ways to overcome them.
Getting Certified
A full teaching degree is no longer a requirement for teaching students, at least in the online world. Online tutors prove their skills on the job in many ways. They interact with students and empower minds throughout the world, but it certainly pays to have a little certification backing your skills. Certifications such as the TEFL give an online tutor an edge out on the competition and believe us when we say, the online tutoring world can get remarkably competitive. Receiving your certifications for online teaching allow your students to have invested confidence in your skills and can lead to far more teaching opportunities than without certifications.
Passive Students
An ongoing problem among both online and in-person teachers is the instance of passive students. Passive students are those that fail to engage with the rest of the class or even the teacher. They can pass all their exams and do great on paper, but lack the actual ability to bring those skills to a real-life format. Passive students can tend to hide in the background of online classrooms and it is up to the teacher to help manage their interactions and keep them engaged. The more engaging the teacher can become and the more activities they can provide to help passive students, the better the student will grasp essential concepts and be more than just a grade on a paper.
Connecting with Students
Passive students can be a challenge, but many online instructors talk about how difficult it is to actually connect with students online. Connectivity for a teacher is important, especially through online learning portals. The student needs to feel as though they have a voice and when the instructor merely instructs, and does not connect, there is a problem.
Connecting with students is easier than you might think, but it does require a certain level of commitment from the tutor. Online tutoring jobs are abundant, but many of these opportunities do not turn into long-term engagements. Investing in the total education of the student and allowing for optimal feedback is the best way to connect with students and keep them engaged. Always offer a chance for feedback from your students. It gives them a voice and you the ability to learn and grow as an online teacher.
Finding the Right Job Opportunities
Among the most prevalent challenges for online tutors is finding the right avenue to pursuing job opportunities. Working online is not the same as going into a standard interview and impressing the boss. Essentially, an online teacher has to impress the student paying for lessons and not an administrative board as with in person institutions. The task of seeking out job opportunities will fall to the teacher and that can be a bit of a challenge with so many online resources for job options. However, with sites like Preply, the job hunt is easier.
With online sites, the teacher must bid on potential jobs and that can be difficult for someone who is not used to promoting their own abilities. Online teaching jobs are posted by individual students, institutions, and even businesses to cast a wide net and find the teachers they seek. The best online teachers have a certain degree of marketability and know how to land a job based on their ability to promote their personal skills. It can be a challenge, but when you find a formula that works for self promotion, you will be loaded with tutor jobs online.
Investing in the Right Tools
Online teachers need specialized tools to connect with their students. Not surprisingly, the most important tool is a strong internet connection. The best internet connection will allow you to teach in real time without lag or interruption in service. A high quality online tutor understands the need for hardware such as an updated laptop with a high end processor, a quality set of headphones with a mic, and various other teaching tools that make the job go smoothly.
An online tutor may have some challenges to overcome, but the benefit of this type of work is the ultimate job security. People will always want to learn and offering them a chance to do so in an online environment simply makes sense for the digital age. Online tutoring jobs are out there and standing up to the challenges involved will simply make you a better teacher.