Advantages and Disadvantages of Online Tutoring From a Business Perspective
Technology has improved significantly over the last 20 years to the point where it is now quite easy and cost-efficient to provide tutoring services online. While many independent tutors and tutoring companies view this as a favorable change in the industry it also poses many threats to existing businesses. Many articles look at the advantages and disadvantages of online tutoring from the perspective of the student – this article will explore this topic from the perspective of the tutoring business.
Advantages
The availability of technology for online tutoring is most advantageous to new tutors or tutoring companies that are not yet established in the market. Online tutoring requires low start-up costs, it opens the tutor up to a much larger market and offers more flexibility for scheduling. Let’s take a look at each of these advantages one at a time:
Lower barriers to entry
Although many independent tutors also have low start-up costs, if you are a tutoring company and decide to go the online route, you can avoid many of the expenses associated with starting up a traditional tutoring company. Traditional companies often require an office for administration or where tutoring takes place, marketing through local media, driving to meetings to prospective clients, etc. Online tutoring companies do not require an office other than a home office and definitely do not require a building for teaching students. Online marketing is lower cost and can be targeted more directly than traditional marketing, and talking with clients can be done online or by phone. These low start-up costs make it much easier for new businesses to start online.
Larger market
Traditional tutoring companies are limited by geography – they cannot cost-effectively serve students outside of their geographic area due to time-constraints related to transportation and the cost of transportation. For this reason, tutoring companies have much smaller markets and can only enter new markets by adding new locations. Online tutoring businesses do not face this limitation. They can reach anyone with an internet connection and the only real limitation is language. For this reason many individuals prefer to start an online tutoring company so that they can reach a much larger market. This can be a very good strategy if your company teaches a highly specialized subject that would not have enough people locally to support the business.
Tutoring companies can also hire tutors from a much larger area and may be more successful in finding top-quality teachers in the subjects they offer.
Flexibility
Online tutoring companies have more flexibility since they can choose to teach students in different time zones. Tutors that are only available to teach in the late evening can easily teach students from a later timezone where it is afternoon. This makes it easier for independent tutors to fit their tutoring into their personal or work schedule.
Lower operating costs
The ongoing operating costs of running an online tutoring business are also lower than traditional tutoring. Some of the eliminated costs come in the form of building leases, phone, transportation and marketing. Online tutors can do everything from their home, they can use free or low-cost online phones like Skype for communication and they don’t have to spend money driving to the tutoring office or to clients’ homes.
Disadvantages
Many of the advantages of online tutoring can also pose challenges for tutoring companies. We’ll look at the disadvantages below one at a time.
Lower barriers to entry
Low barriers to entry make online tutoring attractive to new tutoring companies, but for incumbents this is a negative since it makes it easier for new companies to enter the market and compete with them. This ultimately leads to more price competition and lower profit margins.
Competition from other markets and other countries
Online tutoring overcomes the geography barrier which is also a disadvantage for existing tutoring businesses. This means that instead of facing competition only from tutoring companies in their immediate market they now face competition from tutors in other parts of the country and in other countries all-together. Many online tutors are from countries like India where the cost of living is much lower. Thy can teach American students online and charge a rate that is still much lower than standard rates in the United States, yet still well above the rate they would earn for tutoring in their own country.
Technology limitations of students
While most people have a personal computer at home and internet access, many students who need tutoring do not have the required technology to receive online tutoring. In addition to a computer, a high-speed internet connection is ideal, a headset and microphone are needed for talking with the tutor, and hardware such as a writing board may be required depending on the subject. This means if your business wants to provide only online …
Online tutoring has become an excellent alternative for those who find it difficult to attend various tutoring centers located far away from their homes. It provides great relief to such students as they can choose from a variety of subjects such as reading, writing, math, science or accounts and receive one-on-one tutoring from well-qualified teachers online.
It would be great if you could only have to ask your friends for help and not strangers. Somebody you would enjoy hanging around with would make a great tutor if the person really understood the subject. But that probably is not going to happen. No, you are going to have to check with someone who can steer you towards a person who can really help, but not bore you to death in the process. And actually the best place to ask about a tutor can be from the teacher of the class that is giving your problems or your counsellor. Or in some cases the local colleges may have a few names, even the public library can be a good place to check. They often may know about someone that already does tutoring. A lot of times this can be a college student who is really good at the subject. And since he or she wasn’t in high school that long ago then the person will be able to relate to your problems.
Online tutoring is the modern method of learning online with the environment created by networking of essential elements of tutoring like teachers and teaching materials irrespective of time and place. The teaching community is vastly experienced, properly qualified with training attributes. They are capable of imparting knowledge to students throughout the world.
Online tutoring is that method of learning which is done by a computer with internet connection. It has gained tremendous success in last few years for both students and tutors. It is a win-win for both students and the teacher. The main reason behind this wonderful success is that online tutoring is free from time, distance and transportation. Moreover one-on-one tutoring enables both tutor and student to ask for clarification and discuss problems in details. Online education or tutoring is a much focused way of tutoring because the tutor has to give time to only single student at a time. One-to-one tutoring provides students an extra advantage for asking questions with hesitating.
In this Online Tutoring atmosphere, the learners and tutor interact between themselves sitting at the places which are too far and broadly different in time zone, climate and culture. This is a type of distance learning using virtual learning methodology where the tutors determine the tone and the pace of this learning environment. Since the time this new concept of online tutoring began, researchers have discovered the new roles tutors play in online environment which includes educational, managerial, social support role and development role including technical support. And, of course, here the presence of homework help has helped those who want to improve their independent learning skills.
Working Moms can benefit from Online Tutoring