Top 5 Benefits of Online vs. In-Person Tutoring

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Introduction:

In today’s day and age, online tutoring has exploded in popularity compared to in-person tutoring. According to Grand View Research, the global online tutoring market was $7.69 billion and is expected to grow at 14.9% on average from 2023 to 2030. Below, we talk through some of the benefits of meeting with students online as opposed to in-person.

1. Convenience:

Let’s face it – everybody loves convenience, for good reason! With the recent explosion in online work and school, both tutors and students are enjoying higher levels of convenience than ever before. Being able to log onto Wyzant from the comfort of your own home and meet with clients without ever having to travel anywhere is easier than ever before. Not to mention – this means you can take your lessons in your PJs. 😊

Ultimate Convenience: You don’t even need to leave your bedroom to teach students online!

2. Efficiency:

Beyond convenience, hosting online lessons compared to in-person sessions is more time efficient as well. By eliminating traveling, you can hold lessons in a shorter amount of time, which adds more time back in your day to hold additional lessons or enjoy more free time.

I frequently have multiple lessons in the evening with different students, and tutoring online allows me to stagger these lessons much more efficiently than would be otherwise possible. Avoiding awkward gaps and travel time means more revenue and flexibility. For example, if I have a student that wants a 2-hour lesson at 5:30 pm and another student booked for an 8:30 pm slot, using online meetings means that I still have an hour open at 7:30 pm if a third student pops up (something that would not be possible if I needed to drive back from the 2-hour 5:30 pm lesson).

3. Online Collaboration Tools:

These days, technology is progressing at an unmatched pace, and the technology powering online tutoring is no exception. Tools included on the Wyzant platform, such as the whiteboard (where you can share notes and work through problems in real time), are incredible at making online lessons much more interactive and effective. In my experience, taking notes during lessons and collaborating in a live format when working through practice problems are easier and faster in an online format. As an added bonus, the ability to record the lesson and allow students to review it afterwards makes online tutoring even more attractive. What’s even more exciting is that online learning tools continue to evolve and get more advanced over time, so these abilities are likely to expand in the future too.

Wyzant’s Toolkit: The Wyzant whiteboard is an amazing tool for working with students in online lessons. Source - https://www.wyzant.com/images/Online/Landing/whiteboard.png

From my experience, these tools make online tutoring even more effective for students than in-person tutoring. Not only are students more likely to jump on their computer than physically travel to an inconvenient location, but all of the capabilities mentioned above make the advantages of tutoring online impossible to ignore.

4. Increased Geographical Reach:

An underrated but critical benefit of tutoring online is the expanded clientele that comes with using the Internet to facilitate lessons. With in-person lessons, tutors are limited to serving clients within traveling distance. When you tutor more niche subjects or have a higher price point, it can be hard to find enough clients within your local market. Using an online platform permits access to students across the globe with wider varieties of subject needs and budgets.

I have tutored students that I would have never been able to travel to, including those from varied time zones throughout the U.S. (and sometimes across the world). As an important side note, remember to always confirm the students’ time zones before scheduling lessons to ensure alignment on timing.

International Reach: Online tutoring allows for connections between teachers and students across the globe that would otherwise not be possible.

5. Lower Cost:

Last but not least, tutoring online beats tutoring in-person from a cost perspective. Travel expenses, such as gas, car repairs, and ridesharing fees are not incurred when meeting online. Additionally, sometimes students prefer to meet in-person at a neutral location such as a library or office building. These spaces are not always free to use, and any rental fees for these physical spaces further eat into your profits.

Conclusion:

The benefits of tutoring online compared to in-person are multi-faceted and help to explain the rapid growth in remote tutoring. Given the financial data and industry estimates, these trends are only expected to increase. Sign up on Wyzant today to start growing your online tutoring business!