Pros and Cons of Online Education

1. Pros of Online Tutoring
2. Cons of Online Education
3. Is traditional learning better than online learning?

Online education has become a premier topic for educators worldwide. However, many are new to the concept. Online education is not new, but for billions of students, it is a new experience. In the infancy of online education, there were a few online colleges, and some of them were disreputable.

As the information age has progressed, online education has grown at a dizzying rate. Because of this, there are many pros and cons associated with online education. The focus here will be on tutoring and supplemental instruction in online education.

Pros of Online Tutoring

Online tutoring can be a very rewarding experience for both tutors and students. Parents also reap some of these benefits. Let’s take a look at some of the ways each person benefits from an online experience.

Students benefit from online tutoring in one significant way. Students are often tech-savvy these days. Online tutoring meets them where they are. It allows them to deconstruct the walls of the classroom and rebuild their learning experiences through online education. They can get help from tutors with a variety of backgrounds and areas of expertise. This opens students up to new possibilities.

They can also find tutors from down the street or across the globe. This means that no matter what your student is studying, they can also access quality tutors such as those found at Upskills Tutor. The tutors here are qualified not only in their subject areas but also in education. While being a subject area tutor is of utmost importance, being an experienced educator is crucial.

Parents also benefit from finding their students online tutors and educators. High-level tutors are not cheap. However, by choosing tutoring online, parents can save money. This type of tutoring means that the overhead cost is kept at a minimum, and those savings can be passed along to the parents accessing tutoring services for their students.

Parents can also choose from more tutors than may be available in a local area. Sometimes there are few tutors in a given area qualified to teach or tutor in their subject matter. This means that parents can look outside their geographic region to find quality tutors for their children.

While parents and students have been the focus thus far, it’s most important that tutors reap benefits too. If tutors do not feel that online education benefits them, they will not continue. One of the best benefits is that they can make their own schedule and keep their own costs low. By eliminating the need for travel, tutors can save gas and car maintenance costs associated with tutoring in-person.

Additionally, tutors have more potential students since they do not have to keep to a geographic reason. Just as students and parents can choose to work from tutors outside of their region, tutors can choose to work with a diverse population of students. Tutors, such as those at UpskillsTutor, can also lend their expertise to more students.

They can also benefit from their own participation in online education. Tutors have more professional development opportunities because they eliminate travel time, distance constraints, and are already tech savvy. They can also save money on some of these workshops by attending them online.

Cons of Online Education

Unfortunately, cons are a reality of any educational setting. While tutors, parents, and students all want to minimize cons, there will always be a few.

The cons for today’s students in online education are far fewer than any other point in history. However, some of the initial problems are still there. The first thing is that it’s difficult for students to truly communicate with someone they have never met in person. On the other hand, these students are often used to communicating more with people online than in person. This is not as big of a challenge as it used to be.

A second challenge is that it sometimes becomes difficult to share some things through Zoom, Meets, or WebEx style meetings. Students have to ensure that they have the right software and know how to use it, but they also have to find ways to communicate issues like essay writing confusion or scientific concepts. Some of these things are not as easy to deal with behind a screen. For instance, speaking the essay to an educator online can make it more challenging than working in person. However, many tutoring companies like Upskill Tutor offer software or programs that allow digital uploads and screensharing.

Vetting tutors from local resources is difficult for parents. Trusting someone they meet online can be just as difficult, if not more. Many people online have been dishonest over time. However, you should always check out the company they work for and their references when possible. Find out what the policies are beforehand so that there will be no surprises.

Just as the issues that parents and students face, tutors also face these same issues. It’s important for the tutors to work carefully with students and parents to minimize these issues as much as possible. It will help everyone to take the time to understand that this is a new process for everyone.

Is traditional learning better than online learning?

Previous concepts of online tutoring and learning were geared toward higher education, primarily, but that is rapidly changing. While there will always be challenges for online education, when students, teachers, tutors, and parents all work together, they can overcome seemingly insurmountable obstacles. Luckily, the benefits of online tutoring and education greatly outweigh the challenges.