15th March 2010 9:00
By Blue Tutors
Online tutoring is becoming more common in the UK. In an article on the Telegraph’s website people from different tuition agencies discussed their thoughts on the growing numbers of students interested in being taught online.
Will Orr-Ewing, founder of Keystone Tutors, commented on his experience of teaching students online. He said: “The truth is, though, that children feel it’s far less of a chore to sit down in front of a computer than it is to sit down in front of a pile of books. And if anything, an online teaching session is more structured than a face-to-face situation, because only one person can speak at a time.“
The price can be attractive for students, or maybe more accurately, their parents, too, with many agencies offering tuition for as little as £15 per hour. One company, Maths-Whizz, offers unlimited access to their website for just £99.99 per year, but they are able to do this by dispensing with an actual tutor at the other end. Instead they have animated exercises for students to work through.
However, Mylene Curtis, of Fleet Tutors, pointed out that although online tuition may help occasionally, she said: “But there’s no substitute for face-to-face tuition.“ And the majority of people in UK seem to agree, with the vast majority of tuition still being done in the traditional way.