2nd May 2011 9:00
By Blue Tutors
Online Maths tuition appears to be a success in schools in the UK, but not everyone seems to agree that it’s the best thing for students. In a report on the VOA News website it’s explained that the outsourcing of online tuition to India has been welcomed by students parents and some teachers, but that there is a feeling that online tuition overlooks a crucial part of a student’s learning process.
In Raynham Primary School in London, afterschool lessons take place where students each have their own individual teacher who is speaking to them from India. The regular classroom teacher, Altus Basson said that he has seen an improvement in the students’ results, and feels that sometimes the students find it difficult to concentrate in class, but not so when working on a laptop. Students at the school also feel that the classes help them, with one of the most popular reasons being that it’s much easier to hear their online tutor, compared to listening to a teacher in a classroom.
The positives views aren’t shared by everyone however, and Kevin Courtney, the deputy general secretary of the National Union of Teachers feels that there is something missing from online tuition. He said that there’s something special about the emotional relationship between a teacher, or a tutor, and a student when lesson takes place face-to-face. Courtney said that students need the immediacy of feedback that the NUT doesn’t believe is there in an online lesson, which hampers the emotional connection.