Telecommuting Idea: Online Tutor

There are a lot of kids from 1st grade to college that could use some help with their schoolwork. Parents are often not able to give them the help and attention they need to get them back on track on a particular subject. A tutor is the perfect solution.

While there are many people who will tutor locally, in the student's home, or their own house, the idea of an online tutor is still fairly new. If you have been tutoring kids in your neighborhood, taking your tutoring job online to attract more clients may be a great idea.

If you haven't worked as a tutor, but this sounds like an interesting idea, take a look at your skills. Are there particular subjects in school that you excelled at?

You will need a website to promote your service, as well as a way to communicate with your young clients and their parents. Let's take a look at a couple of different ways you could tutor your students online.

Email
Your students can simply email you questions they have. You answer the email and send them exercises and practice tests this way. Even if you are not using email as your main means of communication, keep it in mind when you want to get something to your students while they are not online, or to send them exercises and other files.

Chat Program
Using a chat program will give you more one-on-one interaction with your student. You are able to respond to their questions immediately and will also get feedback from your students. You can check right away if your student understands the problem you are explaining. The students can also ask follow up questions immediately.

Instant Messenger
Instant Messenger works very similar to a regular chat program. There are quite a few instant messengers available for free download. You get the benefit of the chat software without having to install it. Most kids will already be familiar with using Instant Messenger, making it easy to get started.

Message Board
The message board is another great tool to stay in contact with your students. Just like email students will be able to ask you questions any time of the day and you can respond during your regular working hours. If you have a group of students on a similar subject, they may benefit from being able to read and discuss their questions among themselves in addition to getting help from you.

Video Conferencing
Video Conferencing is as close as you can get to being in the same room with your students. You will be able to see your students, observe how they are doing and are also able to read their body language, which can help you determine if your student understands what you are talking about or not. Video Conferencing services have become very affordable over the past year, making this a viable option for you as an online tutor.

You could even offer a subscription-based service that would give students and their parents access to a database of tutorials, articles, FAQ's and other resources compiled by you to help the kids with their school work. If becoming an online tutor sounds like something you are interested in doing, give it a try. Get the word out and start accepting a few students.