Many students struggle with the rising academic demands of school. They may have difficulty reading increasingly difficult words, writing well-structured sentences and paragraphs, or solving math word problems. For these students, one-on-one tutoring can help them tremendously. With the rise of technology, virtual tutoring can be just as effective as in person tutoring. Let’s take a look at some advantages of virtual tutoring.

Individualized instruction

Your child may have trouble learning and processing new information in a large classroom setting. They may become easily distracted or miss key information as their teacher moves quickly from one concept to the next. In these situations, one-on-one tutoring that is catered to your child’s individual needs can be truly beneficial, including when the tutoring is provided virtually. Your child’s virtual tutor can log onto their school’s online portal with them (if their school has one) and review all of their current and upcoming assignments. The tutor can help your child with relevant school work and fill in any academic gaps they may find along the way. By helping your child complete their school work and fill in these gaps, your child’s virtual tutor can set them up for academic success.

Specialized instruction

Many students benefit from specialized academic tutoring. For example, if your child struggles with reading or has dyslexia, they may benefit from Orton Gillingham tutoring. This method is research-based, multi-sensory, and systematic, and can help your child build much stronger reading skills. However, in some geographic areas, Orton Gillingham tutors aren’t available. That is where virtual tutoring comes in! Virtual tutoring can provide your child with access to Orton Gillingham tutors (or other specialists) who may not be available for in person tutoring in your local geographic area. Other children may benefit from specialized writing, math, test preparation, or executive functioning tutors who may not live in your nearby area. Virtual specialized tutoring can help your child who needs these services make significant academic progress.

Flexible scheduling

Virtual tutoring often allows for much more flexibility than in person tutoring. Often, tutors who work virtually can meet with students for back-to-back sessions without having to build in travel time, typically allowing for more scheduling options. Similarly, with virtual tutoring, because you don’t have to drive your child to a tutor, you save time traveling to sessions and your child may have more slots available for working with a tutor. If there is a snow day and school is canceled, your child can still have their tutoring session! If they are feeling under the weather but have school work to complete, they can still work with their virtual tutor, even for a shorter period of time, to complete the material.

Digital tools

Many students enjoy using digital tools and stay more focused during tutoring sessions when using technology. When working with a virtual tutor, they can engage with one another using digital whiteboards and multi-colored highlighters. They can use screen sharing for reading passages together and can also use multi-sensory tools for phonics, along with digital magnetic tiles for creating words. Digital tools can be integrated throughout virtual tutoring sessions to help engage students and improve their academic skills.

Virtual tutoring is a great option for many students and can be just as effective as in person tutoring! If your child is struggling academically with a skill or set of skills, virtual tutoring can help them improve their academic skills and build their overall confidence.

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Access to specialized tutoring

Many students require specialized tutoring, such as Orton Gillingham tutoring for students with dyslexia, multi-sensory math instruction for students with a math learning disability, or executive functioning coaching for those with ADHD. In some geographic areas, tutors who specialize in these methods may not be available. Alternatively, there may be only a few specialized tutors in your area who have limited availability, offer tutoring at an undesirable location, are completely full, or aren’t a great personality match for your child. Virtual tutoring gives you access to specialized tutors from around the world who may be a great personality fit for your child and who specialize in specific skills and techniques that your child needs.‌

Interactive Digital Tools

With the rise of online instruction, many new digital tools now exist. For example, as part of an Orton Gillingham lesson, students might work with their tutor on blending sounds together to form words using digital magnetic tiles with sites such as https://www.reallygreatreading.com/lettertiles/. Tutors and students can also use virtual whiteboards such as Ziteboard or Miro when working together to go over new concepts. Additionally, multi-colored highlighting tools can be used for building reading comprehension, active reading, and other related skills. For example, to build a student’s reading comprehension skills, a tutor can teach them that when they read, there are three elements they should look for. The first is the topic, which is one, two, or three words describing the passage. Students should highlight the topic in blue using a digital highlighter. The second element they should look for is the main idea, which is what the author is saying about the topic. They should highlight the main idea in green using a digital highlighter. Finally, they should identify the important details and highlight them in yellow using a digital highlighter. Students tend to enjoy using these interactive digital tools and the tools can be very effective when integrated into virtual tutoring sessions.

Screen sharing

Screen sharing is also a benefit of virtual tutoring. Many teachers and schools now use online portals to post homework assignments and upcoming exams. During virtual tutoring sessions, the student can share their screen with their tutor, allowing them to show the tutor their online school portal. Together, they can review any current and upcoming assignments and come up with a plan for completing them in an organized fashion.

Flexible scheduling

Virtual tutoring generally allows for more flexible scheduling. While in-person tutors might have limited time slots available on certain days, times, and locations, virtual tutoring usually offers more flexibility. Tutors don’t have to build in travel time in between sessions and can generally fit more students into a given day. Students also don’t have to travel to a tutor’s office or home, maximizing the tutoring time and reducing extra time spent traveling to and from sessions.

Virtual tutoring can be a great option for many students. It offers numerous advantages that can help students have efficient, effective tutoring sessions and thrive in school.

The post Is Virtual Tutoring as Effective as In-Person Tutoring? appeared first on EBL Coaching.