Enter the online tutoring startup Thinkful. Its tagline is “Online school for a better career.” Its aim is to bridge the gap between the skill set you have when you get out of college and the skill set you really need to get a good job: “level-up to find the job you’ll love” as they put it.
According to a study just released by the market research firm Global Industry Analysts, Inc. (GIA), the worldwide market for private tutoring is projected to grow beyond $102.8 billion by 2018.
A study just released by the Asian Development Bank (ADB), a development institution devoted to reducing poverty in Asia, calls into question many aspects of this burgeoning trend – especially whether all this tutoring is beneficial for students and cost-effective for their families. The report also raises concerns about the social inequalities that access to tutoring could be perpetuating.
If online tutoring really is highly effective, and is preferred by many learners because of its convenience and the fact that it offers a degree of anonymity… why not leverage it to support remedial students? Better yet, why not build online tutoring support into redesigned, entry-level for-credit classes as “Bridge to Nowhere” advocates?
If you’re an experienced educator interested in picking up summer tutoring work, here are five possibilities to consider.
Already thirty-seven states plus the District of Columbia have said that they intend to apply for an SES waiver between now and mid-February 2012. If granted, the waivers would free districts in these states from setting aside hundreds of millions of dollars each year for after-school tutoring targeting the lowest-performing students. This sweeping change would effectively end SES, which has already been eliminated from the Senate’s version of the updated NCLB legislation.
One of the oldest and most powerful teaching techniques is simply to guide the learner by asking directed questions. This basic tutoring approach is sometimes referred to as the Socratic Method or the “inquiry method.”
Many tutoring centers offer some training for their tutors. But what about private tutors and coaches? New online training methods have evolved that enable private tutors to learn new skills anytime, anywhere they can access the Internet.
With college admissions growing ever more competitive, academic prep camps are becoming increasingly popular as an adjunct to, or even a replacement for, more traditional summer camp. Preparation for the SAT and ACT tests are popular on tutoring camp agendas. Some programs offer remedial support, while others are geared for helping high achievers meet their goals, such as admission to a top-tier university.
There’s no doubt that online tutoring is having a huge impact on the tutoring industry worldwide. Other trends in tutoring, such as community tutoring, volunteer tutoring and tutoring centers and “camps,” have likewise grown in importance and prominence in the US and elsewhere. But despite these recent trends and changes, there are still important opportunities – and an important role in the educational process – for in-home tutors.
