Online learning is becoming the latest, safest, and popular type of distance learning. The process has redesigned the concept of education, and nowadays, learners are enjoying even more sophisticated technologies in learning. Although for some, studying online, especially online tutorials, is a whole new thing.
The sources below describe how online tutorials work, how everything on the digital platform helps the students, and how it has enhanced a teacher’s role online.
What Is An Online Tutorial?
An online tutorial is a form of teaching using the advantage of the internet. Along with many other words, it’s always referred to as the “e-teaching.” Online learning is just one form of “distance learning”—the other term for any learning process over a distance but not in a regular classroom.
Distance learning has a long history, and currently, there are many options, including:
- Correspondence Workshops: performed with little contact using the regular mail.
- Telecourses: whereby information is distributed over radio or TV.
- Offline Courses: Students engage with static material on the screen as played from CD drives or any portable storage devices.
- Online Learning: Web courses are offered in simultaneous and intermittent format.
- Mobile Learning: through devices such as digital audio players, tablets, and mobile phones.
How Online Tutorial Works?
Throughout the previous decades, teachers had to start over from scratch in creating their “virtual classrooms,” which was challenging and sometimes led to poor performance.
The online tutorial is driving global learning and accelerating an instructional difference in the teaching and learning process.
It’s a change away from top-down lecture methods and inactive students towards a more engaging, participatory relationship where the learning process is co-created by students and teachers.
With online tutorials, the teacher’s role changes from “sage on the stage” to “chief on the side.” In other words, online tutorials had changed the teacher’s traditional perspective, from being the provider of all the information to the facilitator of learning.
On top of that, online tutorials evolve around the following principles of education.
Constructivism
The whole viewpoint of online tutorials asserts that learners consciously create new information when interacting with their environment. Online tutorials are student-centric, where learners “co-create” their educational experience. Additionally, the program encourages students to be active participants rather than mere passive receivers to absorb information and repeat it for standardized tests.
In line with constructivism, as extracted from Swiss philosopher’s research in the person of Jean Piaget; online tutorials adhere to the following principles:
- The learner as a unique and distinct entity.
- Cultural background for learners is essential.
- Increased educational responsibility falls to the learner.
- Lessons are learned from accomplishing challenging tasks effectively.
- As facilitators, teachers allow the learners to enhance their capabilities in understanding the subject matter.
- Education is a social learning, evolving process.
Constructionism
Another equally essential guiding principle that governs online tutorials is constructionism. Constructionism suggests that learning is notably effective when learners build something from their experience.
The main idea of constructionism is that online tutorials should create learning experiences from verbal sentences or internet reading to more experiential stuff like artwork or demonstrations.
Learners could perhaps read a whole article several times yet still forget everything the next day. But if they were required to explain the article through a poem with their quotes or create a PowerPoint presentation that discussed the theories more coordinated with their ideas, they would develop a greater understanding of the subject.
Collaboration
Aside from constructivism and constructionism, collaboration is also one factor that should be observed in online tutorials. As an educator, you create lessons that would better create learning from the learner’s viewpoints, instead of merely authoring and evaluating the information you believe they ought to know.
With collaboration, every participant in a class could and should both be an instructor and a learner. Your work as an online tutor changes by being the only source for information to becoming a role model and a mentor. You motivate learners in aspects that resolve their own needs. You can do this by designing conversations and activities that lead learners to collaboratively toward more significant learning objectives.
Why Shift To Online Tutorials?
Perhaps you’re a classroom teacher and are thinking about shifting to be an online tutor. You might have questions like, “Why should I go for an online tutorial? And why now?”
To help you with answering those questions, below are some factors for you to consider.
- Growing Population Of Learners That Needs Online Tutors
Internet or web-based distance learning programs meet the needs of worldwide-growing learners who can’t or don’t prefer to take their classes traditionally.
These students usually evolve from someone unable to attend school because of health reasons to those who can’t seek a specific class at their selected institution. Some learners live in rural locations, there are those working full-time and can study sometime after work, and there are also those who prefer to learn best independently.
- Easy Access To Learning
Access to a personal computer, the websites, and the inspiration to achieve success in a non-traditional school environment are the basic model for learners to engage in an online class program.
Classes offered online also provide an outstanding way of getting lectures unbound through time or place, allowing access to quality education from any moment and anywhere. Learners find an appropriate way to incorporate the online world into their hectic schedules.
For most online learners of today, obtaining a good career from whatever device you have connected to the internet, is an immense encouragement.
With these reasons, more and more students are shifting to online tutorials; thus, online tutors’ need is steadily growing.
- Convenience
With online tutorials, you can do away with hectic schedules, no more long commutes, no parking, and ride shares. These are little conveniences that make our day-to-day better.
- Playing Field Leveling
With online tutorials, students are given a chance to concentrate on the subject fully. Shy learners tend to perform better online, and online class environments offer confidentiality.
- Interaction
Online tutorials offer elevated communication and discourse between students and teachers. A more student-centric learning atmosphere, less timid, and much more active learning.
- Innovative Role Of The Teacher
How Does Teaching Online Vary From Classroom Teaching?
The online teaching method stresses an interactive educational environment, developed to facilitate dialog between teachers and students, and between the students themselves.
The online teaching process needs active roles from both the teachers and students. The instructor is often employed as a moderator, organizing lessons and activities directly involving students, rather than depending too much on text lessons and memorization.
When And Where Do Online Tutorials Happen?
Online tutorials happen in real-time or on the screen, projected physically face-to-face, so you don’t actually “meet.” Instead, you interact online regularly. Classes occur wherever an internet connection and any device you may have: Whether you are traveling on the road, at home, or work.
The approach is asynchronous, meaning you and your students could log in and out whenever the most convenient time for both of you.
Is Learning Efficient With Online Tutorials?
Many teachers falsely think they’ll feel that learners can’t learn effectively online. However, they discovered that online classes provide a high level of quality of direct communication to their amazement. Many online tutors claim that they get to know their students online better than at traditional on-ground classes.
That’s because asynchronous distance learning offers many more reflective, in-depth topics and engagement chances than traditional ones.
With that, rather than being an obstacle to social interaction and communication, the online learning process enhances and enables engagement and understanding in levels that are different from the classroom setting.
The Bottomline
Change is the only thing that’s constant in this world. Though it’s sometimes hard to cope with change, you need to grow. With the dynamic world that we have, everyone needs to be flexible to adapt to the changes —including teachers.
Chalkboard, as an online learning platform, provides an opportunity for online tutors to connect with learners. Start your career in an online tutorial with us and allow us to help you deliver your expertise to learners that need your help.
