Online Whiteboard Teaching Tools

An online whiteboard is a teaching tool tutors and teachers can use to interact and collaborate with students via the internet. These platforms can vary greatly in functionality and price.

Free and premium services are likely to include:

• A collaborative whiteboard or workspace
• A written chat where the student and tutor can talk
• Video or audio chat

There are also more specialized platforms which are usually accessible via a subscription.` For example, if you are a maths tutor, you will likely be able to find a whiteboard with calculation functions.

Specialised whiteboards will often include many of the following functions:

• Document or image uploads
• Axis to create graphs
• Free graphics
• Document editing
• Smart Import/Export Functions
  

Learn more about the top online whiteboards here!

While there are no specific requirements for teaching online with an agency, there are some common practices you should expect.

If you are a tutor looking to work for an agency, you will likely be asked for the following:

• Passing an interview or mock lesson scenario
• Proof of a background check allowing you to work with children
• A list of your qualifications (with evidence where necessary)
• In-house (sometimes repeating) testing of your knowledge

You can learn more about the legalities of being an online tutor here!

If you are a freelance tutor who is trying to start their own business and give lessons on your own, you will likely need to look into your local regulations. Requirements may include:

• Having to register as a sole trader or company
• Declaring your income for tax purposes
• Exploring necessary licensing or background checks

You can learn more about the specifics of what you need to start a tutoring agency here

The best online whiteboard for a tutor is often subject dependent. Since different options come with differ tools you will likely need to search around for what suits you best. For example: If you specialise in tutoring maths, find a tool which allows you to create graphs, write equations and collaborate with your students.

Alternatively, if you are a tutor who teaches many subjects, you might want to find a more versatile tool. These can be a little pricey, but you will get a lot of features for your subscription. Whiteboards such as Lessonspace allow you to do language tuition, maths tuition, and even write code within their platform.

Whiteboards with many functions are also a great option if you are an agency paying for a company subscription. Having one universal tool will make your life much easier! A great online whiteboard will give all your tutors the tools they need to succeed, and what's more allow you to seamlessly guide students from registration at your agency all the way to their lesson without ever leaving your management system.

TutorCruncher offers seamless integration with a variety of online whiteboards allowing you to do just about anything tutoring related within one platform!

The short answer is yes! Online tutoring has been proven to be as effective as face-to-face tuition. While there are certain things which can damage the effectiveness of online teaching, if you have the right tools and tactics - teaching online should not be an issue.

If you are looking to find high quality online tutoring you should try to avoid the following:

Tuition with a bad connection: Studies have shown that one of the biggest disturbances to tutoring is bad internet connection. As you’d expect, having lots of technical difficulties will disrupt any students learning.

Bad connection can be especially distracting if you are having difficulties asking or answering questions. This could lead to an interruption in the flow of the class, therefore making the session ineffective.

One way tuition: A prerecorded tutoring session is unengaging. Especially with children, sitting them down in front of an educational video is unlikely to help. One of the most useful parts of tutoring is being able to tailor interactions to students. This is something which is impossible with a premade video.

Instead you should opt for tuition which allows a student to chat with a tutor directly and go through any issues in real time. Studies have shown that tuition where the student and tutor are able to talk directly helps the student gain a better understanding.

Low-tech tutoring solutions: It is understandable that for some students getting video or phone tutoring might not be an option. However, this shouldn’t discourage you! While a direct connection to a teacher has been shown to be the best solution for effective tutoring, you can also get help via a written chat if this is all your connection allows for.

If you are choosing a low-tech option for tutoring think about the following:

• Try to find a real time chat: While you might not be chatting with a tutor face to face, you can still make sure a session happens in real time. The less wait time there is between when you ask a question and when you get a response the more effective a session will be. Therefore, finding an option where you have the ability to have a back and forth conversation is really helpful!
• Look for forums of existing questions: If you are choosing to opt for low-tech tutoring, chances are your service of choice already has a knowledge base. Most tuition centers will likely have pre-existing questions and answers you can look through, meaning you don’t always have to contact a tutor directly.

You can learn more about how to get effective low-tech tutoring here!

Low-quality tuition: Unfortunately, since there are fewer checks for online tutors, occasionally users might have a bad experience. Here are a few step to help yousafe-guard yourself and increase the chances of finding a highly qualified tutor:

• Use a reputable tutoring agency
• Ask for a tutors qualifications ahead of time
• Double check the tutors background checks
• Have a chat with the tutor ahead of your session
• Monitor the student’s sessions with the tutor

Sharing a file with a tutor is super simple. Depending on what tools you have at your disposal there are a number of easy ways to share homework, worksheets or additional documents with a tutor.

Send it via email: One of the simplest ways to share a file with a tutor is via their email address. Simply send them an email and attach the document.

Share it using a CRM platform: If your tutor uses a CRM system chances are you will be able to take advantage of the document upload function. CRM systems, like TutorCruncher provides you with a secure place to

Collaborate using an online whiteboard: Use an online platform to collaborate with your tutor. Most teaching tools give you the ability to upload a document and share it live with another user.

TutorCruncher’s online whiteboard marketplace integrates with a number of popular whiteboards including:

• BitPaper
• Lessonspace
• GroupWorld
• Bramble
• TutorBranch
• And more!

Learn more about TutorCruncher’s whiteboard integrations here: