How to become an online tutor

Do you interested to become an online tutor?

But, you’re not sure the best way to go about it. Should you use a free service, or use an online agency that promotes your services and takes a commission? Do you need to have certain qualifications and experience or can you just open up your laptop and get started?

And not to mention how are you students going to find you?  

Well, there’s good news. Becoming an online tutor doesn’t have to be that daunting. With the right advice and tools at your disposal you could easily become an online tutor without any fancy equipment or expensive training. 

Here we’ve answered 8 key questions about what you need to become a successful online tutor…

1. What qualifications and background do I need?

There are no formal qualifications required to tutor online. However, most tutors hold degree level qualifications in the subjects they teach. This is usually supported by formal teaching qualifications and/or teaching or tutoring experience. Tutors may also hold professional qualifications from agencies.

It is recommended that tutors sign up to become members of Malaysian Professional Tutor Association (MPTA). Joining MPTA ensures that as a tutor you have met a minimum standard set by the MPTA and allows you to use the MPTA logo on any marketing materials you might use to promote yourself.

2. What equipment do I need? 

Before you start tutoring you should make sure you have the right equipment. You’ll need a computer or laptop, a webcam and a headset (microphone/speakers). To get the best quality audio, without any feedback from the microphone,  you might want to try using headphones plugged in to the computer. You’ll also need a good broadband internet connection to avoid any delayed or broken conversations which will make effective tutoring hard to achieve. 

3. Where do I teach?

The great thing about online tutoring is you can teach wherever suits you. Online tutors use online, ‘virtual’ classrooms to deliver lessons. Each lesson is delivered in real time and allows the tutor and tutee to speak via webcam and headphones. 

There are a range of online classrooms available each varying in cost depending on the level of functionality. 

However, to tutor effectively you should consider using additional teaching resources that support and enhance learning.

Like teaching in a classroom, visual communication can be a really important tool for effective teaching, so you may want to look at options that include interactive online whiteboards, which will let you draw diagrams and annotate charts and graphs, as well as share files, record and playback lessons, share your screen and instant message your tutees. 

4. How much can I earn?

Online tutoring is an excellent way of earning additional income and can be fitted around your existing commitments from anywhere you have access to a computer and the internet. You can work from home, the office or even a library.

Tutors can charge as much or as little as they like however, most online tutors charge rates commensurate with the level of study of the student, the subject they are teaching as well as their own level of experience. This can range from RM20 to as much as RM100 an hour depends on the subjects, location and experiences. 

5. How do my students pay?

Paypal offers a convenient method of online money transfer that is recognised around the globe. Some countries do not accept PayPal and as such you may need to offer some alternative means for accepting payment.

The online banking such as Maybank2u or Cimbclicks also are one of the tools for easy payment transfer.

6. How do I advertise my services?

Getting noticed can be the hardest part of online tutoring. Setting up a website and hoping for the best is likely to lead to very few customers but it is a good start. You can create a website to advertise your services quickly and cheaply using companies such as Moonfruit, WordPress or Wix and 1and1.  

Once you have a website to sell your services you’ll need to attract customers to visit it. There are many different ways in which you can target your customers including paid online adverts such as Google Adwords, Twitter and Facebook Ads. Writing content such as a blog can also help to drive traffic to your website as well as Twitter and Facebook posts. 

Local classified listing services in newspapers and websites such as Mudah.my  will only target your local area and with online tutoring you could tutor all over the world.

7. What about working for an online tutoring company?

Online tutoring company provide a platform to market your services and deliver your lessons. This means that you don’t need to do as much advertising and you won’t have to manage the payment from the clients.

Each tutoring company has a minimum requirement to become registered. This often varies depending upon the target market of the company.

At CMN Academy we expect tutors to have a minimum of 6 months tutoring experience. We also conduct an online interview as well as observe a mock tutorial to assess your teaching proficiency. 

Registration for a tutor account is FREE and you can create your profile as soon as you have signed up.

If you are interested to join us, please register at HERE.