Physical lessons have been in place before the pandemic and have been viewed as the only form of teaching until COVID-19 swept the world by surprise. With the unprecedented COVID-19, various industries are forced to re-think on how work can resume with the least disruptions. This also applies to the education industry. Education must resume, especially so for students who are sitting for the national examinations. Thankfully, technology has advanced such that home-based online tuition can take place. Teachers, including private tutors, are able to engage students to continue to impart their knowledge to prepare their students for the examinations. Since then, online tuition has been widely perceived as another acceptable form of teaching. Having first-hand experience of online tuition at a reputable tuition centre during the pandemic, I share with you the reasons as to why online tuition is better than physical lessons:
1. Reduced Travelling Time
Junior college students are often swamped with project work, co-curricular activities, Singapore Youth Festival commitments, sports competitions and other school events. This leaves them minimal time for their tutorial work and revisions. With online tuition, travelling time of up to two hours per week per subject can be saved and spent on revision, doing tutorials or rest instead. The travelling time saved will be even more for students attending tuitions for multiple subjects. For example, if the online tuition class is scheduled at 10 am, the student can sleep in till 9 am, have a hearty breakfast till 9.45 am and slowly ease in to class. Had it been a physical lesson, the student will probably have to wake up at 8 am to prepare and head to class. Furthermore, our first lesson starts at 10am, which gives students ample time to prepare for lessons. Check out our lesson schedule here!
2. Increased Participation by All Students
In physical lessons, it is definitely a challenge for the tutor to check on students’ understanding when the group tuition class is big. Some centres have about 30 to 50 students per class, thus the tutor will not be able to check on everyone to ensure that everyone is clear on a particular concept. In an online tuition class, the tutor is able to conduct online quizzes via technological features for all students to participate and check on their understanding of concepts. At The Chemistry Practice, quiz questions are carefully crafted to identify common misconceptions and address these during lessons. Furthermore, we also utilise our e-learning platform for students to attempt online quizzes as homework for additional practice.
3. Less Anxiety in Class
Have you ever had the experience of signing up for a new tuition class but dreading the first lessons due to new environment and sitting next to strangers? Do you fear of being judged by others when asked to answer questions in class? Having online tuition eliminates this problem. Students will be in the comfort of their home and focusing on what the tutor has to share instead of having to deal with anxiety. At The Chemistry Practice, questions will be asked by tutor to the entire class through quizzes. Thus, students will not feel embarrassed if they get their answers wrong, thus allowing learning to take place in a more conducive environment.
4. Ease of Seeking Clarification
In a physical lesson, students might find it a little daunting to ask tutor questions especially if it is a big class. The advantage of online tuition is that most live streaming platforms will have a chat function which makes it easier for students to ask questions and for tutor to reply students. At The Chemistry Practice, the tutor will answer students’ questions during the lesson break or at the end of the lessons. In fact, students are encouraged to stay behind after lesson to clarify their doubts.
5. Lesser Distractions (contrary to popular belief)
Most people would have thought that students are easily distracted during online tuition lessons and thus prefer physical lessons. In fact, students are more attentive during online lessons based on my observations as they are home alone without their friends to chat. On the other hand, during our online lessons, all students are required to switch on their webcam so that our tutor is able to monitor them.
6. Lower and More Affordable Tuition Fees
The cost of tuition does not come cheap. You may wish to read more about cost comparison in our previous article here. Online tuition is usually cheaper as compared to physical lessons. This is possible because online tuition centres can save on the rental of a physical centre. The cost savings can then be passed on to students. At The Chemistry Practice, the fees are 30 – 40% lower than most physical tuition centres.
Find out more about our H2 Chemistry tuition, come for a trial and start learning chemistry the right way.
