School Classroom Vs. Virtual Classroom

By Author: Terry VanNoy
Total Articles: 2
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When your child enters the school classroom, the teacher has between 20 and 30 students to manage throughout the lesson. The key word in this sentence is "manage". Classroom teachers have to spend a lot of time just managing a room full of learners even before the lesson even gets started.
Taking attendance, making announcements and getting absent students caught up and other distractions use up too much of the teacher's time.
While these things are not bad, they greatly dilute the teacher's effectiveness in advancing the curriculum goals of the day. I know how this works because I was a classroom teacher for 28 years in public middle and high school schools.
In an online tutoring/teaching situation, the student and teacher can get to the point of the current lesson immediately. If the tutor has done a professional job of getting to know the student in the first few sessions, and has a good conversation with parents about the learning goals of the child, this interaction can be very powerful.
Classroom teachers can only give a student a few seconds of attention throughout the class time available, ...
... if any at all. In my experience, only a few students can gain personal attention of the teacher: the students who are aggressive in asking for the teacher's time, the ones who are self-confident enough to ask questions, or the ones who impact the class negatively with their behavior.
None of those situations come to play in the one-on-one environment of an online class session. The experienced and talented tutors and teachers get to know the learning style and skills of their students, and can make extremely effective use of the session time. A parent consultation or conversation at the end of the class session is an important benefit to the student, also.
A online teacher can ask pertinent questions, allow the student to take their time in explaining their thinking process, and can really listen to the child to best help them.
So, when your child connects with a great online teacher, you will know that there will be no wasted time and that the student is definitely getting your money's worth, unlike the typical overcrowded school classroom! So, think about this: during a school classroom lesson, your son or daughter could have experienced 3 quality learning experiences with an online tutor. 3 for 1, and much more effective, motivating, and targeted!