Online Tutoring - Contracting Your Services

By Author: Roman Chertres
Total Articles: 57
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Providing an online tutoring service is not necessarily quite as simple as it may seem initially. Technological problems can present a number of challenges. The business and administrative side of online tutoring can also be more demanding than novice providers think. Setting the terms and conditions of your service is something that needs a lot of thought if you want to avoid problems down the line.

Some online tutors and educators come from a conventional school background. They may have worked within a system, rather than being self-employed. Some people, like graduate students, seek to generate some extra income by sharing their expertise easily online. People in both of these categories may be unprepared for some of the practical realities that may arise.

The bottom line if you want to provide a good service that is trouble-free for your students and yourself is that you have to make it clear what you do and do not offer, and how your online tutoring service works.

The first task for anyone offering online tutoring service is to recruit students. You'll have to sell yourself, but you also need to ...
... keep it real. It's worth spending time on your profile and service description to avoid disappointing - or infuriating - clients.

Don't promise services you can't deliver. Even if you think you'll be able to do x or y, don't promise it until you know you can do it. Computers have a tendency to sometimes let us down, and it can result in a hard fall.

Be specific. If (for example) you only have in-depth knowledge of the curriculum for your subject in your state, say so - or at least don't advertise that you can help everyone seeking your online tutoring help. Specify your methods and give as much detail as possible on exactly what students can expect.

Set your access parameters. For example, if you're happy for students to email you outside online tutoring sessions at any time, and as often as they need, fine. If not, find a way of regularizing the contact. You could end up doing more unremunerated work than you bargain for, even if you're technically willing to help.

Work out a solid and secure payment system - both in terms of tariffs and how you bill and get paid. Money is the root of many a time-consuming dispute.

If you're taking on students working outside of your country, consider the implications. If a dispute is unavoidable, how are you going to resolve it?

This may paint a rather negative picture - of an online tutoring service beset with problems. That probably won't happen - but a well-written profile and carefully drafted contract are important preventive measures. It's just not worth the risk of misunderstandings. Depending on the nature of your online tutoring service, you may even want to run your contracts past a lawyer for basic soundness.

If you think about it, this is really just an extension of the basic requirement in online tutoring - top flight communication. For everyone's benefit, make sure you think it through - not just so that there's no disappointment but as part of designing an online tutoring service that rocks.

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