Private tutoring - what tools / resources do you use?

[cubozoan]

Hi everyone.

Looking to get back into offering private tutoring in physics. (Mod note: changed "tuition" to "tutoring" here and in the thread title.)

I used to carry a few textbooks with me and my paper notes with lots of printed exam papers for student to try.

I am looking to go paperless. Would a tablet computer with stylus support be useful? I was thinking I could annotate exam paper pdfs. If I decide to keep some digital notes then stylus is really useful to write equations with. Does anyone have any experiences using tablets for tutoring?

Could be good for student to mind map then edit next session. Or is pen and paper best?

Thanks for your time.

Regards
Andy

 

[Phillip Galvan]

I think your idea is great .Ill also try it .

 

[Irene Kaminkowa]

I use e-books, e-docs, computer modelling, video, a whiteboard, and - almost forget - brains, both mine and students'.
Works pretty well;)

 

[Kajal Sengupta]

If you are thinking of going back to Physics tutoring then explore online tuition too. It is catching up and you do not need to be tech savvy. I am teaching online and enjoying it too. You just need a computer , high speed internet connection and headset to conduct an online class. You save time and can maintain flexible timing too. No harm in giving it a try.

 

[Fiz]

Hi Andy...

How's the tutoring going? I'm looking into this too, and I'm also looking into online tutoring, but I haven't really found anything that seems substantial. The details are either scant, sketchy or non-existent. The one I did try was awful. You essentially had to sit at the computer and click the notices that popped up before anyone else did, and when you did get a 'student' it was some idiot that was just trolling. I think it could be a good business, but it would need someone that knows how to approach it properly.

fiz~

 

[Devils]

All the tutoring I have done was related to assignments, exams or homework. So I only ever used pen & paper. I don't get invited for "general" tutoring tutor.

I did use Desmos, Wolfram Alpha and Geogebra when appropriate. On my students devices.

 

[Dr. Courtney]

I think of tutoring as mostly having two phases: the model phase where I show the student how to work a given type of problem, and the coach phase where the student works the problem and I "coach" them over the spots where they are stuck.

A white board is my main tool, though the same things can be done with pencil and paper in a pinch for one on one. Usually, I am working with multiple students, so a whiteboard helps everyone see what is happening. The whiteboard also forces the student to copy what you are doing in their notes - drawing, careful steps, etc. When you write on paper they want to take the paper, but they learn better and follow more closely when they write it themselves.