Websites for Online Tutors: Features, Pros and Cons

By TalkEn.Cloud Author Team

Modern technology makes it possible to modernize English teaching 100% and reduce a tutor’s workload, freeing up lots of time for personal life or extra lessons. Websites for online tutors help with this: online platforms where you can host all your learning materials and run video lessons. And that is only a small part of their advantages. So today we will look in detail at the features of tutoring platforms, how to work with them, and their pros and cons.

Contents

1. Features of websites for English tutors
1.1. Many functions on one website
1.2. Access to ready-made lessons and interactive textbooks
1.3. Storing data in the cloud
1.4. Suitable for language schools
1.5. 100% privacy for students and teachers
2. The advantages of websites for tutors and online teaching
3. The downsides of using websites for English tutors
4. What to look for when choosing a website for online tutoring

Features of websites for English tutors

If you want to find and start using a website for teaching English online, search for something like “LMS”. In essence, modern websites for teachers are learning management systems (that is what LMS stands for). But besides organizing and managing lessons, these platforms let you teach online and host learning materials of different kinds, from text to video, audio and interactive exercises. So let’s look at the features of websites for online tutors in more detail, focusing on their most important capabilities.

Many functions on one website

Tutors usually keep learning materials on Google Drive, upload useful videos to YouTube, teach lessons on Zoom, keep their lesson schedule in Google Calendar and communicate with students in Viber or another messenger. On top of that, lots of materials have to be stored and sorted on their own computer, without which it is almost impossible to teach a full lesson.

A website for online tutors replaces all the programs listed above. You can upload learning materials to such a platform, and it has a calendar for managing your schedule, a chat, a video calling program and many other features, all on one domain. Most importantly, if a tutor’s laptop suddenly breaks, they can go to a coworking space and teach the lesson using the materials prepared in advance and stored on the site.

Regular English textbooks are becoming a thing of the past as interactive ones replace them

Access to ready-made lessons and interactive textbooks

The biggest advantage of websites for English tutors is ready-made lessons for every level. These materials come as interactive textbooks, and using them a tutor can save a lot of preparation time and greatly increase students’ interest.

An interactive textbook on a tutoring website is an online textbook with not only theory but also lots of videos, audio recordings, pictures, tables and diagrams that make learning more interesting and make new information easier to understand and remember. You will agree that learning a new phrase is much easier through a funny, relevant meme than through boring cramming. It also has various grammar practice tasks, like those on EnglishGrammar, that make it easy to improve your level.

Importantly, interactive textbooks for tutoring websites are created by teachers who have experience both as methodologists and in online teaching. But when choosing a website for English tutors, always check who created the learning materials, and look through them carefully before giving your students access.

Storing data in the cloud

Modern English teaching platforms let tutors not only access ready-made textbooks but also upload their own materials to the cloud and store them safely. You will no longer need third-party resources such as Google Drive, which is not very convenient to work with during a lesson. On a website for online tutors you can easily organize your materials into lessons and use them while teaching. At the same time, the student can see both the teacher and the learning materials on their screen and forget about switching between different programs as before.

Suitable for language schools

On a website for English tutors you can create a hub for a whole language school. You only need to set up access through the admin panel, create personal accounts for teachers and students, and start working. These platforms are useful because they let you monitor each tutor’s work, record the number of students who attended lessons and create reports quickly.

100% privacy for students and teachers

Websites for English tutors use modern data encryption, so nobody can find out users’ names. This is also useful for teachers who upload their own materials to the platform: nobody can copy or download them and then share them publicly. This is another reason why online language schools choose such websites.

The advantages of websites for tutors and online teaching

Since websites for online tutors are in high demand, it is no surprise that they have many advantages:

• Centralized management of learning. As a teacher, you can use the site to create accounts for each student, send students the information and materials they need, open access to tests and see how well they complete tasks. For tutors who teach group English lessons, these sites can put students into groups, so you can start a video conference for several students at once instead of adding each one separately. When a student finishes their studies, you can just as easily delete their account and close their access to learning materials.
• More mobility and flexibility. Besides letting you work online, websites for English tutors let you work from anywhere in the world and from any device. All you need to access the LMS is your login and password. Your students can access their learning the same way.
• Tracking students’ progress. As a teacher, you will always see which lessons your students have completed, whether they did their homework and what scores they got on tests. Even more importantly, you can see which tasks were done incorrectly, that is, understand which topics your student does not yet understand well.
• Creating tasks with automatic checking. A tutoring website is an online wizard for creating tests with any number of answer options. After taking such a test, the student immediately sees how many points they scored and what they got wrong. A tutor can create homework this way too, so they do not have to spend time checking it later.
• Easy analytics. With a website for tutors and online teaching, you can easily count how many lessons you have taught with each student and keep an attendance log. This lets you calculate your income quickly.
• Different access options. For example, if you want to use ready-made interactive textbooks and other materials, you will pay more for access. If you have your own materials, you can choose a cheaper plan.

Depending on the website for English tutors, the set of features and advantages can vary considerably. So when choosing a learning management system, study its features in detail.

A big advantage of online learning is being able to study wherever you are

The downsides of using websites for English tutors

Although the downsides of websites for online tutors are minor, we should still mention them:

• Technical difficulties. To start working with the site, a tutor needs to set it up and figure out all its features. So it is important that the platform’s developer offers ongoing technical support you can contact when needed.
• Cost. Of course, you will have to pay for access to such an important and useful tool. So before connecting to a website for English tutors, it is important to compare the advantages of different offers and consider different plans.
• The need for internet access. To get to the site, you need an internet connection, especially a reliable one during video calls. However, you do not need fast and stable internet to use the learning materials: the pages will still load.
• No physical interaction. Of course, teaching on a tutoring website happens online and does not involve face-to-face interaction between teacher and students. But these platforms were created precisely to improve the organization of online learning.

As with the advantages, the downsides of any given tutoring website depend on who developed the platform, its terms of use and which features it has or lacks. So choose your website very carefully, make sure to try it before paying for a month of access, and ask whether technical support is provided.

What to look for when choosing a website for online tutoring

Here are some important points a tutor should consider when choosing a platform for teaching English online:

• custom settings: for example, whether you can give students access only to the textbooks they study with;
• support for different content formats: whether you can upload pictures and audio, PDF files and videos in different formats;
• mobile access: test how the tutoring website looks on a tablet and a smartphone;
• reviews: pay attention to what other users write about the platform and whether they are happy with its features, and separately read what they say about the available interactive textbooks;
• evaluate the website for English teachers from a user’s point of view: how simple and clear the interface is, and whether a teenager or a retired student will understand how to use it.

Once you start teaching English through the website, be sure to note how much time you spend preparing for lessons. We guarantee that with such a platform you can save up to 20% of your working time, which you can fill with extra lessons or spend on rest.

Read also

• A Platform for Tutors and How to Work with It
• 10 Reasons a Modern Tutor Needs an English Teaching Platform
• An LMS Platform: Convenient Learning Management for Tutors