A new school year is upon us, and what a different year it will be. The viral pandemic we are experiencing has altered our lives in ways large and small. For many students and teachers, it means adapting to a new world of online learning for their classes. Fortunately one-on-one supplemental tutoring also lends itself to this instructional approach. All it takes is a laptop with a microphone and speakers, a decent internet connection, an electronic whiteboard accessible through apps like Zoom or Bitpaper, and a willingness to adapt and learn. For the less fortunate who don’t have a computer with internet access at home, many schools are trying hard to provide the necessary hardware and connectivity so that students will not be left behind. It’s not a good situation but we must make the best of it for now.
While I much prefer meeting students face-to-face at one of my local libraries for tutoring sessions, “…the times, they are a-changin.'” With social-distancing and mask-wearing the order of the day, online tutoring is the way to go. It’s fortunate we live in a era that enables online instruction. I was in high school and college during a time that predates the internet and the WWW. Face-to-face tutoring would have been the only option back then, and it would have been a risky one. I would have been inclined to forego tutoring sessions altogether, whether I was a student or a tutor.
I really feel for the incoming freshman who had their high school graduations disrupted or even cancelled in the spring and now are having the start of their freshman year in college turn into something that they never envisioned. Freshman year can be a stressful time for many students under the best of circumstances. When you throw a global pandemic into the mix, it can only make things worse. Supplementing their university instruction with one-on-one online tutoring to further clarify concepts can be a good option for those who might be struggling.
In spite of all the current problems, I know we will get through this difficult time. We will be able to restore our educational system to a more normal state, and perhaps we will have learned a few new things along the way to make it even better. At least I hope so.
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