New way of teaching???

Nasirrejon112

Hi Guys,

I am new to this blog. I have been teaching for a bit and tutoring on the side to pay the bills.... as you do.....

I have this recurring problem with a student that I tutor; he keeps rearranging his schedule or cancelling the entire session. This ruins my entire schedule for tutoring. I have contemplated quitting tutoring many times but I came up with an idea that I wanted to run past. Maybe its nothing new but it came to me to like an epiphany when he kept texting on his phone.

I thought about creating an app that basically uberises my tutoring. For example he asks me specific questions during our session or he'll WhatsApp me during the day, which I answer for free. So with the app, he would start the session by texting a specific question for Science (my subject) then he pays for a session for 10 / 15 mins. The real question would be how much would I charge a student for 10/15 mins? I would be happy with £2 that would pay for my lunch.

What does everyone think?

Thanks in advance to everyone!

tacpot12

I think this is a good idea. The app developer would need to allow each tutor to set their own rate.

sn1987a

Teaching science through WhatsApp or similar platform is not easy and I wouldn't do it personally as it would be hard to use equations and it would take long. It could work for some topics.

Regarding the payment, think how much you would have asked for 1 hour, divide by 4 and round it up as some preparation/extra time is spent anyway whether it's a session of 15 or 60 minutes. £2 for secondary school tuition sounds low to me. If the student decides to do 1 hour tuition he will expect to pay £8. Is that right for you? I understand that your may need the money, but it's better to ask a reasonable fee and have less students than having a heavily discounted fee and have lot of them. The money will be the same at the end but more work in the second case.

Regarding student cancelling sessions, you can talk to parents and ask to get paid in advance. Some people ask to get paid for last minute cancelled sessions. You could go through your rules at the beginning.

Have you considered tutoring through Skype? Just an idea, it works for some people.

wesleyad

Sound like a good idea, I'd be more interested in seeing your "short sessions" as an added bonus to the app. I think the app itself would be much better as even more uberish (new word?). What I mean is student just goes on app and clicks "maths tutor for sunday at 5" and the app will sort one out and show fees. Then if they get along well he goes into favourites for regular callouts and possible multi buy savings etc.

katebrooks

My friend sells her course online on udemy. She created a course online with interactive videos and started selling on Udemy. She earns a good amount of money whenever people buys!

silverwhistle

I tutor via Skype (languages) which works for me. You can send files and links which you can then use in the lesson.



No way I'm doing 15 minutes for £2 though, although when I email or text students about lesson arrangements I do add little corrections of their English for free.

Luke86

Lots of developers create apps that cover something like this, but integrate the likes of accounting etc. By then someone like you renting it + 1000s of other teachers, they're able to offer it for like £10/mo, rather than you paying £10k-20k to develop it yourself.

It might be worth searching round for an existing teaching app you could use.

Wizzbang

You just need to use contracts and stop working informally. Then use invoices (look online to see all the legally binding info you need to include). Also use the late payment legislation to ensure payment, followed by the small claims court if needed.

That's the easiest way to ensure you get paid, despite late cancellations. You need to include a time frame that will work, but I'd suggest that you require at least 50% payment for a cancellation within 7 days of lesson and 100% if cancelled less than 24 hours in advance. I wouldn't charge for re-arrangement, but of course charge if they don't show up.

cassyfatty

That's a brilliant idea. I cannot remember the apps name, I think I might be heard about the same kind of function you mentioned above. Maybe you can do a quick search on Appstore/Play store.

Some student or any person that wants to solve the mathematic equation (for an example) can use that app and pay for a certain amount maybe hourly rate or fixed rate.

zagubov

Some tutors around London seem to use a seemingly standard "24 hour" rule, so that lessons need 24 hours notice for cancellation.
Any later than that and the student still pays, or has to find a new tutor.
On the other hand, if the tutor cancels later than 24 hours ahead, he or she offers the next lesson free.