Platforms for English tutors

A successful transition to remote learning depends on several factors: a strong command of teaching methods, a high level of language proficiency, and the right choice of an online teaching platform. About platforms for teachers and tutors of English and will be discussed in this material.

Distance education is a new reality, for which not only school teachers, but also private teachers need to be thoroughly prepared. More and more parents understand the benefits of English via Skype: the safety of the child, saving time, effort and money on the road, monitoring progress from classes.

A successful transition to remote learning depends on several factors: a strong command of methods , a high level of language proficiency, and the right choice of an online teaching platform.

Let's see what they are. There are such types of services: designed to communicate with a student in real time ( Skype, Zoom, FreeConferenceCall ), services that provide more additional tools ( Google Classroom ) and complete systems for professional online teaching.

Before you choose what is right for you, you need to determine the purpose and possibilities.

Popular Online Teaching Platforms

Participants in the educational sector are forced to quickly adapt to changing market conditions and even use instant messengers: Telegram, Viber, WhatsApp. However, there are a number of much more functional services that will raise the quality of the lesson to a higher level. These include:

• Google classroom,
• google hangouts,
• zoom,
• FreeConferenceCall,
• ez talks,
• Skype.

In general, all these tools are similar, but there are differences.

Google classroom

The platform combines all the functions necessary for learning. What is possible:

• create an individual course that will help not to get confused in the future.
• post study materials, set due dates, comment on homework assignments.
• rate, monitor progress.
• go through topics in order.
• additionally add new users.
• post external links - to YouTube, Google Disk or other sites.
• create quizzes using Google Forms.

Let's look at the pros and cons of this service. The undeniable advantages include:

• free use,
• no ads,
• integration with Google Docs, Calendar, Forms and Mail.
• intuitive settings.

The tutor can invite colleagues if a part of the course is taught by another person (up to 20 participants). All posted assignments are saved to Google Drive. You can ask questions to each other, leave comments. The disadvantages include:

• lack of video conference functionality (this can be fixed using Google Hangouts ).
• you cannot generate a report card (available on a paid version for corporate clients).

Remote learning with the help of Google Classroom is a good and modern solution that, in combination with video or audio calls, will help you continue your activities even under strict quarantine conditions.

Google Hangouts for Conferencing

In conjunction with Google Classroom, this tool allows you to achieve maximum efficiency. All that is required from the teacher and student is a Google and Chrome browser. You can work with groups, share your screen, chat live for free. Differs in ease of use.

Zoom for remote communication

A service that is suitable for both individual lessons and collective video calls. It is distinguished by high quality of communication, the presence of a chat, the ability to demonstrate the computer screen during class.

Among other advantages:

• free service,
• Virtual background function: beach or other interesting location,
• playing audio recordings on a computer,
• you can highlight information on the screen,
• can be accessed from a tablet or smartphone,
• the ability to make the time of the lesson constant and repetitive,
• you can record the lesson and save it to the cloud,
• you can divide students into pairs,
• there is an interactive whiteboard for parsing unknown words and rules.

Among the shortcomings, users note:

• connections for 40 minutes,
• when sharing the screen, it is not possible to open other tabs,
• many people may have difficulty logging in with an ID and password at first.

Zoom helps you stick to 40 minute lessons. With it, you can conduct collective "speaking club" and individual lessons.

FreeConferenceCall Service

For audio conferencing with easy registration (need email and password) where you can set the date and time of the call.

There are several advantages:

• free calls from anywhere in the world,
• unlimited calls,
• tools for drawing and highlighting text,
• screen sharing along with video with participants,
• can be used as mobile applications for iPhone and Android,
• recording and chat function,
• 24/7 technical support via chat and email.

The downside is that you can not turn on audio or video on your computer.

EzTalks for tutors

Suitable for video broadcasts and webinars. Convenient for working "fly", discussions, classes. Includes all the most necessary functions: chat, screen sharing, whiteboard live, also supports audio calls.

What are the advantages:

• HD quality,
• supports presentation format,
• allowed in webinar format for 10,000 participants,
• chat and whiteboard,
• meeting record,
• polling function.

There is one minus, but quite significant - after 40 minutes the use of the service is paid.

We have detailed the benefits of using Skype article .

ProgressMe for educators

Paid for teachers with a tariff of 285? per month. A 7-day trial period is available. What are the "buns":

• unlimited lessons,
• interactive lesson designer
• ready-made fascinating materials, as well as the most popular textbooks,
• automatic check of completed exercises in real time,
• different types of activities
• voice tasks and comments,
• hints with the correct answer that are not visible to the student,
• built-in translator,
• schedule calendar,
• adaptation to any mobile device.

If you're a professional tutor and committed to actively engaging your audience, then ProgressMe is for you.

Platforms with advanced functionality

Comprehensive corporate training is possible with iSpring, which consists of the iSpring Learn learning portal and the iSpring Suite course builder. Suitable for those who are considering creating their own training courses and are ready to organize a full educational cycle.

Based on iSpring, you can create tests, courses, interactive simulators, as well as upload an unlimited number of files. The billing system included in the functionality is suitable for those who conduct webinars. It can be used to sell:

• courses,
• master classes,
• trainings,
• conferences,
• lessons.

For 3 months and 1000 participants, you will have to pay 14,400?. This is a stylish solution for those who want to occupy their niche in the information business.

If you are preparing for the Unified State Examination, you can try the free period with Educa Unified State Examination. The developers claim a large database of ready-made information for each subject, full automation in checking homework, convenient electronic reporting, quick payment in the service itself on the card, and reports on the duration of the study and progress that can be shown to parents.

Use the free demo version of Studycore for one student. Then the system enters payment 249? per month. An online assistant that can store data in the cloud, transfer information in any format, and schedule classes. Works on any device and supports the parental control feature to inform about passes.

Additional services for teachers

It is very inconvenient to work with books in printed format, learning the language remotely - typing takes a lot of time. Therefore, we have selected several useful web resources that will definitely come in handy for you.

Test your knowledge with LearningApps.org

Base of ready-made exercises, tasks and tests of different levels and in many subjects. You can use what is in the database, or you can create your own tests. Free registration, saving the work done, tips and a Russian-language interface make LearningApps an indispensable assistant.

Online Test Pad for creating tests

Any course involves control, and in the Online Test Pad you can do crossword puzzles, polls or logic games. An interesting find for those who are tired of the usual exercises.

Nearpos for those who love presentations

The presentations created on this English site will appeal to everyone due to the active participation of both the children and the teacher during the process. You can use Nearpos as an additional form of activity and pay for advanced functionality if you really like the service.

Kahoot! for advanced teachers

Completely English-language interface and many attractive and colorful options for learning English. Free features are enough to appreciate its benefits.

Lesson materials on Quizlet

Creation of games, cards, presentations. After registration, you can familiarize yourself with the finished materials and choose something you need for your work.

Quizizz + Google Classroom = success

The integration allows for testing, which can be selected from the database or created in the built-in designer. Ready-made options can be placed in Google Class, or you can give access to the link and code.

English learning platforms

We have collected some cool resources from which you can really draw inspiration and material for work.

Each of these web resources can make life easier by becoming a source of new ideas and insights. We recommend visiting each. The teacher should be in trend and find something interesting and relevant every month.

Brief Summary

How to choose the most convenient service? Test those that have the functionality you need and make a choice in favor of the one that is easier to use.

You can start tutoring using free programs, and then move on to paid advanced services, if necessary. Many cope even with one skype.

The main thing in successful distance learning is to understand technologies at the level necessary for work, as well as to update knowledge of distance education methods. If you encounter difficulties in finding students remotely or using the methodology, you can take teacher certification courses, after which you will receive a certificate and lifetime access to a database of trusted employers around the world. The modules include lessons on the use of modern technologies in the classroom and in private lessons.

The main advice for those who are faced with the inevitability of the transition to distance education, from us will be "do not worry." Over time, you will gain the necessary experience and probably even want to get a full-fledged online position related to teaching foreigners. More tips for education staff can be found on our blog.

New experience always makes us better and more successful, and in the case of remote work, it also makes us more competitive! Go ahead, we wish you success!