Advice needed on technology for Maths Tutoring

[JAA17]

I need advice on technology I need to be able to tutor online. I have never done a Zoom-Call or anything like that. I am not very gadget-savvy.

I am a doctor of mathematics, PhD, (in a semi-unrelated job now), with a First in my Maths degree, A grades in the old A-Level, AO-level and O-level. I am in my 50s and I used to face-to-face tutor when I was younger and was very successful. One of my A-Level pupils received a Lloyds Bank most improved student award.

However, I live in a village and had to drive everywhere which I found frustrating rushing through country lanes trying to be on time.

Now its possible to tutor online and I would like to get back into it, but I genuinely do not know how. I do not think my low spec laptop would be good enough for video conferencing. I have seen threads where people hint at using white boards and writing tablets. I am not very gadget-savvy. I would not know what to choose.

I obviously do not know the contents of the syllabus now, so I would need to get that information, but I typically found it was the student coming to me every week with a list of things they did not understand and asking for advice and understanding. When I first started tutoring I prepared lessons, only to find that was put aside and it was the student directing the lesson with questions. Sometimes, they would say something completely general like, "We did Vectors this week, help me understand it". I never knew what I was teaching lesson-by-lesson and was successfully teaching the lesson on-the-fly. It was quite fun and exciting really,

I used to teach mainly A-Level, but also GCSE as well.

Could anyone give advice on how to distance-teach with technology and where to get the syllabus now?

How do people find out about you? When I was tutoring face-to-face locally, I would typically teach one person, then it was word-of-mouth that got all my other students.

Everything you need in terms of past papers is here https://www.mathsgenie.co.uk

Most schools do Edexcel for GCSE and A-level maths, you can find the spec on their website.

For online tutoring I would get a laptop where you can also write on the screen, as this is really handy for annotating. I use Zoom, it's easy to share your screen so they can see whatever PowerPoint or worksheet you have up, and both you and they can annotate it. I also have a visualiser if I need to show any extended working out to them. You'd need to pay for a zoom subscription as free sessions only last 40 minutes.

Look on the main exam boards websites for the syllabus. Edexcel is the most popular GCSE. OCR and AQA are the other 2 assuming England. Check the local sixth form websites as they may say which board they use. Maths A level is pretty standard but further maths has more options. You will probably need to use Teams or Zoom and a tablet you can write on and share screen for working through problems e.g. Wacom

There are lots of online tutoring agencies.

Thank you for the syllabus links.

I am sorry for sounding completely dumb, but technology/gadgets have just passed me by in life. Smartphones, up to now, have not even interested me.

The technology answers are where I am a bit iffy.

>>>For online tutoring I would get a laptop where you can also write on the screen, as this is really handy for annotating. I use Zoom, it's easy to share your screen so they can see whatever PowerPoint or worksheet you have up, and both you and they can annotate it.

What am I actually annotating on my laptop? What program is being used to give the effect of a piece of paper I am writing on?

How do I get the worksheet visible to the student?

>>>I also have a visualiser if I need to show any extended working out to them.

What is a visualiser?

>>>You'd need to pay for a zoom subscription as free sessions only last 40 minutes.

Thank you, this is useful to know.

>>>You will probably need to use Teams or Zoom ...

So I am guessing Teams is just a different company/brand to zoom for a picture-type-telephone call.

>>> ...and a tablet you can write on and share screen for working through problems e.g. Wacom

I think this is where I am getting confused. Is a tablet a laptop without a keyboard? I always thought Wacom produced digital art-drawing devices. I guess that is what I will be writing/annotating on?

So, if I understand correctly, I have a Zoom/Teams capable laptop with a Wacom pad with a digital pen which I write on that results in writing in a program on the screen which is viewable in some way over the Zoom/Teams? Have I got it roughly right?

>>>There are lots of online tutoring agencies.

I am not sure I would want to work for a company. Are these agencies just go-between to set up student and tutor? Do they set the price or do I? What is the average rate for GCSE and A-Level maths at the moment? In the 1990s I was on about £25 an hour, but that was face-to-face.

Where can I find a list?

Teams is the corporate world version of zoom. You mostly likely want zoom.

with math, you are either going to need software that lets you type equations quickly or you need a tablet interface that lets you use a special pen to draw them yourself. I haven’t used a math typing software in 30 years, but it existed back then so I’m sure it exists now if you are really anti-tablet, but a tablet is going to be more intuitive and faster.

the difference between a tablet and a laptop is negligible these days. A laptop always has an attached keyboard. A tablet can be connected to a keyboard. A laptop screen is not touch sensitive by default. Some higher-end laptops are touch sensitive and allow you to draw on the screen as if they are a tablet. All tablets are touch sensitive. They are basically giant phones.

with any kind of teleconference software you can do something called “share my screen”. This works in either direction, but only one person can share at a time. You can swap back and forth easily. That way the student can show you their work or you can demonstrate.

if you are going to do this, you need to have tech that works. Your laptop being too old to do the work won’t go over well with clients so I would definitely try it out with a friend first.

Another option might be to offer sessions at some central spot. Our local library has lots of study rooms. Tutors will book one for a few hours on a weeknight and students just come to the library for their appointment.

If you're not good at technology then you're unlikely to come up with a good set-up by yourself, or by reading people saying 'you need to share your screen'.

Do you know anyone who does it who can help show you? There are probably videos on YouTube.

I tutor maths.

I use zoom for the call. Get a pro account with no time limit, it's not massively expensive if you're tutoring online a lot as you just build it into your hourly rate.

I use bitpaper alongside Zoom as an online collaborative whiteboard. You can draw and write on it and also upload pdfs etc of exam papers and worksheets to annotate. Each bitpaper has 100 pages. You and the student can simultaneously write on it, you just give them the link for their paper, they dont need an account. It autosaves and can be exported as a PDF if needed.

A graphics tablet like an XP pen or Wacom is really useful for handwriting on the bitpaper.

Bitpaper is incredibly cheap if you just use it as a whiteboard and a decent graphics tablet can be bought for around £60. I use mine daily and it's worth buying.

Hourly rates for GCSE and A level maths are £50-60 per hour in my area for both face to face and online for a qualified teacher.