How to Use Tutorful's Online Learning Classroom Effectively

Tutorful’s online classroom is packed full of useful features to help your children learn from the comfort of their own home.

But if you and your children are new to online tutoring, then you might be wondering how the online classroom works, and how to make the most of it.

We’ve put together this cheat sheet to help you and your child become online learning pros.

Let’s get started…

Run a browser test

Your child isn’t the only one who should be tested. Before every online lesson, it’s a good idea to run a browser test.

This basically ensures that you’re ready to run the lesson and that everything will work smoothly.

The browser test also provides our support team with the information they need to help you in the unlikely event something goes wrong.

You can find out more about running a browser test here.

Familiarise yourself with the online classroom

Our online classroom is incredibly easy for your child to use. Don’t forget that they’ll already be far more familiar with technology than we were at their age.

Having said that, a good way to ease any nerves about the platform before the first lesson is to practice using it.

Fortunately, we offer a free demo classroom for your child to use. This will help them get to grips with amazing features, including the interactive whiteboard, video calling, and document sharing.

You can access the demo classroom by clicking your name on the top-right of the website, and then selecting “Demo Online Classroom” from the drop-down.

Improve your internet connection

As you might expect, the online classroom requires a strong internet connection to work properly.

If you find your internet connection isn’t strong enough, there are some steps you can take.

1. Wired connections are better than wireless. If you can, use an ethernet cable to connect your computer to your router.

2. If you have to use wireless, make sure you’re as close to the router as possible. That means removing any obstacles (including walls) between your computer and the router.

3. Other people using the internet can reduce the quality of the connection. Make sure other people in your house aren’t streaming videos or music (as hard as that might be!).

Set up your working space

young-boy-studying-at-desk-in-bedroom-in-evening

Even though online lessons take place at home, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t prepare a workspace as if your child was in the classroom.

Obviously that doesn’t mean donning a uniform or decorating the walls of the room. But you can do certain things to help facilitate learning.

For starters, make sure your child is sitting at a desk or table. Not only does this help them get into “work” mode, but it also makes it easier for them to write things down.

Also, encourage your child to keep hydrated. This will help keep them focused on the lesson.

Finally, remove any distractions. No iPad, no TV, no video games, no mobile phones. Just them, the computer, and the online classroom.

Use a headset (or at least headphones)

When you use the online classroom’s video calling feature to talk to the online tutor, it’s important to have a headset.

This way the online tutor will hear your child better, and they’ll hear the tutor more clearly. It also stops any feedback echoes from impacting the lesson.

If you don’t have a headset, then your computer’s microphone is fine. Just try to use headphones to listen, to stop feedback.