Everyone has experienced the ups and downs that come with living through the Covid19 pandemic, it has been difficult to find some semblance of normality, stability and routine during these ever changing times. With the onset on the pandemic, the world has seen an increased reliance upon technology and devices in our homes.
With this extra reliance on technology comes the extra risk of breaches in our personal online security. With education, among many other industries and professions, progressively moving online - safety for children has become more important than ever.
The internet and the online media world can be a wonderful place of sharing love and knowledge, however it can also be a space for the spread of misinformation and dangers for those easily taken advantage of, such as children.
For this reason online security and safety when it comes to children and online tutoring is now more important than ever. If you plan to find a job as a private tutor it is essential that you can provide and ensure a safe and secure online learning environment for your students.
Of course, major tech companies are doing their best to ensure that the internet is mostly a trustworthy and safe place to be, however it can never be guaranteed. That is why education is a great tool for young people today,
As an online tutor you can help teach your students to learn what kind of language and topics to avoid, and keep an eye for any potential sign of danger when they are spending time online unsupervised.
Being able to provide your students and their parents with a safe and secure experience on the internet will help keep kids learning even when we're all stuck at home during the many lock downs Sydney and Melbourne know only too well.
In today's article we're going to go over what you can do while using Skype to ensure your students are safe during your online lessons.
Click here to read more about research into online tutoring and how you can improve as an up and coming tutor.
Online Safety and Skype: What you Need to Know
There has been plenty of discussion over the years, and more recently due to the pandemic, about which video sharing platform is the best to use when it comes to tutoring jobs. The main video sharing platforms which are the most talked about include; Google Meet, Zoom, Facebook Video Messenger and Skype.
In this article we're focusing on Skype, it has been around nearly 20 years, so you've surely heard about it or maybe even used it yourself before. However, if you're new to tutoring you might not have had to consider the potential safety risks when working with children and using this kind of software.
Child safety online is becoming more important than ever before with primary school-aged children spending more and more time online. This is a combination of education moving towards technologically focused learning spaces, as well as the rapid increase for this as a necessity because of remote learning throughout the pandemic.
Read through our article on Working with Children Checks to learn more about the importance of online safety for children.
Online Abuse
Although the internet can be a fun place most of the time, we all enjoy cute animal videos and keeping in touch with friends, it can also, unfortunately, be a place for people to be taken advantage of or exposed to unpleasant and harmful content.
This is a particular concern when it comes to children who might not yet understand that there's more to the internet than cute animal videos. For this reason, online abuse, as an umbrella term for a number of terrible things that can happen online, is a major concern when it comes to online safety.
When it comes to online tutoring jobs this is of the utmost importance as you need to remember that you have the responsibility as an adult engaging with a child on the internet to provide an age-appropriate environment that is both supportive and safe.
It can be good to inform your student's parents of the video-sharing platform you plan to use and have a collaborative discussion together to guarantee a low-risk online learning space for their child.
One way you can put your students' parents at ease is to record your lessons online if you choose to use Skype, or any other video sharing platform. This is a way to keep everyone accountable and establish a trustworthy rapport with the students you are working with.
Another way you can support safe online internet use and develop digital skills for your students as an online tutor is to incorporate some online safety tips into your lessons to break up whatever subject you're working on together.
Read one of our other articles on online tutoring and teaching to find out more about getting started as an online tutor and learning some new skills.
Making Sure Your Digital Classroom is Safe
We've briefly covered some of the ways you can be aware of the potential risk and dangers for children when it comes to being online and occasionally unsupervised, let's go over a few more ways you can make sure you're creating a safe online space working as a tutor or teacher.
Here are some of the things you can do and apply to your online space to create a safe space for all of your students:
- Start a discussion about online safety early on; talking about some of the risks at an age-appropriate level with your students is one of the best ways to begin your lessons.
- Choose a video sharing platform that has a recording feature; this is also one of the best ways to promote accountability and create learning resources for your students to revisit!
- Invite your students' parents to be in the room during lessons; this can make parents feel more comfortable if they prefer to have their children supervised as well as provide them with information that could help them support their child's education.
- Meet with your student's parents before the first lesson; by allowing your student's parents to get to know you they can feel assured that their child will be in a safe and comfortable virtual classroom.
- Work with a reputable tutoring company; you can choose to teach with us here at Superprof or another well known and established tutoring company, this will allow you to showcase your skills and build a good number of reviews.
- Make sure your WWCC is up to date; making sure that you have the right qualifications, skills and experience means that you will be a trusted tutor.
These are just a few things you can do to get started as a trustworthy online tutor, here at Superprof it's easy to get started in just a few steps. By creating an online tutoring profile with us you can tell your future students about which subjects you have experience and expertise in.
We haven't yet mentioned some of the benefits of working as an online tutor, such as the flexibility that comes with being able to work from home and choose your own hours. As an online tutor working in Australia, it also means that you can work with students who live all over the country in places like Melbourne, Sydney and more.
Tutoring is a great option as a job while you are studying a degree at university, or you're interested in finding a career in education. Some of the tutors who are in most demand are people who are able to teach basic subjects such as English and Maths.
However, it can be good to specialise in less popular subjects as you will most likely be in higher demand if there are fewer teachers and tutors for a particular language subject for example. Working as a private tutor also means that you can choose how many days per week you wish to work and you determine your cost per hour.
One last thing to consider now that we've reached the end of this article is what level of tutoring you want to create lessons for and what kind of students you think you are able to support best in their education.
We hope that it's clear from this article that if you choose to work with young people, especially primary school-aged students, that online safety should be one of your main focuses when planning your lessons.
Hopefully, you have found some useful information today, don't forget to check out our other articles on online tutoring and what you can do to get started or simply improve your craft and be up to date!
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