Online Tutoring Platform: The Features Every Tutor Needs

The best online tutoring platform for you covers two jobs: the lesson itself and the business around it. For the lesson you need a shared whiteboard, built-in video, recording, file upload and quick quizzes. For the business you need booking, card payments, a public profile and student ratings. Choose the type of platform first, then check these features.

Most tutors pick a platform in a hurry, usually the one a first student already uses. A few months later they are teaching on one app, taking payments on another and keeping notes in a third. A little thought at the start saves that mess.

This guide is written for tutors deciding where to teach. It covers the two kinds of platform, the features that matter in a real lesson, and how to set up your tutoring on Educastic.

What kinds of online tutoring platform are there?

There are two kinds of online tutoring platform: marketplaces that find students for you, and tools you use to run your own tutoring with students you bring yourself. Many tutors use both, at least at first.

A marketplace is fastest when nobody knows you yet. Your own tool gives you control over price, schedule and teaching style once word of mouth starts working. Some platforms combine the two: Educastic is a teaching tool with an optional tutor marketplace, which an Educastic admin enables per account.

What features matter for the lesson itself?

The features that matter most are the ones you use every minute of a lesson. If the whiteboard and video live in separate apps, you spend the session switching windows instead of teaching.

• A shared whiteboard. The student should see you build the idea step by step, and be able to write too. In Educastic the teacher gives a student drawing access from the ATTENDEES & PRIVILEGES panel and can take it back at any time.
• Built-in video and chat. Educastic's whiteboard has webcam video, chat and screen sharing in the same browser tab, so students join from an invite link without installing an app.
• Recording. Students rewatch the hard part before a test. Educastic recordings are kept in the "My Recordings" tab of My Library, and only that class's participants, admitted guests and the owner can watch them.
• File upload. You will want to bring your worksheets. Educastic lets you upload PDFs and annotate them live; Word and other documents convert to PDF on upload, and you can import from Google Drive, Dropbox and OneDrive.
• Quizzes. A three question check at the end tells you what to teach next week. In Educastic the teacher publishes a test during class, students answer against a countdown, and the teacher sees a summary of the answers.

For subjects with notation, check the details too: Educastic has a formula tool, a scientific calculator and graph paper backgrounds such as Graph and Coordinate plane.

What business features should an online tutoring website for tutors have?

An online tutoring website for tutors should let students find you, book a time, pay by card and leave a rating, without emails going back and forth. Check for these four:

1. A public profile with your subject, rates and availability. Educastic tutor profiles show rates per 30, 60 and 120 minute session, expertise areas and availability, and need no login to view.
2. Booking that refuses double bookings. Educastic's booking form lets the student choose date, time, length, individual or group, and weekly or monthly sessions, and overlapping slots are refused.
3. Payments. Educastic tutors get paid through Stripe. Stripe payouts are available to US-based tutors only for now, so tutors elsewhere should plan another way to collect fees.
4. Ratings. With "Show ratings option to student on Exit" switched on, Educastic students rate the tutor 1 to 5 stars with a comment when they leave the session.

Our guide to the online tutor profile and bookings covers each of these screens in detail.

How do you set up your tutoring on Educastic?

Set up your tutoring on Educastic in this order, using the labels you will see on screen:

1. Create a free account. Educastic includes all of its teaching features in the free version.
2. Choose your tools. On the dashboard page "Session Tools", turn off the whiteboard tools you do not need so students see a simpler toolbar.
3. Fill in My Profile. Complete Personal Info, then Pricing, Expertise, and Schedule with your rates and availability.
4. Connect payments. In Bank Info, click Connect Stripe (US only).
5. Go public. If the marketplace is enabled for your account, switch on Display in Marketplace under Settings. Students then find you through "Learning-on-Demand" and book with Hire me.
6. Prepare a quiz. Under Exams, click Create New Test and add three questions for your first lesson.
7. Schedule the lesson. Click + Create Educast, choose Scheduled Educast, then share the invite with Copy URL or the QR code.

What questions should you ask before you commit to a platform?

Ask these questions before you move your students onto any tutoring platform:

• Do students need to install anything, or does it run in the browser?
• Can I give one student the pen and take it back?
• Can I bring my own PDFs and documents, and annotate them live?
• Who can watch my recordings, and can I download them?
• Do payouts work in my country, and what commission does the platform take?
• Can I keep teaching my own students there, or only marketplace students?

If a platform cannot answer the payout question clearly, do not move paying students onto it yet.

Frequently asked questions

Try a tutoring platform with a whiteboard

Run one real lesson before you decide: invite a student, teach on the Educastic online whiteboard, record it and publish a short quiz at the end.

Start tutoring on Educastic