Homepreneurial opportunity – Online Tutoring

Interview with Prof.Vijayalakshmi – Online Tutor Since 2008
Online tutoring has decreased the gap between the knowledge and ignorance. The teacher and student are only a click away, and in the i-age, timezones doesn’t really matter anymore. In this interview, Ms.Vijayalkshmi shares her insights for homepreneurs contemplating on cashing in their teaching experience / expertise online.
Ms. B.Vijayalakshmi is a research scholar from Bharath University hailing from Chennai ; working as the professor of English at SRM University, Chennai (Tamil Nadu); has published papers in National conferences (5) International Conferences (6) and National Journal (1) and International Journal (1). Amongst many feathers in her hat, as a college professor, HOD of English Dept, Guest Speaker, Corporate Trainer, Counsellor, she is also a part time homepreneur.
From conventional class room teaching to virtual classroom tutoring, she has taken her teaching expertise to a different level. This, she does in addition to attending her regular day-job’s responsibilities. She has been a part-time homepreneur for over 2 years, and now has 95+ fan following & 28+ recommendations from fellow attendees at a popular online tutoring portal.
1. Hi Viji, This being a series on homepreneurial opportunities, what better way to start, than to get some insights from a teacher herself. So, tell us how online teaching found its way into your regular activities way back in 2008?

I am a teacher who wants to bring in difference in my students’ career. When I was in search of something new in English Language Teaching, I stumbled across WiZiQ accidentally. That was the start of my online teaching endeavours. Luckily, the team at WiZiQ helped me to understand the technical aspects. They gave me training free of cost. I liked their approach and they were ready to speed on the best practices.

2.With a regular day-job, responsibilities of home-maker & mother, etc, there is stress all around us. But, it seems that stress hasn’t caught up with you yet. Amidst all of these responsibilities that require your physical presence, you continue to be present virtually as well.. What is so alluring about this facet of online tutoring?

When I started my research, I was in search of something new and different which now lead me to this Interview. I was in search of a new methodology of teaching practice where I paved a way to online teaching. When I registered as an online teacher, I was the only English teacher to teach online in Tamil Nadu specifically from Chennai. It brought me into limelight and my passion towards teaching lit the light. Any work I do I love to do it with passion and that led me to perfection.

3.Well said, spoken like a true teacher- The Eternal Student, always striving for perfections. So, what exactly do you teach? Tell us about your niche. Also, please share how you manage your time between a regular day’s schedule & online teaching schedule.

I am passionate towards teaching English language. I can teach professional ethics, Value Education, Communication and Presentation Skills, LSRW skills, ELT and all the icons relevant to ELT. I am also interested in teaching Tamil language. I am a counselor who loves to provide guidance to the sufferers. I also counsel on parenting. I teach SPOKEN ENGLISH COURSES specialized for native speakers of other languages like Tamil, Telugu, Hindi, Malayalam etc., I have organised Train the Trainer programmes for the teachers online. I spend one hour everyday for online teaching and I do teach in the weekends, whenever I am free. I deliver one free public session online to the needed students. I love to do service to the society.

4.Okay, so Online tutoring is indeed a legitimate option to impart knowledge & earn a decent $$ out of it. Unlike the regular school / College, where teaching is limited to Science, Math, Social, Biology & Language etc, online-tutoring is not bound by these conventional subjects. Tell us about the “subjects” that can be taught via online tutoring. What is the most bizarre “subject” that you have come across till now?

In addition to professional, academic, language courses , we also come across courses on maternity, feng shui , Yoga, Meditation, Guitar Learning etc. One can teach whatever one is qualified to teach. Nowadays we do have options of doing our degree also online and certified. For example, you can check for TOEFL courses (online) at British council website.

5.Now, that takes care of “What can I teach?” question from aspiring homepreneurs who wish to pursue online-teaching. How about the technical stuff? What hardware / software does a person need to make that first attempt? How can we have the best of class room teaching & Online tools to give a complete learning experience to the students? After all, they are the ones who are paying to learn…

Most online tutoring platforms provide their own custom interface to make online tutoring / virtual class room a fulfilling experience for both the teacher and the student. I am most active at WiZiQ, & can only say about this site.

WiZiQ provides a complete environment for online tutoring and hence students get the benefit of an online environment like multimedia display, animations, self paced learning, online assessments and content sharing. It provides online tests, for the students to make a self assessment, and the teachers can set up tests (based on the subjects they teach) and evaluate their student’s performance.

Furthermore, students can also network with other students and teachers from across the world. This broadens their horizons as well as democratizes the access to quality education for all.

6.All online jobs have a certain % of scams. What is your observation on this with regard to online teaching? Do you know of any such incidents? What would be the warning signs for newbies to steer clear of scams in this niche?

Once again, I am most active at WiZiQ, and can only speak for this.

I haven’t come across any issue of scam in my dealings with WiZiQ so far.The team is incredibly helpful and transparent in their dealings. If at all somebody wants to sign up other than wiziq one must surely check for the credibility like talking with senior executive members of the company, have a thorough study about the platform and also to check with the existing members.

7.You have been an active online tutor for over 2 years. Could you please share some online teaching portals /site where our readers can try out their teaching prowess? And, out of this, which one is your most favoured one? Why?

A Google search for “Online Teaching Websites” would give you a number of options. I am not familiar with most of them personally.WiZiQ.com is my preferred network because it is the most complete platform. The support team active, considerable and everready to help. Further, it is also an all inclusive platform for the students too. It also provides a better earning opportunities for the homeprenuers.

I would advice everyone to exercise caution and recommend checking for credibility at other available online tutoring sites is at your own risk.

8.Last but not the least, What NOT TO DO in online teaching?

One must not be over enthusiastic to learn everything in a same day and I would prefer to say every one of us must have patience. Do not try learning from any TOM, DICK and HARRY you come across. Learn and get trained from professionals through proper channels which will lead you to reach your goal.

• Initially, to start with, do not enrol yourself by paying money to any company.
• Do not exaggerate about yourself.
• Do not give fake information to the readers.
• Be trustworthy and furnish reliable details of you.
• Your Profile is the index of your online teaching career.
• Do not concentrate on earning money as soon as your start.
• Try to get as many student learners as possible.
• Do not copy contents and publish it as yours.

These are the possible mistakes everybody does unknowingly because they will think that nobody will watch them. To avoid all these will make any new teacher a credible and elegant personality.

9.I know its not-nice to ask about “earnings”. But, for the sake of aspiring homepreneurs, what is an average earning that an online tutor can expect to make? ..or.. in other words, What is the acceptable $ to start charging a fee?

You can start from $6 per hour and graduate to even $200 per hour depending on your skill and the subject you teach. You get yourselves publicised in the internet and also in all the search engines so that you become a public figure and get recognition. This in turn translates into more students, which means more $$.The quality of teaching directly determines fondness amongst student groups.

10.Hmm.. 6$ – 200$, that is a progressive transition our teaching community would like to happen. We know that school teachers / retired professors offer private tutions & home tuitions to supplement their income. For them, online tutoring would become a viable & legitimate source of income. Thanks for the insight.
Would you be willing to assist readers at Homepreneur-online in understanding the tools at WizIQ, so that they can effectively use these to provide a complete classroom experience?

It will be pleasure for me to guide people to wiziq. I shall even recommend to the support team @ wiziq to assist my candidates for training. They can also join my free public sessions and learn. I think this is a great service to the humanity. TO educate a human is to teach him how to live. I am proud to be a part time homepreneur. Readers @ Homepreneur-online can get in touch with me via My WizIQ Profile (I have shared my direct contact details with Deepa Govind, but for security reasons, it is not displayed at the site)

I thank Mrs.Deepa Govind for providing me an opportunity to exhibit my talents to this universe and the online community. I thank almighty for making me a teacher to do service to the society. Last but not the least, hero of my today’s lifestyle is my father Mr.K.Balaraman, a very great soul, whom I admired a lot and do admire till I doom, was a driver of tanker lorry by his profession, who made me a professor today is no more with me to shower him. I pray for his blessings and my suggestions towards youth is “Learn to be you always and try not to imitate somebody for fantasy” was taught by my dear loving dad to whom I pledge all my devotion.

Ms.Viji, Thank you for sharing such valuable insights with us and please accept our condolences on the recent demise of your father. This interview shall be a tribute post to him, in respect towards honouring his efforts towards moulding you to be an academician, with his meagre means. We are sure your father must be very proud of you and what you had become. May his soul rest in peace.