By Janet Menosky Smith
Being able to travel and still tutor is the ultimate benefit of working online. But, it's not always as easy to do both as it seems. Here are a few scenarios with some tips and things to watch out for.
It’s summer and for many online tutors, vacation or travel time is on the horizon. One of the advantages of tutoring online is that you can tutor from anywhere you can access the internet. With so much of the world seemingly connected, that seems simple enough to do. However, it isn’t always as easy as you might think. Here are some scenarios you might run into while you’re away from home…
1. Staying with family or friends. This is the most reliable option, if your host has a good home internet connection. Usually, private homes have reliable access and a quiet place where you can work. If you know you need to be online, ask your host ahead of time how strong their connection is, and if they know the download and upload speed. If they don’t know it and they’re willing to check, have them go to www.speedtest.net from their home computer and see what speeds it registers.
2. Hotel Internet connections. Most complimentary Internet connections in hotels are adequate, but make sure you check the connection speed from your hotel room ahead of your tutoring time. Sessions usually work with speeds of 10-15 megabytes download and 5-6 megabytes upload. This is not ideal, but you can usually manage. Tip: You may experience lagging during online sessions. If so, try teaching onscreen without your video, to free up limited resources.
Another tip: If the connection in your room is weak, see if the hotel has a business center or lobby with a stronger connection.
In fact, no matter where you are and what your first Internet connection option is, you always need a backup plan. I’ll talk about that a little later in this post.
3. Coffee shops, fast food restaurants, libraries, or other public spots with free internet. As nice as it sounds to teach in a quaint coffee shop while sipping on your latte, public places pose a few more challenges. The internet connection can range from stellar to barely there, and you almost always have a less private place to work, with conversations and piped music in the background. Libraries often have limited hours and want patrons to be quiet. If a number of other people are online and streaming video or conferencing virtually, it can use up the available bandwidth fast and affect the quality of your session. I only use these locations when I don’t have a more private and reliable option.
What is a good backup plan and why do you need one? I have traveled enough to know that I can never absolutely count on my first plan to use the internet in a private home, hotel, or public place. My chief backup plan is to have a hotspot on my phone. Then, if another internet connection isn’t available or is weak, as long as there is good cell phone reception, my phone's hotspot usually does the job.
The other key thing I do to make sure my online lessons will go as planned is to scout where I will be teaching ahead of time, if possible. Evaluate potential places by checking the internet speed on your phone. See if there is a quiet corner or semi-private place where you can work if you must be in a lobby or public place. Don’t assume you can plop down at a coffee shop table at the last minute, and everything will work just fine.
Next time, I’m going to share some of my craziest traveling and tutoring challenges, and how I solved them. Because, no matter how prepared you try to be, sometimes things happen! Stay tuned! You won't want to miss it!
Yours in reaching & teaching,
Janet
Being able to travel and still tutor is the ultimate benefit of working online. But, it's not always as easy to do both as it seems. Here are a few scenarios with some tips and things to watch out for.
It’s summer and for many online tutors, vacation or travel time is on the horizon. One of the advantages of tutoring online is that you can tutor from anywhere you can access the internet. With so much of the world seemingly connected, that seems simple enough to do. However, it isn’t always as easy as you might think. Here are some scenarios you might run into while you’re away from home…
1. Staying with family or friends. This is the most reliable option, if your host has a good home internet connection. Usually, private homes have reliable access and a quiet place where you can work. If you know you need to be online, ask your host ahead of time how strong their connection is, and if they know the download and upload speed. If they don’t know it and they’re willing to check, have them go to www.speedtest.net from their home computer and see what speeds it registers.
2. Hotel Internet connections. Most complimentary Internet connections in hotels are adequate, but make sure you check the connection speed from your hotel room ahead of your tutoring time. Sessions usually work with speeds of 10-15 megabytes download and 5-6 megabytes upload. This is not ideal, but you can usually manage. Tip: You may experience lagging during online sessions. If so, try teaching onscreen without your video, to free up limited resources.
Another tip: If the connection in your room is weak, see if the hotel has a business center or lobby with a stronger connection.
In fact, no matter where you are and what your first Internet connection option is, you always need a backup plan. I’ll talk about that a little later in this post.
3. Coffee shops, fast food restaurants, libraries, or other public spots with free internet. As nice as it sounds to teach in a quaint coffee shop while sipping on your latte, public places pose a few more challenges. The internet connection can range from stellar to barely there, and you almost always have a less private place to work, with conversations and piped music in the background. Libraries often have limited hours and want patrons to be quiet. If a number of other people are online and streaming video or conferencing virtually, it can use up the available bandwidth fast and affect the quality of your session. I only use these locations when I don’t have a more private and reliable option.
What is a good backup plan and why do you need one? I have traveled enough to know that I can never absolutely count on my first plan to use the internet in a private home, hotel, or public place. My chief backup plan is to have a hotspot on my phone. Then, if another internet connection isn’t available or is weak, as long as there is good cell phone reception, my phone's hotspot usually does the job.
The other key thing I do to make sure my online lessons will go as planned is to scout where I will be teaching ahead of time, if possible. Evaluate potential places by checking the internet speed on your phone. See if there is a quiet corner or semi-private place where you can work if you must be in a lobby or public place. Don’t assume you can plop down at a coffee shop table at the last minute, and everything will work just fine.
Next time, I’m going to share some of my craziest traveling and tutoring challenges, and how I solved them. Because, no matter how prepared you try to be, sometimes things happen! Stay tuned! You won't want to miss it!
Yours in reaching & teaching,
Janet
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