Tutoring is a billion dollar industry that is rapidly changing each day (scroll to the bottom to see infographic). Online tutoring is becoming an ever popular choice with parents and students. Wall Street Journal recently wrote about The Invasion of the Online Tutors. They cited all the good reasons why parents and students are selecting the online route. I know quite a few online tutors as well who have thrived in their business and have found it to be a great blessing to their students. Joann of Become an Online Tutor has found a way to tutor struggling readers. Angela Culley of Math Ninja found success in tutoring math. I think these women are wonderful tutors and I am excited they have found something that works for both them and their client. As for me, I am torn about online tutoring. There are just so many things I wouldn't be able to pick up on if I was in front of a computer versus sitting next to the child. Every single one of my students has had various issues. Just recently, a new student came to me for geometry. The entire time he was with me, his legs were shaking underneath the table. Before he tackled any problem, he would lean back and take deep breaths (I guess you could hear those in the microphone). This child was experiencing some major anxiety! I also noticed that his rhythm and timing were especially slow compared to other students. He needed help speeding up his own internal clock. All of these things were observed up close and in-person. His mother didn't tell me about any of these behaviors before tutoring and we had a great conversation about it later. So for me, I am wondering... how I am to help parents and students with some issues like sitting still and concentrating for increased periods of time or helping them work through their stress when I am sitting in front of a computer. I just can't wrap my head around it. Now don't misunderstand me, I think online tutoring is beneficial and helpful to many students out there! I can see many positives. I think online tutoring is a good fit for students that need occasional help. My students that come to my homework clinic would really thrive in an online setting. They are good independent workers and I know they would come prepared to get some help. While on the other hand, I have some students who are obsessed with the computer and get easily distracted. Tutoring a student like this online would be very challenging and progress would be slower. I am leaning towards doing a hybrid type of tutor business. I would like to offer some online tutoring for students who do not need consistent help, but keep my in-person tutoring business fully in tact for those students who need more than an online environment can offer. There are definitely positives and negatives to both types of tutoring. Check out the infographic below to compare the two. What about you? Do you have strong feelings one way or another about online and in-person tutoring? Share in the comments.