IGCSE is an international curriculum for 14 to 16 year old school students. IGCSE certification is globally recognized. It is based on international education levels that incorporate changing needs of learners and are regularly updated by subject experts. Schools can build upon a core curriculum to complement their learner’s requirements and introduce cross-curricular perspectives. IGCSE is compatible with other curricula and is internationally adaptable to different needs and cultures.
A learner centric and enquiry–based approach forms the base of IGCSE learning. The curriculum is designed with a focus on developing creative thinking and problem solving skills in students. This prepares students for higher education with a strong academic foundation where students are encouraged to enquire, learn and apply knowledge for further understanding.
Schools can offer a combination of subjects where each subject is certificated separately. IGCSE courses aim to develop learner knowledge, understanding and skills in:
Academic online tutoring like traditional tutoring provides academic support to students outside their regular school hours. Tutoring is important as every student has her/his own learning needs. At school, it may always be possible for those needs to be addressed effectively. Paying one on one attention to each student is not always possible in a school classroom environment. The main difference between traditional and online academic tutoring lies in the fact that the latter is provided in a virtual environment. There are many advantages of online academic tutoring, more so now when the education system has aggressively gone digital and most of the education to students is provided online.
The biggest advantage of online academic tutoring is the flexibility that it brings with it. Unlike traditional tutoring where there is a fixed window for both the tutor and student, online tutoring offers greater flexibility with scheduling for sessions. As it is virtual, another advantage is that no one needs to invest time in travelling or leaving home.
With online tutoring comes better accountability for all the parties involved. With virtual classes, parents can see the progress made by their child/children and hence be more involved, compared to the traditional tutoring method. It also gives a better opportunity for tutors to be more involved with each student’s progress as detailed dashboards are made available through interactive platforms that help them regularly keep a track of student’s performance and progress.
After-school academic tutoring with qualified educators helps students build the right study habits. These study habits further help students at school to better their own performance. Working with a tutor one-on-one helps students not just with their subject related problem areas but also supports them with improving and enhancing their performance with assignments, projects and exams too. IGCSE curriculum is designed to challenge students to think independently. Apart from academics experienced tutors also focus on teaching students how to construct an argument and evaluate evidence. This approach is vital for IGCSE students, once learned it enables them to tap and reach their highest potential.
With academic tutoring students not only learn how to solve their educational needs but also understand their strengths and weaknesses in terms of their learning abilities and subject knowledge. One-on-one interaction with a qualified educator gives the students an opportunity to receive direct and detailed feedback on what is working for them in their learning journey and how they can improve on areas where they need support. This helps build the right building blocks for students as they learn self-management skills to address their future learning needs.
After-class academic tutoring helps not only with subject related learning needs of students but also helps them improve their social skills. Students get to interact with other students after school for academic purposes which helps them improve their communication skills. Interacting with their tutors regularly also helps students become more confident in their interaction with seniors. This helps in the overall personality development of students which otherwise becomes a challenge owing to lack of any social interaction beyond the classroom at a school. Along with communication skills, problem solving and critical thinking skills to see an improvement in students who opt for academic tutoring. As tutors and students collaborate and reflect during the learning process, students are encouraged to question, share and express their ideas and thoughts more freely. With regular interaction, these skills are internalised by students which in turn help them perform better at school.
With these benefits, need to advance and support your child’s academic requirements it is important to choose the right academic tutoring provider. There are plenty of options available online. With the education sector picking up due to mandatory digitization of the education system, today there are a lot of online academic tutors available online who may not necessarily possess the experience needed to impart quality education online to school children. Here we list the top important aspects to bear in mind before choosing an academic tutoring provider for your child/children:
Company legacy or history is an important factor to consider before deciding on academic tutoring for your child. Upon searching online, you may be bombarded with plenty of options, however, a vital factor that counts with school education or tutoring is the quality of it. Currently, the education industry is growing at an unprecedented rate. Overnight we see education companies being floated to enter the space as a money-making endeavour. Such companies due to lack of experience generally lack a long-term vision. Their learning happens on the job, which can be a risky proposition for their customers.
On the other hand, companies that offer academic tutoring online with years of expertise in education will provide quality services to their customers. Their understanding of student’s learning needs, style, learner types, trainer–student interaction, flexibility, customization capabilities will be higher and suited to the needs of the students. You may want to do thorough research of the company history – look for their website, know more about the founder/s, look for the values on which the company has been founded, their vision for the future, what and how much experience do they have in education, their understanding and experience in dealing with students.
Your child is going to interact the most with her/his tutor/s, so it is extremely important to know who the educators are? Qualified and experienced tutors make all difference. You should put in some time to know more about the tutors-their qualifications and relevant work experience. Sharing subject knowledge is one thing, but living the learning journey with the student requires more than academic knowledge in an educator. Interpersonal skills, empathy, patience, warmth all play a vital role in how a tutor interacts with her/his students to help them solve a problem. A tutor should not just focus on knowledge sharing or getting activities done but should help a student understand concepts for them to become independent thinkers. As the IGCSE curriculum is designed to encourage creative thinking in students the tutors too should work on the same lines for students. As a parent interacting with the tutors or even the admission counselors to gauge them on these points becomes necessary to help you decide whether the company in consideration has the right kind of educators on board or not.
It may be tempting to start with academic tutoring for your child as soon as possible, however knowing more about the educators will give you and your child a good ROI. Apart from qualification and work experience, while interacting with the admission counselors it will be beneficial for you to understand what selection processes are in place for hiring tutors in the company? What are the criteria? What skills are they assessed on? Are there any trainings or resources provided to the educators to support them with their requirements?
Answers to these questions will let you know the approach a company follows while recruiting educators and their focus on providing quality education. For instance- hiring a fresh college graduate with some experience Vs a Ph.D. or an Ex-professor can make all the difference. Hence it is important to know the selection process a company has in place for the recruitment of its subject matter experts.
An educator’s approach is as important as the learner’s need for learning. Tutoring a student with the objective of completing the syllabus alone is not enough. It is important for both the tutor and the student to share common goals, which makes it easier for the student to be on track with the desired outcome. Before starting a program, the tutor and the student should discuss the learner’s needs and requirements in detail, the tutor should assess the learner’s current level of understanding of the subject/s, her/his learning style to customise classes to the need of the learner. A clear roadmap should be in place with clear goals mentioned as milestones to achieve together. Setting goals makes it easier for students, tutors and parents to keep a track of the progress made during the course of study.
No one size fits all. Large class sizes leave little scope for one–on–one interaction between the students and teachers, which can leave students struggling with subject knowledge. Personalized learning needs vary from student to student. Some may require an understanding of concepts while others may require a little extra push to perform better than their current levels. An experienced tutor will always be able to understand this difference and build a plan suited to individual needs. The approach a tutor takes, subject-wise techniques followed and taught to students will largely depend on this customized plan. This approach leads to a better outcome and it also creates a passion for learning and growth in the student which lays the foundation for success in them.
The essence of one-on-one tutoring is in the customization of the education plan. With an in-depth understanding of a learner’s needs through consultation, the tutors should be able to come up with a plan that is optimized to the learner’s specific tutoring needs. For example -the tutor should be able to understand where the student needs more attention, how to supplement the gap, what additional resources can be provided, and how much self-learning can be made part of the plan.
Children today are surrounded by technology from laptops to mobiles they are constantly exposed to the digital world. The virtual world is not just high in creativity but is highly engaging too. Online social interactions are a way of life for the younger generation. Owing to the shift in technology students today expect education also to be engaging, innovative, and creative. Lacking these aspects, the risk of losing learner attention is always high. Disengagement with the learning medium and subject would only lead to wasted time and effort.
Understanding this need a user-friendly interactive platform acts as a must for a quality academic online tutoring program. The platform should be innovative enough to be able to hold a student’s attention through the learning process and should provide an enriching environment for the development of their cognitive abilities. A powerful learning platform will have an equal focus on visual and audio learning features for its users and will allow tutors to provide interactive assistance to students round the clock. Guided classes based on interactive videos and animations along with iteration of concepts are vital in any student-centric learning experience.
Alongside scheduled sessions, students should have varied learning resources made available to them through the platform. It is important for students to get a fair idea of what the platform looks like and how user-friendly it is. Learning resources like worksheets, recorded sessions, detailed portals, external links all count towards providing extra learning support to students beyond their scheduled sessions.
With rising competition and changing landscape of the education system at schools, academic tutoring today has come to play a vital role in fulfilling a child’s overall learning needs. To teach your child real-world skills early on you already decided to enrol them in an IGCSE curriculum-based school. Now to ensure their well-rounded development it is important for you to carefully choose an experienced company that can provide qualified tutors to address your child’s specific learning needs.
Manya’s 1:1 Live Online IGCSE Tutoring offers IGCSE students, great opportunities and greater flexibility for personalized learning than traditional classroom sessions. Our 1:1 Live Online IGCSE Tutoring is available 24×7 to help you crack the IGCSE exam with the use of state-of-the-art virtual study rooms. Manya’s IGCSE tutors are forever ready to assist students and boost their confidence by honing their skills and improving their grades. To get the best coaching for IGCSE, call us today. Our Academic Team would be happy to assist you, with all your IGCSE preparation and requirements. You can also join our free trial classes from the comfort of your home. So, what are you waiting for? Join today!
For more information, call us at 1800 102 4646 or write to us at info@manyagroup.com.
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