Remote learning is a new challenge for many students who were previously used to roughly eight hours of face-to-face learning in a classroom each day.
Some students are struggling to learn in this new environment, and while some parents can afford a tutor to bridge any learning gap, most families simply cannot. However, there are some new affordable and even free live tutoring options for those families.
“We developed out two new products to aid our customers,” said Steven Cox, the CEO and Founder of TakeLessons.com.
Take Lessons originally offered 1-on-1 tutoring online, but since the pandemic started it has launched two more affordable, live group tutoring programs. The first option is $20 a month and offers unlimited live-tutoring sessions. The only catch is instead of the lessons being 1-on-1, each lesson is with a group of five to 20 students at a time.
“It’s really a tremendous benefit for people who still need to get great education with quality teachers but simply it is out of their range to do private lessons,” said Cox.
For some families, though, even $20 a month is more than they can afford, so Take Lessons now has a free option. This option allows students to watch a live lesson, but instead of video chatting with a tutor, they have to message them. The groups of students in these live sessions are also much larger.
“It is our way of giving back that I believe right now and where we are as a country is needed more than anything else,” added Cox.
Take Lessons is not the only organization offering affordable and free help.
“There are a lot of free resources that are available,” said Francesco Lecciso, co-founder of Brainfuse.
Brainfuse has partnered with hundreds of public libraries around the country to provide free online live tutoring. Brainfuse provides the platform and the libraries provide the free, live tutors available to students in almost every state.
To access the free resource, Brainfuse recommends contacting your local library. It has the portal system and user information to gain free access.
Between Brainfuse, Take Lesson, and other services out there, online learning can be a more equitable experience and one that helps all students thrive.
“One of the advantages is there are so many options, so you can observe your child and see what works best,” said Lecciso. "Some kids work best just going through self-paced lessons and other kids need human mediation, so seek that out through free resources.”
