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What does an online tutor do?

Updated January 8, 2025
5 min read

An online tutor is responsible for teaching students on their academic needs through virtual learning processes. Online tutors assist the students' learning progress through visual communication, sending them online resources, and utilizing educational materials such as boards, documents, and visual presentations depending on the course content. They also identify the students' strengths and weaknesses and strategize or adjust learning techniques to address those difficulties. An online tutor should have excellent technology and communication skills, especially to resolving system issues that may delay learning deliveries.

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Online tutor responsibilities

Here are examples of responsibilities from real online tutor resumes:

  • Used different tools to achieve student success such as the whiteboard, websites, and role playing.
  • Identify necessary technical corrections in areas such as grammar, sentence structure, and accurate word usage.
  • Tutor students in the subject areas of economics and business management.
  • Tutor for high school/college level calculus, economics, statistics, computer science
  • Provide ESL tutoring with structure lesson plans base on individual client needs and goals.
  • Research interesting topics for daily lessons then use Microsoft PowerPoint to create lesson for the virtual class
  • Provide resources and examples to help guide students through their work in various fields of study.
  • Work with students struggling in English, teaching basic grammatical skills base on the APA format.
  • Create meaningful and substantial feedback to student concerns (structure, organization, grammar, etc . )
  • Engage in tutoring sessions for college-level writing courses, high school English classes, and ESL students.
  • Plan and conduct conversational English lessons to Japanese adults via Skype, while maintaining a comfortable and welcoming environment.
  • Provide one-to-one sessions of communicative language to students.
  • Facilitate independent study learning format supporting student success for marketing and strategy courses.
  • Guide students with mathematical concepts including trigonometry, unit conversions, and their applications to geology / geography.
  • Develop short, personalize math lesson plans that include internet applets and other interactive materials for many unique students.

Online tutor skills and personality traits

We calculated that 89% of Online Tutors are proficient in Math, GRE, and Grammar.

We break down the percentage of Online Tutors that have these skills listed on their resume here:

  • Math, 89%

    Developed short, personalized math lesson plans that included internet applets and other interactive materials for many unique students.

  • GRE, 4%

    Prepared and presented 3-hour SAT & GRE lectures for 10-20 students.

  • Grammar, 2%

    Create meaningful and substantial feedback to student concerns (structure, organization, grammar, etc.)

  • K-12, 1%

    Tutor K-12 students online in subjects ranging from basic arithmetic to some calculus

  • Language Arts, 1%

    Demonstrated enthusiasm for tutoring students with English/Language Arts/Literature subject areas and inspire enthusiasm in the students.

  • ESL, 1%

    Engaged in tutoring sessions for college-level writing courses, high school English classes, and ESL students.

Common skills that an online tutor uses to do their job include "math," "gre," and "grammar." You can find details on the most important online tutor responsibilities below.

All online tutor skills

The three companies that hire the most online tutors are:

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Compare different online tutors

Online tutor vs. Teacher associate

A teacher associate is responsible for assisting the teacher in classroom operations and providing teaching support for the students. Teacher associates develop learning materials according to the instructions of the headteachers, helping them to track students' progress and observing class behaviors. They also take class responsibility if the teacher is away, ensuring to keep activity records and attendance for reference. A teacher associate must have excellent communication and organizational skills, especially in handling students' difficulties and working with the teacher to develop techniques to address those challenges.

If we compare the average online tutor annual salary with that of a teacher associate, we find that teacher associates typically earn a $3,121 higher salary than online tutors make annually.While the two careers have a salary gap, they share some of the same responsibilities. Employees in both online tutor and teacher associate positions are skilled in math, language arts, and social studies.

While similarities exist, there are also some differences between online tutors and teacher associate. For instance, online tutor responsibilities require skills such as "gre," "grammar," "k-12," and "esl." Whereas a teacher associate is skilled in "child care," "classroom management," "cpr," and "child development." This is part of what separates the two careers.

Teacher associates earn the highest salaries when working in the health care industry, with an average yearly salary of $32,745. On the other hand, online tutors are paid more in the technology industry with an average salary of $33,837.The education levels that teacher associates earn slightly differ from online tutors. In particular, teacher associates are 13.6% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree than an online tutor. Additionally, they're 3.3% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

Online tutor vs. Teacher assistant

Teacher assistants are responsible for aiding teachers in their needs inside the classroom. They help teachers prepare for lessons in class, set up equipment, distribute educational materials to students, and monitor the progress of the students. Teacher assistants also help in managing the children in the classroom, as well as providing the necessary assistance a child may need. This may include helping with the lessons by going table to table, assisting in writing exercises, and tutoring kids one-to-one. Teacher assistants are required to have patience, flexibility, and classroom management skills.

A career as a teacher assistant brings a lower average salary when compared to the average annual salary of an online tutor. In fact, teacher assistants salary is $3,783 lower than the salary of online tutors per year.

While some skills are similar in these professions, other skills aren't so similar. For example, resumes show us that online tutor responsibilities requires skills like "math," "gre," "grammar," and "k-12." But a teacher assistant might use other skills in their typical duties, such as, "cpr," "child care," "mathematics," and "art projects."

Teacher assistants may earn a lower salary than online tutors, but teacher assistants earn the most pay in the finance industry with an average salary of $32,871. On the other hand, online tutors receive higher pay in the technology industry, where they earn an average salary of $33,837.teacher assistants earn lower levels of education than online tutors in general. They're 16.4% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 3.3% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

Online tutor vs. Teacher-in-training

A teacher-in-training is a teaching professional who offers technical teaching assistance to teachers in developing effective behavior management and instructional strategies to support student learning. The teacher must collaborate with principals while employing diverse techniques to increase the effectiveness of student learning. By observing classes and then giving feedback to teachers about their teaching style, classroom management, and techniques are some of the responsibilities of a teacher-in-training. The teacher must also develop a wide array of curriculum materials and lesson plans for classroom instruction.

On average, teachers-in training earn higher salaries than online tutors, with a $6,328 difference per year.online tutors and teachers-in training both have job responsibilities that require similar skill sets. These similarities include skills such as "k-12," "language arts," and "esl," but they differ when it comes to other required skills.

There are many key differences between these two careers, including some of the skills required to perform responsibilities within each role. For example, an online tutor is likely to be skilled in "math," "gre," "grammar," and "english language," while a typical teacher-in-training is skilled in "classroom management," "staff development," "student achievement," and "student engagement."

Teachers-in training earn the best pay in the education industry, where they command an average salary of $39,697. Online tutors earn the highest pay from the technology industry, with an average salary of $33,837.When it comes to education, teachers-in training tend to earn similar degree levels compared to online tutors. In fact, they're 1.2% more likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 1.1% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.

Online tutor vs. Teacher

Being a teacher is one of the most passionate professions, among others. Teachers educate, motivate, and guide every generation of learners to prepare them for the real world. Every teacher is unique and has their own teaching styles and methods depending on the subject they teach and the age of their students. Oftentimes they also function as a parent, counselor, coach, friend, and even a lawmaker. There is essentially no limit to the roles a teacher portrays.

Teachers average a higher salary than the annual salary of online tutors. The difference is about $17,103 per year.According to resumes from online tutors and teachers, some of the skills necessary to complete the responsibilities of each role are similar. These skills include "math," "k-12," and "language arts. "While some skills are required in each professionacirc;euro;trade;s responsibilities, there are some differences to note. "gre," "grammar," "english language," and "basic mathematics" are skills that commonly show up on online tutor resumes. On the other hand, teachers use skills like handle scheduling, kids, classroom management, and cpr on their resumes.In general, teachers earn the most working in the education industry, with an average salary of $49,700. The highest-paying industry for an online tutor is the technology industry.teachers reach lower levels of education compared to online tutors, in general. The difference is that they're 7.5% more likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 2.7% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.

Types of online tutor

Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Research Team
Zippia Team

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.

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