Quick Guide to Online Tutoring using Zoom

We believe in-person tutoring is best for ADHD students. However, given the coronavirus concerns, online is in many cases the only option. We recommend tutors use the Zoom platform for online tutoring. It is free for one-on-one tutoring and allows you to view your student’s screen, so that you can see their school assignments. It also has a whiteboard function.

Equipment: Please do not tutor online from your phone. We do not believe this is fair to your student or effective. You need a laptop or desktop computer, or Chromebook or a decent-sized iPad or tablet.  Ideally you need a camera either built-in to your laptop or attached to your computer, but that’s optional. You can also use your computer audio or simply call your student on your phone and communicate that way.

1. To Create a Zoom Account:
   1. From a laptop or desktop computer, go to zoom.us and sign up for a free online account. 
   2. Select “Sign up, It’s Free ” on the top right of the screen. 
   3. Enter the information and follow the prompts to set up your account. You will need a valid email. 
   4. Zoom will send you an email to verify your account. Verify your account and log in using your new username and password that you created. 
   5. During the sign up process, Zoom will give you the option in “Invite Colleagues”, you can ignore this.
   6. Begin a Zoom meeting by clicking the orange button “Start Meeting Now”.
   7. If nothing prompts in your browser, click the “download & run Zoom” link provided on the bottom of the page. 
   8. You now have a Zoom account. To access Zoom in the future, go to https://zoom.us/  and login.
      
      
2. Host a meeting with video (your face on camera) and audio. 
   1. Login into Zoom at https://zoom.us/
   2. Click “Host a Meeting” and select the option “With Video On”. The meeting will begin to load.
   3. Click “Open Zoom” button to fully launch the application.
   4. Choose your audio by clicking “Join with Computer Audio” (which will use your computer’s microphone) or you can just use your phone.
   5. Once your meeting is open, click the “Start Video” button.  You should see your face on screen.  
   6. Note:  If you have any trouble getting to this point, be sure to Download the Zoom application to your computer. 

3. Now you are ready to invite your student 

1. Send an Invite link your student’s email by clicking “Invite”.  If the parent is nearby with their phone, click the “Copy Invitation” button and paste the invitation message manually into an email or text message. They can then click the link to open the Zoom meeting. The message looks like this:

1. Once they join, have your student click the “Share Screen” button on the bottom tool bar so you can see their screen. Assuming you are going to be working with their online assignments, have them bring up the online work on their computer so you can see it. They can do the same with Mobymax, so you can follow along as they work through a lesson.
2. Go ahead and start tutoring, helping them with the assignment. At any point you can leave the student’s screen and have the student see your own. Just click “Share Screen” and Zoom will prompt you to select which screen you’d like to share. You can select any tab you’d like to share (e.g. your own worksheet or example), or you may open a whiteboard (see the next section).
3. See below for image of the Zoom Tool bar.  

4. Use of the whiteboard

1. To use the whiteboard feature, click the “Share Screen” button and Select “Whiteboard”. 
2. Click “Share” on the bottom right of the screen. 
3. Use the tool bars on the top to draw, type and more.
   
   Practice with the whiteboard before you have a lesson.  Click on text and you can type in words or math problems. You can use Draw to circle sections.
   Hint: if the whiteboard is too clumsy for you, one of our tutors recommends you buy a small dry-erase whiteboard and focus your camera on it so the student can see what you are doing. You may find it easier to handwrite math problems etc., without having to type them.

Zoom has video tutorials that you may also find useful. You can find them here: https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/206618765-Zoom-Video-Tutorials

5.  Accounting for time and reporting hours

1. Tutoring sessions begin once the student is logged in and you start actual tutoring. All the set-up time is NOT billable, so you need to get efficient at this so you do not waste your time. 
2. If you get in a routine of an online tutoring session at, say 3pm on Wednesday, it’s reasonable to email the parent the invitation ahead of time and expect her to have the child ready to go and online at 3pm rather than keep you waiting. Let us know if this is a problem
3. You cannot get a timesheet signed for online tutoring. But if you report your hours promptly, our new Admin system kicks out an email to the parent showing your reported time, so that would allow them to confirm or dispute the details.

Look out for a separate document we are preparing, showing best practices for tutoring online.