Cluey Learning Review: Online Tutoring for Australian Students

My 11-year old son struggles with English. His struggles can often have an impact on his confidence. He’s very bright and amazes us with his vocabulary at times, but he still needs a lot of support when it comes to reading and writing. The hardest part is finding the time to give him the help he needs in our busy family schedule. Between work, making meals, extracurricular activities and giving the other kids some attention, there just isn’t much time left to also be a personal tutor. And let’s be honest, I don’t think I would make a good tutor! So, I was excited at the opportunity to try some English tutoring sessions for Oliver with Cluey Learning.

What is Cluey Learning?

Cluey Learning offers online tutoring to Australian students in English and Maths, Years 2 to 12 and in Chemistry for Years 9-12. You can access Cluey from anywhere with a computer and internet connection. In fact, our first session happened when we were having a mini-beach holiday. The second and third sessions happened at home and what a relief it was not having to drive kids to an extra-curricular activity.

The booking process started with a small questionnaire aiming at understanding my son’s needs. From there we received a program recommendation and were asked about our availability. We were then matched with the tutor.

How Does Online Tutoring Work?

For someone who was a student a few decades ago, when all learning happened face to face, it might be hard to imagine how an online learning environment works. Is online as effective as face to face?

If you are familiar with video conferencing and webinars, Cluey’s online portal works pretty much like those platforms. There’s no software to download, you just need a computer with internet and web browser. After you log in, via the video link they provide you with, you and your tutor have a shared ‘whiteboard’ that appears in your browser. Both are able to write, type and draw on the same documents. You can also share your camera and see each other’s faces on a small window. I couldn’t help but think about how amazing technology is. It really felt like my son and his tutor were in the same room. And bonus points for saving me the drive!

From Easily-Distracted to Engaged Learner!

But how does it actually work from a learning point of view? Will the tutor be able to develop a nice rapport with my easily distracted son? Admittedly, we were a little skeptical about whether an online tutor could be an effective teacher and help my son with his least favourite (aka most-hated) subject. To make things worse, when we first told Mr 11 that we had booked some English tutoring sessions for him, he was not very enthusiastic – to put it down politely. Reluctantly, he agreed to give it a go.

At the agreed time, we went to Cluey’s online portal and logged in to find our tutor Alison. Oliver felt very comfortable from the get-go and went on ‘chatting’ mode with his tutor. Although we did not stay next to him the whole time, we often popped in and could clearly see that our easily-distracted son was actually quite engaged.

At the end of the session, he surprised me by thanking me for it! He also added ‘it was a lot of fun’. Through the online portal, Alison also provided her feedback and some information about the content of the session. I could clearly see that the session was well structured and in line with both his needs and his interests.

After the successful first session, my son was looking forward to his second and third sessions. In both sessions, Alison used extracts from the ‘Arabian Nights’ to introduce certain concepts. Oliver was very interested in the story and, according to him, ‘had fun learning’. He also added ‘it was challenging but fun’. He also benefited from a few strategies his tutor recommended in order to improve his reading.

Our Verdict on Cluey Learning for Online Tutoring

Here’s our thought on Cluey Learning, after 3 trials session in English at a grade 5 level:

Pricing: It depends on the student’s needs and the program designed for them, but, approximately, it varies from $45 to $80. You can ‘pay as you go’ or buy a ‘package’. There is also flexibility in terms of reducing or increasing the frequency of sessions.

Convenience: Being able to do the session online and avoiding driving to and from made life easier for us as parents. Cluey’s portal is very accessible and user-friendly.

Quality: All tutors are trained and highly skilled. They all follow the national curriculum. My son’s sessions were very organised and well structured. We didn’t get to interact with all tutors, but my son’s tutor was excellent and kept him interested in learning – which is no easy task with his least favourite subject.

We couldn’t be happier with Oliver’s tutoring experience with Cluey. It was fun, engaging and gave him some much-needed confidence in his own abilities. It was also easy to fit into our busy schedule – no transporting or arranging for tutors to come to us. If you’re looking for English, Maths or Year 11/12 Chemistry help for your kids, we highly recommend you check them out!

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