I received a phone call at the beginning of this week from an A-level student whom I already know, saying that the university he wants to go to is specifying as a condition of acceptance that he has Grade 5 theory, and could I help him. He will need to sit the exam in June. As he's doing A-level music and plays a few instruments I thought there wouldn't be too much of a problem.

I gave him a past Grade 5 paper to work to see whether there were any areas where he might need a bit of help.

I'm going to do this partly by distance learning with just a couple of sessions where I will see him. He worked the paper I gave him, scanned it and sent it to me by email. I marked it and would have scanned the marked paper and my comments and emailed it back, except that I had arranged to see him for an initial face to face session.

What I want to know is: has anyone taught theory this way before (email/ Skype/ webcam) and if so how did you work it and how did you charge for it? I'm going to charge my normal teaching rate each time I see him for a face to face session, but what about charging for the distance part of it - marking papers/exercises/printer ink etc. Hope someone can help.

Incidentally, I have no problem entering him for the June exam - on that first paper I sent him he got 89% - and I'm a hard marker.

Thanks

jm-hamilton,

I've used diistance learning for teaching theory in the past, and as long as the student is motivated and fully understands their responsibilities as well as yours, it can work very successfully.

As for charging for marking, postal / printing costs etc, I simply kept a record of how many hours I spent on admin tasks, and billed accordingly each month. I did not add extra costs for printer ink, etc.

Denmark

P.S. Well done for finding a student who can get 89% on a past paper before you even start, too....

denmark

It doesn't sound as though he will need too much help, and I think theory lends itself to distance learning very well. I would bill for the time that you spend, based on your usual teaching rate.

I agree - that sounds quite fair. Unless you feel you are depleting your printer ink. If your teaching rate does not normally include a notional amount for printer use, you could I guess charge a new printer cartridge, or a proportion of one, if you feel it warrants it. I wouldn't bother for a couple of papers, but if it's one a week or more until this term's exam it might be a consideration.

Sounds like a good result can be expected, anyway!

Thanks for this - yes, I'll keep a record of how long I spend on it and charge appropriately.

It occurred to me too that theory does lend itself to being taught at a distance - especially if it can be managed with using Skype/video conferencing, and that you could get through the material more quickly. In conventional lessons I spend some of the time marking what they've done from the previous week, then some time going over any errors to make sure they now understand what they're doing, then giving them some new stuff, which I won't get to mark til the following week. Even if all they do is to email me the work I gave them so I could mark it before I see them, this would free up more time in the lesson.

I shall be getting him the 2008 papers, and told him I'd like him to work through all of them, and as he completes one to scan and send it to me. With a starting point of 89%, maybe we could manage 100% - who knows?

I taught one of my existing saxophone students theory by post. We didn't have enough time to go through everything in the lesson. I had suggested that she bring the work book in and I mark it at home, and the parents suggested paying me for my marking time. It worked really well and like you say theory does lend itself to distance learning. When you teach them face to face, they can say, "but you know I really meant...", but they can't say that to the examiner. In the exam they can only use pencil and paper, so learning in this way works really well.

Following the success of this I have advertised for other distance learning students, but haven't had much response. It probably works better with students you already know and for some students it may not work at all. Having the time at home to mark in peace and quiet made a real difference, because I could analyse the mistakes more carefully and come up with extra excercises to help ensure that the student really understood everything. I'm also pleased to say the student worked really hard and got 95% at Grade 2.

Hello,I dunno what to say about charging the fees..But among the ways to teach theory is to teach by steps.
I think it'll help a lot.So they can use those steps to become a checklist.maybe you can type it in a word document and send it via e-mail?and a web-call would help as it's like talking face to face.But of course,I'm still new.I'm learning from you guys.

I taught a complete stranger in another country up to G2 Composition soley by email a few years ago. I didn't charge as it was a learning exercise for me. There was a lot of confusion. It takes patience on both sides.

Glad to hear some people have done it, and I'd certainly be quite keen to try another pupil. I already have some "how to do it" sheets that I could expand and use, and some reference and revision cards I use at the moment which would be easy to send by email.

Does anyone know if there are any copyright issues with the following:-
pupil has past papers and after completing one scans and sends it to me. Similarly if pupil has workbook, works through some exercises then scans the relevant bit and sends it via email. I see no problem with this as the pupil has actually bought the book, the only difference being that instead of bringing it to me and doing it face-to-face the work is being sent electronically and marked at a distance. However, a copy is being made and I wonder if this makes a difference in terms of copyright. Anyone?

I'd have thought that perfectly in order.

Thanks both