Taking everything online
There was a time when “going online” meant you’d sent a slightly blurry email attachment and then made a cup of tea while the dial-up screamed in the background like a distressed seagull.
Now it means… everything. Lessons. Meetings. Booking systems. Homework. Payments. Resources. Marketing. Support. Video. Short-form. Long-form. Live. Recorded. Captioned. Clipped. Repurposed. Uploaded. Downloaded. Backed up. Backed up again (because you definitely backed it up the first time… didn’t you?).
And here’s the thing: taking everything online isn’t just “moving what you already do onto a screen”. Done properly, it’s more like building a second version of your business — one that works when it’s raining, when the student is home with a cold, when the roads are gridlocked, or when someone lives 200 miles away and still wants proper tuition.
The good news: online can be brilliant
When you’re teaching online with the right kit (and not balancing a laptop on a cereal box) you can get close to the best parts of being in the room together. Multiple cameras. Visualisers. Clear audio. Live annotation. Screen shares that don’t look like a CCTV feed from 1997. You can switch between a whiteboard, a close-up practical, and worked exam questions faster than a student can say, “Sir, my Wi-Fi’s doing a thing.”
For science and maths, it’s even better when you can show it. Practical demonstrations, live problem-solving, model answers, and that crucial moment where you stop the student from confidently adding the denominators “because it feels right”.
The less good news: online exposes the cracks
Going online is a spotlight. If your booking is messy, it becomes very messy. If your resources live in twelve folders called “NEW NEW FINAL v7”, online will find them… and laugh. If your communication relies on “I’ll text you later”, you’ll lose track the moment three parents message at once.
Online demands systems:
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A simple booking process
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One “source of truth” for resources
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A way to follow up without living inside your inbox
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A plan for what happens when tech fails (because it will, usually five minutes before a lesson)
The secret weapon: online scales the bits that matter
The best part is that online lets you reuse your best teaching. Explanations become videos. Worked examples become downloadable packs. Common mistakes become mini-clips. Revision plans become templates. Parents get clarity. Students get structure. And you stop repeating the same intro speech so often you start doing it in your sleep.
It also changes how people find you. Because once you’ve got your lessons, your resources, and your proof (videos, posts, results, testimonials) online… you’re not limited to whoever happens to live nearby and has heard about you at the school gate.
The goal isn’t “online”. It’s “better”
Taking everything online isn’t about chasing tech for the sake of it. It’s about making learning easier to access, easier to revisit, and harder to derail.
Online should mean:
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Less friction (students can turn up from anywhere)
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More clarity (resources in one place, not lost in a bag)
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More impact (better explanations, more practice, faster feedback)
And yes… it should also mean fewer moments where you hear:
“Can you see my screen?”
“No.”
“How about now?”
“Still no.”
“Oh. Right. I’m sharing the wrong thing.”
If you’re a teacher, tutor, creator, club organiser, or small business owner trying to “take it all online”, you don’t need to do everything at once. But you do need to do it on purpose: systems first, then shiny extras.
Because the internet is a wonderful place to teach — as long as it doesn’t become the place where your organisation goes to die.
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