How do you choose an online academy? It's a tough question
When you look into online academies for your child, the descriptions often sound alike, and it's hard to know what to base your choice on. Since the remote academy format itself is unfamiliar, worries come first: "Will the classes really work?" and "Will my child be able to focus?"
This article lays out 10 checklist items that parents can review on their own before consulting with or enrolling in an online academy. Academy directors and teachers can also use these criteria to decide what to explain first during a consultation.
10 things to check before a consultation
The items below are based on questions parents can actually ask during an online academy consultation.
Live classes or recorded lectures — Some remote academies offer only recorded lectures, while others run real-time interactive classes. The right choice can depend on your child's learning style.
Whether the teacher sees each student's problem-solving directly — Check whether it is just screen sharing, or whether the teacher watches each student's work in real time and gives feedback.
How assignment feedback works — Ask whether assignments are simply collected or receive individual feedback, and how that feedback is delivered afterward.
Whether there is an attendance management system — Because students don't come to a physical location, attendance can easily become loose. Check that a proper learning management system records attendance and sends notifications.
Whether grade and learning progress notifications are provided — a key point is whether parents can receive regular reports on how their child is progressing in their studies.
Make-up policy for absences — It helps to confirm in advance whether an absent student gets a recording or can join a separate make-up class.
Tuition criteria and refund policy — Tuition is set differently from one online academy to another, so make sure the refund policy is explained clearly too.
Availability of a trial class — Be sure to check whether you can try one or two trial classes before enrolling.
Class environment and the programs used — The screen sharing method and the board they use are directly tied to class quality.
The academy's establishment and registration status — Checking that the remote academy is properly registered and officially operated is another important criterion.
Sample questions you can ask during a consultation
Rather than memorizing the checklist, it helps more to turn it into questions you can use right away in a consultation.
"Are classes held live, or do students watch recordings?"
"When my child solves a problem, does the teacher watch and explain right away?"
"How is homework given feedback, and when can we see the results?"
"How are make-up classes handled if my child is absent?"
"Could we try a trial class first?"
An academy that answers questions like these clearly can be considered to have a reasonably well-established operating system.
Online academy credibility from the operator's point of view
This checklist is also worth a look if you run an academy or are preparing to start an academy or an online business. If you can address what parents are curious about first, your consultation conversion rate naturally goes up.
The ClassCanvas live class program is designed with one board per student, so the teacher can directly check each student's problem-solving process. Using screen share together with individual feedback lets you naturally show your answers to checklist items 2 and 3.
Managing attendance, assignments, and test results in one place with the ClassCanvas learning management system also helps you build the transparent notification system that checklist items 4 and 5 call for. Because video lectures, assignment submissions, and test results are all connected, it is also easy to share regular learning reports with parents.
As subjects and target groups diversify, with remote academies for adults and live video English or math tutoring, having a system parents can trust ultimately becomes a competitive advantage for online academy operators.
What else to prepare when starting an academy or an online business
If you are opening a new online academy or adding remote classes to an existing offline academy, we recommend checking the following as well.
Whether you have prepared the remote academy establishment procedure and related documents (domain registration certificate, remote academy server rental contract, etc.)
The stability of the online lecture platform or live video class program you will use
A learning management system that can handle growth in student numbers without strain
If these points are sorted out in advance, you can answer parents' questions with much more confidence during consultations.
Wrapping up
The criteria for choosing an online academy come down to two things: whether classes are truly tailored to your child, and whether parents can transparently see their child's learning progress. If you use the 10-point checklist above in your consultations, you should be able to ease some of the worry that comes with choosing.
If you run an academy, it is also a good idea to use this checklist in reverse and prepare trustworthy answers for parents ahead of time. We hope the ClassCanvas live class program and learning management system can be a useful reference in that preparation.
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