Hardware & Software Tools I’d Recommend for Online Programming Tutors

I’ve been tutoring Python (and some web dev) for around 9 months now, and have tried and tested a bunch of tools (both hardware & software). Here are some recommendations to those of you who are considering starting out as an online programming tutor.

Recommended Hardware

External Monitors

A random external monitor image found on the internet — not my personal setup

This is probably one of the best $200 SGD that I have ever invested for productivity’s sake. I bought a 27-inch external monitor some time last year, and using my Macbook has never been the same again:

• Less switching around windows
• Less squinting at small texts
• Ability to see more stuff at once

I cannot imagine tutoring online without an external monitor now. I usually have multiple documents and applications open at the same time during my tutoring sessions — and would probably get pretty annoyed at having to switch constantly between them! The best part is that this isn’t expensive — you can probably cover its cost after teaching around 2 tutoring sessions or such.