Looking after 40 students at one time is a big ask for any teacher, but tutor Kerran Bartley could happily take on more.
Ms Bartley is a tutor on the teacher aide programme delivered entirely online by Whanganui tertiary training provider Training For You.
As an online tutor her "classroom" capacity is virtual. And though she caters for big numbers, Ms Bartley aims for a personable style to help every student feel connected and assured support is close at hand.
Based in Wellington, Kerran is a fully qualified primary school teacher and has four adult children. She spent four years in Whanganui with Training For You as an on-campus tutor, leading the one-year full-time teacher aide programme.
She then became one of the first tutors of the newly created Working With Children programme. A year later, a shift to the capital was prompted by her husband's work commitments, but the timing was perfect; not wanting to lose her, the organisation's managing director at the time encouraged her to apply for the newly available online role.
"I wasn't sure about it at first - the idea of being in front of a computer for much of the day - but I had home-schooled my own children up until intermediate age, so I was comfortable with the concept of working from home. I enjoy the flexibility that contract work offers," Ms Bartley said.
From time to time she misses the camaraderie of colleagues but the freedom of designing her own day always wins out.
Flexibility is the key advantage of online learning, for the tutor and student alike.
"Online learning is great because students don't have to shuffle their whole life around a specific class time.
"My students are often very busy people already before they take on the programme - but they can just add in the online learning as another aspect of their life. They can do it on their terms, in their time, in the place that they want to be."
The teacher aide level 4 qualification is made up of three certificates - guiding children's behaviour, supporting literacy and numeracy, and assisting children with special needs. Each certificate is a 40-credit programme comprising five modules of learning.
The online study provides a framework for continued learning. Key readings are made available onsite, but students have the choice of seeking further information by using extra links to go deeper or do their own research.