Tutoring with an iPad and an Apple Pencil

Handwriting is most of a maths lesson, and the difference between a good setup and a bad one is felt in every letter.

The pen

An Apple Pencil is the standard. Pressure is read from the pen itself, so thin and thick lines come out as you expect. A Wacom tablet on a Mac works the same way.

Resting your hand

A hand on the glass arrives as its own touch contact, and a whiteboard that counts it as a finger will mistake it for a pinch and throw away the stroke you were in the middle of. Tutorboard treats a contact while the pencil is down as a palm and ignores it, so you can write the way you actually write. If a board ever seems to need a second attempt at every letter, that is the bug you are hitting, whatever tool you are using.

Where the call runs

You can run everything on the iPad, but two devices is better if you have them: the board on the iPad where your hand is, and the call on a laptop at eye level. Sign in on both; it is the same lesson.

The stand

Flat on the desk for writing, not propped up. A pencil at a vertical angle is uncomfortable within ten minutes and it shows in the handwriting.

This is the setup most maths tutors and physics tutors end up with. If your student is writing from school rather than home, read why the board freezes on school wifi as well.

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