AI Practice for Private Tutors, Without Replacing the Session

Many private tutors are being asked the same question by the families they work with: should my child be using AI to study? Some tutors worry that an AI tool will compete with them. Others worry about what it does with a learner's information.

Both worries are reasonable. This post is about how a tutor can use AI practice for the time between sessions while keeping two things fixed: the tutor is still the teacher, and decisions about a child's AI use stay with the child's parent.

The tutor stays the teacher

An AI practice tool is good at some things: producing another question on the same idea, explaining a step again when a learner asks, and being available at nine at night. It is not good at knowing why this learner keeps making this mistake, noticing that they are tired or anxious, or deciding what to teach next.

That second list is the tutor's job. A sensible split is:

• In the session: the tutor teaches, diagnoses and decides the next topic.
• Between sessions: the learner practises that topic, and the AI explains and quizzes when they get stuck.
• At the start of the next session: the tutor looks at how the practice went and adjusts.

Used this way, AI practice gives the tutor more information about the learner, not less work to do.

Consent stays with the parent

A tutor is not a learner's parent, and should not be the one deciding which AI features a child uses. On Qwizflow:

• A tutor never creates accounts for learners and never approves AI features for them. Each learner signs up for themselves.
• A learner aged 16 or over manages their own AI settings.
• For a younger child, those decisions belong to a parent or guardian, feature by feature.

A tutor's class is open to learners of any age who are not enrolled through a school. A learner under 16 needs a parent or guardian linked to their account, and joins only once that parent approves the class; their AI features wait until that parent approves them too. A tutor account can't link to a learner as their parent.

What the tutor sees, and what they do not

The tutor sees class progress and mastery for the learners who joined their class, and only for that class. That is enough to plan a session.

The tutor does not see a learner's AI chat transcripts, and cannot change their AI settings. If a learner's message to the AI suggests they may be at risk, they are shown how to reach a helpline straight away, and the alert is handled through Qwizflow's own safety queue. It is not sent to the tutor.

On Qwizflow, email addresses and phone numbers, and names written behind a label, are masked before any AI call. That has a limit worth telling learners about: the masking is pattern-based, so it cannot reliably catch personal details a learner types in their own words. A tutor can help by reminding learners not to type personal details into any AI tool.

A tutor's own responsibilities

Using a tutor account says nothing about a tutor's qualifications or checks. A tutor's Working With Children Check, any registration their state requires, and how they run their sessions are their own responsibility. Qwizflow does not check, hold or display them, and it does not advertise tutors to families.

Getting started

A tutor account is free for an adult aged 18 or over. You choose it yourself when you sign up, create a class from the Teacher Dashboard, and share its code. Qwizflow does not vet, match, find or supply students; you bring the learners you already teach.

For a made-up example of how this can run over a term, read Morgan's story, a fictional tutor. For how AI is used across the platform, see our AI ethics statement.

FAQ

Will an AI practice tool replace a private tutor?

Not in the way Qwizflow is designed. The Owl chat explains and quizzes between sessions, but it does not diagnose, plan or teach the way a tutor does. The teaching relationship stays with the tutor.

Can a tutor turn AI features on for a learner?

No. A learner aged 16 or over manages their own AI settings, and for a child those decisions belong to a parent or guardian. A tutor never approves anything on a learner's behalf.

Does a tutor see a learner's chats with the AI?

No. A tutor sees class progress and mastery for their own class only. AI chat transcripts are not shown to a tutor.

Who is responsible for a tutor's Working With Children Check?

The tutor. That check, and any registration a state requires, is the tutor's own responsibility. Qwizflow does not check, hold or display it.