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Introduction to online tutoring: The internet has opened up opportunities to people who had previously been isolated from getting the one-on-one help that they needed. People who were unable to find a tutor in their area or who couldn’t afford to have a tutor come to their home can now enjoy the benefits of private tutoring without long-distance travel or painful financial strain. Online tutoring has proven successful over the years. Many renowned tutoring companies offer online tutoring. Universities also offer online courses and even fully online degrees. The development and mainstreaming of online communication technologies has played an important part in this phenomenon. Many journals and newspapers have written about how wonderful this form of tutoring is.
What is online tutoring? How does it work? Online tutoring, though gaining popularity is still unfamiliar to many people. There are many forms that it can take and lots of different technologies which it can employ. One of the simplest forms is via e-mail. The student e-mails the tutor his/her questions and the tutor responds with answers, feedback, suggestions, and comments which should lead the student to the answers for him/her self. This is particularly useful if a student has particular questions on which he/she is looking for help, or if he/she is working on a project and is looking for feedback. It can be a wonderful way to get sporadic help with homework, or to get tutoring if your schedule is really hectic and scheduling appointments is not feasible. The way that we have e-mail tutoring set up at Top Notch Tutoring, students are guaranteed a 24 hour maximum response time. If they want to have this guarantee they must make an email appointment with the tutor. For example, a student would arrange to send the tutor their questions on Thursday by 6:00pm. The student is welcome to send questions before and after this time, but the tutor is only required to respond to questions asked before 6:00pm on Thursday by 6:00pm on Friday. Students are required to put the maximum amount of time that they are willing to pay the tutor to work on the response in the subject line of the email. Emails without maximum time in the subject will be returned to the student. If the tutor is unable to complete the response in the maximum time specified he/she will return the questions as completed in the specified time and the student may ask them to finish in another e-mail. Online tutoring can also use chat rooms or instant messaging, such as MSN, AOL, and Yahoo. This is a wonderful way to have one-on-one tutoring real time, or to set up a study group. The chat allows the student and tutor to discuss the problem as they would in face-to-face tutoring, leading the student to the answer and seeing where the student is having trouble. If the student and tutor both have microphones and speakers or even web cams the session can be further enriched. The way that we have Instant Messaging (IM) tutoring set up at Top Notch Tutoring is that the student and tutor make an appointment for when he/she will meet the tutor in the IM. If the student is late they must pay the tutor for the time in which they were waiting. The student pays the tutor for the time that they are tutored in the IM.
The benefits of online tutoring go beyond increasing access to tutors. Not only do the students who were not able to get face-to-face tutoring benefit, but those who have previously experienced face-to-face tutoring can also have a beneficial tutoring experience. One of the by-products of online tutoring is that the student automatically has a transcript of the session. While the transcript may answer a particular question, the problem that the student was having is likely to be one which the student will have again. Looking at the questions that the tutor asked and the explanations that the tutor gave can help the student work through other problems on their own. It is in effect writing a textbook designed for the particular student, addressing those problems specific to the student in a way which that particular student can understand. It can also provide structure and motivation for students. Tutoring sessions can act as useful intermediate deadlines, breaking up a large project or assignment into manageable pieces. Periodic checks with a tutor can ensure that progress is being made. The tutor can act as both a cheerleader and a calendar for the student. Of course, this is true of face-to-face tutors as well. However, online time with a tutor can be broken up into smaller pieces than in the case of time with a face to face tutor. If you send an e-mail to the tutor, who spends 15-30 minutes writing a response, everyone’s time is better spent than if you or the tutor had traveled to meet the other. This increases the frequency of tutor/tutee sessions. In some cases online tutoring is what the student really needs, when he/she really needs it. For example, a student working on a term paper may need feedback, or a student may need a few questions answered. In cases like these, online tutoring is really what they need. It doesn’t make sense to sit and watch a tutor read over your paper, or to pay the high fees for a face to face tutor when you have a few specific questions not an overall problem with the subject. Online tutoring is also a way for students who have handicaps which preclude face-to-face tutoring to get the tutoring that they need. For example, students who are unable to hear, speak, or travel are able to get tutoring which might otherwise be inaccessible. Frequently tutors need to diagnose the source of problems for a student. The online tutoring system we use allows tutors to come away from each e-tutoring session with a complete transcript of the session. This is a perfect setting for really accurate study of pattern of errors for each student.
Who should/shouldn’t use an online tutor? Online tutoring is not appropriate for every student or every subject. In many cases it can be a wonderful supplement or substitute for face-to-face tutoring, but I do not want to sell it as a solution in every case. A student who is not able to communicate on a computer should not try online tutoring. There is a basic knowledge of computers which is necessary. The student must be able to turn on, log on, send e-mail, use a chat, or be able to be talked through the process. Students who cannot read or write would not be able to do this. Grade school students are generally not appropriate for online tutoring. If they are good at typing and reading then online tutoring may be appropriate, but in general younger students respond better to face-to-face tutoring. At the moment we do not have tutors who speak every language. In most cases a student must be able to speak and write English for online tutoring to be successful. The student must have access to a computer and the internet. If the student is not able to get to the tutoring session (online), then this is not a good method of tutoring. Some subjects such as art, performance, speech, spoken language, instruments, and sports are generally not good candidates for online tutoring. These problems can be overcome by using additional technologies such as FAX, microphones, speakers, web cams, video, or digital cameras. It is important for students to discuss with the tutor the technology that they would like to use in their session if it goes beyond the baseline of e-mail and IM. Other subjects such as English, writing, chemistry, physics, any social science, math – which is not figure intensive, and science are very good candidates for online tutoring. A student must keep in mind that while many subjects work well for online tutoring a certain amount of flexibility on their part may be necessary. For example, in math you may not have all symbols or the ability to write pretty fractions in IM or email. However, these problems can be overcome easily.
Online tutoring at Top Notch Tutoring: We at Top Notch Tutoring believe in online tutoring. We and our many tutors have seen it work over many years of online tutoring. Many of us have received online tutoring or online education ourselves, so we are familiar with it from both the tutor and the student view point. Top Notch Tutoring offers the online tutoring option as a supplement and as a successful alternative to face-to-face tutoring.
Top Notch Tutoring E-mail Tutoring: Top Notch Tutoring offers e-mail tutoring with a guaranteed 24 hour maximum response time. Students make an appointment with the tutor. The appointment time is the time by which the student will e-mail their questions to the tutor. This can be daily, once a week, twice a week, or however much time they feel that they need. The student must e-mail the tutor his/her questions by this appointed time. For example, a student would arrange to send the tutor their questions on Thursday by 6:00pm. The student is welcome to send questions before and after this time, but the tutor is only required to respond to questions asked before 6:00pm on Thursday by 6:00pm on Friday. Students are required to put the maximum amount of time that they are willing to pay the tutor to work on the response in the subject line of the e-mail. E-mails without the maximum time in the subject will be returned to the student. If the tutor is unable to complete the response in the maximum time specified he/she will return the questions as completed in the specified time and the student may ask them to finish in another e-mail. |
Tutor@Online.TopNotchTutoring.com