The Tutor.com Blog

Online tutoring is about people. And the technology is cool too.

Education technology has taken on many different forms in the classroom. Over the past year more schools have adopted iPad programs and more teachers have experimented with social media tools to engage their students. Video is taking on a larger role too especially with the introduction of Kahn Academy. Interactive content is great, but oftentimes you need real help from a real, live person.

The Internet helped us change the medium, but the ancient practice of one-to-one tutoring remains the same. With Tutor.com, your tutor doesn’t have to live close by or come to your house every week—geography and time don’t matter. Our community of 2,500 tutors working online means that whenever students are stuck on a problem or concept they can use Tutor.com technology to get a live tutor, 24/7. And, students do this more than a million times a year.

Providing access to tutors for that intense one-to-one help outside the classroom helps students:

• Get the individualized help they need tailored to their learning style and specific area of struggle (Our tutors don’t end a session until the student has grasped the concept)
• Come to the classroom prepared and ready to learn
• Be more confident and engaged learners who ask better questions

Technology alone can’t guarantee these results. If you’re interested in learning more about online tutoring provided by real tutors helps make classrooms better, visit our website: www.tutor.com/schools.

According to the United States Census Bureau every year between 42 and 43 million people relocate, with approximately one-fourth this population are children between the ages of one and 19, it is assumed a majority of these people are of the 1.2 million military affiliated children.  Moving is hard on anyone but imagine what it is like to be 10 years old getting a phone call that tells you to pack your things, say goodbye to your friends, and leave your homework.  Your child may understand your job and the sacrifices it takes to be a member of the military, but it still causes a great amount of pain and stress.  Students of military families that are in the relocation process are under the stress of the move plus many factors in the academic realm.  Moving to a new location brings the question “will I fit in?”  The trends are different, the clothes are different, and the key to making new friends, communication may be different by accent, local slang, or even native language.  With all the stress of the being in a new house that is not your home, being the “new kid,” and missing your old life, there is also the stress of school.

Many military families do not move during summer, leaving students to make the transition during the school year.  This means new teachers and therefore teaching styles, differing academic standards, and playing the game of catch-up.  No matter if your move of schools was within the Department of Defense (DoD) network with the same academic standards or a new state with differing standards the amount of time the move takes leaves the student with a lot of homework to complete, tests to take, and lessons to learn.  The DoD  tries to support students in the move by offering transition counselors, youth sponsorship programs, and counseling for social and personal issues but it still may not be enough.  Through a survey of the DoD Education Activity organization (DoDEA) most parents did not know to use the transition planning services by 57 percent of the 18,075 parents surveyed in 2008 while only 15 percent were satisfied with the services.  There are a few things you can do and encourage your student to do to make sure they are both ready for their new school and able to catch-up on previous schoolwork.

Have the new school meet the old school.

Contact your new school find out what they need and how your student’s credentials line up.  Have your student’s guidance counselor send their official transcript to the new school so they can start working on the placement and academic support your student may need before you get there.  Make sure to get a copy of the transcript to bring along with you just incase.

Get in the know.

Utilize the services offered by the DoD such as transition planners and counselors that help your child ease into their new life.  These transition planners help the student to find the proper classes and academic support they made need to make the transition a positive one.

Reduce the stress with new people.

Encourage your student to get involved at school.  This may reduce the stress of catching up academically as well as finding new peers to possibly help them complete the catching-up process.  However, make sure your student balances this social and academic life so they do not fall even further behind.

Get a Tutor (dotcom)

The DoD allows for 24/7 unlimited online one-to-one tutoring for members of the military and their families.  This is a great resource for a student to just catch-up on work or lessons.  Our tutors are available for your student any day of the week at any hour and most importantly it is free.  Students can have a tutor review their homework to make sure they have everything correct and making a great first impression on their new teacher or engage in a hour long session where they learn how to solve quadratic equations.  This is a great resource for students in a new location, if they are too embarrassed to ask for help at their new school, they can do so at home and online.  Not only does Tutor.com offer online virtual tutoring but also a homework help resource database with links to hundreds of homework help websites for the exact topic they are looking for.

The DoD seeks to make this process as easy as possible and by utilizing their services whether it be transition planners and counselors or using Tutor.com, it is up to you and your student to make it successful.  Making new friends, catching up on homework, and turning a negative into a positive experience is the ultimate goal because in the end it is most important that your student is happy, healthy, and successful in their new home.

Face it—it’s been a few years since you’ve thought about homework. So when your kids come to you with questions about symbolism in The Great Gatsby, which quarks make up protons and neutrons or, heck, even how to add fractions, the answers probably aren’t on the tip of your tongue. (Just ask this mom, who confessed in the New York Times, “[my daughter’s] fifth-grade homework is killing me.”) It might be time to direct your child to someone who’s had time to crack a math book in the last year. You might have heard of online tutoring, and maybe you’ve even tried it, but it can be hard to figure out the best fit for you and your child among all the options. After all, just because your long division is coming up short doesn’t mean you can’t stay on top of helping your child succeed. Here are tips to help your child make the most of his online tutoring sessions and how you can stay in the loop (without doing any of the heavy brain work).

Giving Them the Competitive Edge
Between the pressures of standardized testing and heavier competition to get into college, being a student today is more complicated than it was even five or 10 years ago. Student testimonials and studies also show that online tutoring works, with students reporting that they improved grades on tests and papers and gained a better understanding of subjects, particularly math and science. Using online tutoring makes sense—kids already are savvy and comfortable with online tools such as instant messaging.

Communicating the Problem
But knowing how to communicate online doesn’t mean students always communicate their academic problems. Tutors should be responsive and patient, and they need to know their stuff. You can maximize the help by encouraging your child to be specific, especially if they’re struggling with something that’s less than straightforward, such as complex math concepts or essay writing. In return, the tutors should help your child understand the material, not just how to solve the one problem in front of them; they should never just give out the answers. As parents, an easy way to make sure this happens is by tracking the time your child spends online. You also need to know what type of help your child needs, how often they need a tutor and what time of day they’re most likely to want help. Your child might struggle with algebra but also want help brushing up before history tests. An online tutoring company that offers pricing based on minutes used, rather than subject areas, might be your best bet. Some are even available 24/7.

Staying in the Loop
It’s also important to pick an online tutoring service that will help you stay informed without feeling like a micromanager. A great way to stay in the loop is to review your child’s tutoring sessions. Some online tutoring services record sessions between student and tutor so you can keep an eye on your child’s progress when you have the time. You’ll not only find out whether your child maximizes his sessions, but you can ensure the tutor offers the right help. The reviews—also useful to give your child a refresher before an exam—can reassure you that the tutor gives step-by-step instruction when needed. For example, if it’s an English paper giving your child trouble, the tutor might go through the paper sentence by sentence to explain what’s not working; or if it’s help figuring out what went wrong in a calculus formula, the tutor can show them how to look for small mistakes that can affect the outcome. Of course, you always want to make sure the tutoring company you choose uses tutors who are subject experts and properly screens applicants, including performing background checks.

Taking the Plunge
You’re used to being in charge of all your children do, but you know it’s a competitive world for kids and it never hurts to give your child an academic edge. Delegate some of that homework help and stay in the know—what are you waiting for?

Every day we review thousands of sessions and pore over the comments that each student has an opportunity to leave after a session with their tutor. We love reading about how they finally get a tricky algebra problem or that they thought their tutor was “cool.”

In honor of Thanksgiving, we wanted to share (unedited) comments where students mentioned how grateful or thankful they were for the free help that libraries and schools provide.

• Thank you Sinking Spring Library for sponsoring my learning!
• Thank you the Houston Public Library for offering tutor.com to the community. We students really appreciate it and we value it for saving our time and money. Thank you very much
• Dear Elizabeth Public Library, Thank you for offering such a wonderful tool to help students and adults. You guys make things right instead of the the wrong things. Thankyou
• Thank you so much Howard County Libraries for giving us FREE access to this incredible website!! It makes it much easier to do homework for people of ALL AGES!!
• Thanks hcplc for offering this service for free! Thanks for doing your part to help improve the learning experience for American students!
• We would like to thank you for making tutors available to our family for FREE! Homework time has become an increasingly long and difficult task, but your tutoring services have provided us with a fun and interactive way to learn.
• Thanks, Gwinnett Public Library system! Your dedication and resources are indescribably valuable to the students and people of Georgia!
• This service is wonderful, which makes sense because the libraries are one of the best parts of Pasadena – a city with lots of great things to say.
• Thank you so much Rowlett Public Library. Without you I don’t know how I would have ever discovered Tutor.com. I also don’t know how I would have raised my grades up dramatically.
• Thank you so much, Black Earth Public Library, for offering such a wonderful learning site. Please keep offering it!!
• I don’t have the money for a tutor and having the capability to acces a tutor online when I need it not, Mondays at 5:30 only, but everyday really helps my grades.
• I’d like to thank the library for putting this up and offering this kind of help for those who are in need of some extra help and also the tutors, you know of how and what i thank you for =). I’d also like to thank my school, which is Terra Nova Highschool for offering this as well. Thanks so much!!
• Thank-you San Bernardino Public libraries for making this possible, this is one of the grandest things which has helped me so much. By helping us in this way, you demonstrate how much much you care about the community ,and I appreciate it!
• Thank you sooooooo. much Matteson Public Library with out you i wouldn’t have the grades i have now. I so glad you are doing this program to help us kids get a better grib on or furture and our grades. THANK YOU SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO MUCH.

Happy Thanksgiving from Tutor.com

A math tutor helps a student graph a problem using the TI-Nspire calculator in the Tutor.com Online Classroom

Helping students prepare for an exam, understand a difficult algebra concept or just get through their nightly homework assignment is what our tutors do every night. Tutors have many tools to help them teach in our online classroom and now thanks to Texas Instruments our algebra tutors have one more –
access to the TI-Nspire Teacher Edition graphing software.

Tutor.com is the first online tutoring service to offer this special integration of TI graphing software within the online learning environment. Algebra tutors working with our consumer customers can load the software to illustrate math problems four different ways on the student’s computer screen. Showing the same problem four different ways enables students with different learning styles to grasp the concepts in terms they understand.

We’re very excited about this new feature. To celebrate we’ve put out a Tutor.com and Texas Instruments announcement and we’re going to be tweeting excellent math tips from our tutors for the next month. These tips will be helpful for both parents and students. So if you don’t already follow us on twitter find us today at www.twitter/tutordotcom.

Quick Help on the Fast Track

For this accelerated student with a busy schedule, Tutor.com offers exactly what she needs—when she needs it.

It’s 4:00 p.m. and Kennedy is at her friend Jenna’s house studying advanced Algebra. Music plays low in the background and they have just stumbled on an equation neither of them is sure how to attack. Thankfully Kennedy, 12, has turned her neighborhood on to the benefits of online tutoring service Tutor.com, and after a few clicks, an online tutor is walking the students through the sticking point of the problem.

Kennedy is one of the more than three million students in the U .S. who are taking advanced classes or have been promoted a grade. When the seventh-grader tested out of her math class, she was placed into a more challenging freshman Algebra class. And while this jump allows Kennedy access to a faster track to learning, it presents challenges for her mother, Angela.

“I had a lot of reservations about letting Kennedy move that far ahead that quickly,” says Angela. “Part of it was because they were going so fast. I worried that if she struggled, I wouldn’t be able to help her keep up.”

Even if finding the vertex of a parabola happens to be fresh in a parent’s mind, the bigger hurdle can be finding time in the parent’s and student’s schedules for homework help. This is where services like Tutor.com can play a pivotal role for academically gifted and perpetually busy students like Kennedy.

“After school I almost always have basketball, church groups, or something like that. When I come home, I get my chores done and then do my homework but I usually don’t go to bed until around 10:00 p.m.,” says Kennedy. “It’s nice to have Tutor.com because when I am struggling, I can log on and work through a problem anytime.”

Advancing Over the Hurdles

Kennedy’s mom Angela heard about Tutor.com through a friend and immediately set up an account for her daughter. “I told her, ‘Here’s your account. Try it out and see what you think,’” says Angela.

When Kennedy’s first homework assignment of the school year came back from her advanced Algebra class, it wasn’t good. Out of six problems, Kennedy got one right—it was a big letdown for a kid who is always being praised for her good grades.

It was then that Kennedy first accessed her account. She logged on and was quickly assigned to a knowledgeable algebra tutor, who walked Kennedy through the basics of the online tools before launching into that day’s homework.

“They asked me if I understood the problem at all, or if I was just stuck at one part. I explained to the tutor what I didn’t get about it before they walked through the whole problem with me on the whiteboard,” Kennedy says.

Home Is Where the Help Is

While Angela believes that emotionally and socially Kennedy should be with kids her own age, she doesn’t want to hold her daughter back.

“Math is an area where she wants to be challenged, so as a parent, it’s my job to make sure that she’s really building on that without pushing her forward too fast. Tutor.com has been a great tool for us in that regard. It’s very important that Kennedy is really being taught, not just memorizing things and leaping ahead.”

And since math knowledge builds on itself, Angela is certain that without Tutor.com, Kennedy wouldn’t be accelerating properly. Angela says Kennedy’s other option, in-person tutoring, could not have filled in the space for them.

“We were paying $45 an hour, once a week, to an in-person tutor and the results were good—but that service was based on when the tutor was available, not necessarily when Kennedy needed him,” says Angela. “Using Tutor.com has allowed me to take a deep breath and say, ‘Okay, that’s one less thing I have to drive her to, worry about, pay a lot for and schedule.’ Now it’s all right there for her whenever she needs it.”

How one brother and sister duo from New Jersey uses Tutor.com to excel in school

Few kids are as close as Ymani, an eighth grader from Maplewood, NJ, and her brother Kalvary, a sixth grader. On any given day, the two can be found in each other’s rooms listening to music, playing on their Xbox or just hanging out. “They’re constantly with each other,” says their mom Shaunice. “They’re constantly interacting, versus one person being in one room and the other in another.”

Getting help with geometry, English and more
Over the last year, the siblings have grown accustomed to a new shared activity: logging onto Tutor.com. On any given evening, Ymani can likely be found doing geometry problems on the whiteboard. If she has a test coming up, she usually logs on every day that week for about 30 minutes each time. “I use it mostly for math,” she says. “Last year, we were learning the Pythagorean theorem, and the Tutor.com tutors were able to give me strategy that they didn’t really teach in school. That helped a lot.”

Kalvary, meanwhile, has made use of the English tutors in order to improve his reading comprehension. “When I was reading a book, Hatchet, by Gary Paulsen, they helped me understand some of the terms in the book that I didn’t understand,” he says. Kalvary admits that sometimes he’ll ask the tutors for a word’s definition instead of going to the dictionary. He recently asked them to explain the word “archaic.” “They can really take the time to explain a word to me in normal words, whereas sometimes the dictionary is more confusing,” he says.

A solution that fits the whole family’s needs
Shaunice and her husband Kevin found Tutor.com when looking for an alternative to an in-person tutoring group Ymani was enrolled in, which had limited availability and required lots of driving back and forth. The parents-of-two, however, wanted to be sure Tutor.com would complement both of their kids’ learning styles.

Shaunice was fairly sure that Ymani would like the instant messaging and virtual whiteboard format offered by Tutor.com. “My daughter prefers a computer experience, because there isn’t the embarrassment of being in a class setting where if you don’t get something, you don’t necessarily want to ask questions,” says Shaunice, “because she doesn’t want to seem like she doesn’t understand the material.”

As for Kalvary, who was already taking advanced classes and getting ready to take the SATs in the hopes of qualifying for a special Johns Hopkins University advisory program for exceptional students under age 13, access to advanced help was important. “Kalvary’s a really smart kid, so I wanted to make sure that he was challenged.”

After trying Tutor.com, both kids were immediately hooked. “We really liked it,” says Ymani. “Sometimes I think it’s easier talking online than in person. If I don’t get something, I go on Tutor.com. If I’m bored at times I’ll go on to study—to re-learn things so I can keep it in my memory. Or sometimes I go on because I’m stuck and stressed and just can’t get something.”

Kalvary, meanwhile, found he enjoyed using the site to review and re-learn what he was learning at school. Lately, he’s been logging on about three times a week. The site recently helped him figure out how to convert fractions into percentages—a trick he’s been known to employ when telling his family what percentage of a pizza pie has been eaten.

“I go on if I’m feeling stressed, and it helps me understand things more,” he says. “Now, when friends call me because they don’t get something on the homework, I tell them ‘Go to Tutor.com!’”

Mom and dad are also happy because Tutor.com has given them a way to create more family time. “It’s taken the frustration out so that I know that they can go ahead and do their homework—and all I have to do is check it, versus re-teaching,” Shaunice says. “It’s just so convenient.”

The 2009-2010 school year is almost here, and the H1N1 virus (better known as “Swine Flu”) is still working its way across the country.  As students crowd into classrooms and dining halls again for the first time in months, school administrators are taking the risk of a new outbreak very seriously.

To help schools minimize the threat to students, teachers and staff, the CDC recommends actively screening for flu symptoms, keeping sick students at home for up to a week, and even preemptively dismissing students with sick parents or siblings.  Drastic measures?  Maybe.  But Swine Flu killed over 500 Americans this year (and hospitalized thousands more), so it pays to be careful.

Of course, missing a week of class, or learning from a substitute while a permanent teacher is sick, can set students back dramatically—especially at the beginning of the school year.  That’s why the U.S. Department of Education recommends online tutoring to “ensure continuity of learning.”  Here’s an excerpt from “Preparing for the Flu,” a recent report from the Department:

Teacher check‐ins and tutorials: A variety of technologies (telephone, email, web conferencing) can be used to facilitate one‐on‐one interaction between students and teachers, counselors and other appointed adults (e.g., tutors) during prolonged absences or dismissals.

We couldn’t agree more.  In a school affected by a flu outbreak, sick students may lose access to many of the support systems, like friends and teachers, they rely on to help them finish daily homework assignments, write papers, study for tests, or just make sense of their healthy friends’ class notes.

Working with a certified tutor is an excellent way for students to keep themselves on the track to college, regardless of what this year’s flu season may have in store.

Project Tomorrow’s “Learning in the 21st Century: 2009 Trends Update” reports on a survey of over 335,000 students, teachers, school administrators, and parents.

According to the report, 44% of middle and high school students selected “online learning as a technology with the greatest positive impact on learning.”  Some of the top reasons for using an online learning format included “work at my own pace” and “get extra help in a subject.”

photo credit: Unhindered by Talent

Online classes provide students with flexibility in their learning. Online tutoring has similar benefits. They both make students responsible for their own learning. Online learning is the start of a trend where teachers become guides during the learning process and become less like the traditional lecturer.

The report also surveyed teachers who have taught online classes: “76% believe that online learning benefits students by putting them in control of their own learning.”

My experience as a student in online classes has been good. Taking an online class allows me to spend as much or as little time on projects and learning activities as I need.

Online learning is now available in many forms and grade levels. Online learning includes the use of many web based technologies including interactive simulations, discussions boards, chat rooms, whiteboards, instant messaging, and various document sharing and collaboration tools.

What’s great about online learning is its ability to overcome physical barriers of distance and allow students from around the world to have access to the same quality learning experiences.

Which of these technologies have you or your children used in online learning? Did it accomplish the learning goals? Was it more effective than traditional classroom learning?