The Ins and Outs and Ups and Downs of Online Tutoring Deborah Hardwick Andrea Brown, Ann Doiron, Debbie Sanders, Sandra Vaughn Houston Community College

Who Are We?

Houston Community College We are an urban community college serving approximately 55,000 students each semester. We have five semi-autonomous regional colleges and the Coleman College for Allied Health Careers, all served by a system administration.

HCC Online Tutoring We offer tutoring in  Biology  Chemistry  Math  Physics  Psychology  The Writing Center – for all levels of English classes and writing for all disciplines

Who We Serve Houston Community College Online Tutoring Project Sept. 11, 2006 – Feb. 26, 2008 Student Submissions by Subject Heading English as a Second Language2,937 Developmental English2,025 Freshman English7,152 Literature 649 Writing for Other Disciplines2,417 (includes 185 dual-tutored papers in PSYCH) Chemistry 960 (Began March, 2007) Developmental Math 140 (All Math began August, 2007) Algebra 495 Non-science Math 69 Other Transfer Math 336 Physics 731 (Began April, 2007) General Biology 123 (All Biology began August, 2007) Anatomy & Physiology 47 Microbiology 29 Other Biology 27 Your Opinion Counts 62 (Began August, 2007) Total 18,918

Basic Numbers Student Submissions by Contact Type CHAT (Synchronous) 4,361 ASK (Asynchronous private) 13,688 DISCUSS (Asynchronous open) 149 Total 18,918 Registered Student Users 5,705 Average Turn-around Time7:36 Average Student Rating4.35 (out of 5) Total expenditure to date$110,000 (approximate) Expenditure / contact $ 5.80 (approximate) Expenditure / registered student $19.28 (approximate) Average contacts / registered student 3.31

Another way of looking at the numbers

Basic Truths about Online Tutoring It is not “old stuff in a new package.”  Online tutoring is a new way of communicating.  Not every one should use or work in online tutoring.  Students do more of the work.  Constant oversight of tutors is possible.  You need a workaholic to oversee the program.  You need flexible tutors.

The Magical Toolbar Our Writing Center would not be possible without the macros toolbar developed by Sandra Vaughn. It encourages speed and uniformity while discouraging over-tutoring. Sandra will facilitate a small-group session on developing your own toolbar.

Decisions We made decisions as we went along. That’s not the best way. Early decisions made in concert with all stakeholders – faculty, administrators, students, and tutors - increase the potential for a robust program. However, flexibility is crucial.

What areas will be tutored? Single subjects? Multiple subjects? Academic and/or Workforce?

Who will oversee online tutoring? Academic or student services side of the house? Full- or part-time supervisor? Clerical support? Discipline area advisory committees?

How will online tutoring be funded? Hard or soft money? Grant –driven? In addition to or part of current tutoring budget? Departmental or system-level funding?

Who will provide the technology?  In-sourcing IT? ; IM; Blackboard; WebCT, etc?  Outsourcing Tech provider? Full-service provider?

Who will do the work? In-sourcing  Current full-time faculty? Office hours? Release time? Paid tutoring? Current and ex-part-time faculty? Upper division and graduate students? Peers? Outsiders?

Out-sourcing National company Regional consortium

Will tutoring be synchronous, asynchronous, or both?  Asynchronous is most efficient financially, but students often want synchronous.  Target turn-around time?  Message boards?  Chat rooms – Audio – video? Open access without tutor?

How will online tutoring be marketed? Students? Faculty? Administration?  Students – flyers, posters, syllabi, word-of- mouth, student gatherings  Faculty – department meetings, canned syllabi statements  Administrators – numbers, money, retention, success rates

Who will ask for tutoring? ●How many students (# or %) will probably use online tutoring? ●80% of our online clients take traditional classes and 20% take DE classes. This mirrors the numbers for the college. ●We have found that online tutoring creates a “tutoring buzz” and face-to-face tutoring also grows.

Obstacles to Success Money Faculty Reluctance Student Reluctance Limited student access to technology Oversight Territoriality We’ve never done it that way before! Technophobia

Remember... Developing a robust in-house online tutoring program takes a lot of work. However, once students, faculty, tutors, and administrators see how beneficial the service is, the results will be well worth the effort.

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