Developing an Online Tutoring Program

1. Developing an Online Tutoring Program Deborah Hardwick, Interim Manager Houston Community College Online Tutoring Program

2. Developing an Online TutoringProgram • Once you start thinking about an online tutoring program, myriad decisions have to be made. The purpose of this module is to walk you through the decisions to find the best solution for your institution.

3. But first, an introduction • Houston Community College operates what is probably the largest content in-sourced online tutoring program in the country. • We offer online tutoring at all levels of math, biology, chemistry, physics, and English; for papers in all disciplines; and two-tier tutoring in psychology. • We out-source the technology and in-source the content. • I manage the HCC online tutoring program.

4. We currently serve about 15% of the 55,000 students enrolled in the institution, and that number keeps growing. • Typically, we respond to 1,000 – 1,300 student submissions per month. • We have 23 tutors. • We provide tutoring 24 / 7/ 365.*

5. 24 / 7 / 365 • Because we offer access to the asynchronous parts of our program 24 hours a day, and because I have several insomniacs on my tutoring staff, we have an average turn-around time of 6.5 hours for student papers and other submissions. • We work through breaks because students are studying then, and since we offer mini-terms between long semesters, we are available all the time.

6. A Warning • This is a long presentation, but developing an online tutoring program from scratch is a complex process. • We jumped in and made many decisions as we went along. That is NOT the best way!

7. A Commercial • I will be presenting The Ins and Outs and Ups and Downs of Online Tutoring at the ATP conference in St. Louis. • I’m also doing a round-table discussion on developing a program at the League for Innovation conference in Denver in early March. • Please join me at either or both conferences if you are considering developing a program.

8. Definitions • Before we begin, let’s take a few minutes to agree on a common vocabulary. Some terms are used in their generally accepted meanings while others have specific definitions in the online world.

9. Online Tutoring • The provision of academic and/or work force content support through electronic media rather than through face-to-face communication. • Tutors can work from home in their robes and fuzzy slippers, as can students. Others work from vacation spots.

10. Synchronous Online Tutoring • Chat rooms and Instant Messaging are examples of real-time online tutoring. Tutors and students communicate in an electronic form of conversation. • In chat rooms, one or several students may be present, with or without a tutor.

11. Asynchronous Online Tutoring • This is a delayed response form of online tutoring. Students submit papers and / or questions, tutors answer them, and students retrieve the responses later. It is the most common, cost-effective, and efficient form of online tutoring.

12. Open-Read Message Boards • This is an online communication system in which anyone with access to the system can read and respond to questions and answers. • It is useful when tutors wish to post review materials for many students. • It is also useful for information that many students may be interested in.

13. Private Online Communication • Most communication in online tutoring is in private communication, similar to e-mail, between the tutor and student. • Private here means that other students cannot read the information, but supervisors and other tutors MAY be able to, depending on the technology you use.

14. Outsourcing • This is the purchase or use of technology or content from an outside vendor. • Some textbook publishers now provide online tutoring for students using their books. • Other sources are purchased by the institution.

15. Insourcing • The opposite of outsourcing is providing the technology and/or content from institutional resources.

16. Technology • The form of electronic service that will be used depends on many factors. Servers, operating systems, and archival systems all need to be considered. • Add-ons must be considered, depending on the technology you choose. We use cyber-tablets for math and science tutors and macro toolbars for English and math.

17. Content • Who actually provides the tutoring is the most important factor in the success or failure of an online tutoring program. • The amount of help given must be pre-determined.

18. Decisions • Shall we offer online tutoring? • What will we tutor? • Who will we tutor? • Who will tutor? • Will we in- or out-source the technology? • Will we in- or out-source the content? • Who will be responsible for online tutoring? • What administrative structure do we need? • How will we convince students and teachers to use the system? • How do we measure its effectiveness?

19. Why Should We Offer Online Tutoring? • In today’s world, online communication makes possible solutions to problems that were unsolvable just a few years ago. • College students today, especially in community colleges, lead incredibly complex lives. Online tutoring eliminates a large stress factor. • Cost is a factor in all colleges. Online tutoring means that tutors aren’t paid for sitting and waiting. Additionally, space isn’t tied up that could be used for additional classes.

20. Why? • Distance learning is HOT! Students need the flexibility that DE offers, and online tutoring supports online learning. • Even students who take classes on campus can’t always make it to the Tutoring Center when it is open.

21. What Will We Tutor? • Will we confine online tutoring to one discipline or will we offer services in some or all subjects offered? • If tutoring is offered in only one discipline, management is relatively easy, but effectiveness is limited. • If it is offered in multiple subjects, management is more difficult, but effectiveness is broader. • Multiple subjects creates synergy. Students come online for math, say, but discover that help is also available for psychology.

22. One-discipline TutoringAdvantages • If you decide to offer online tutoring in only one discipline, management resides within that department. Funding will probably come through the discipline, as will tutors. • Face-to-face(F2F) tutors can work both forums. We call such tutors “hybrid tutors.” This minimizes “sitting around” time, but both forums are usually busy at the same time. • Cross-referrals are easy.

23. One-discipline TutoringDisadvantages • Students may experience frustration at not being able to access online tutoring for all their tutoring needs. Franz Fanon called this “the Revolution of Rising Expectations.” • Schools with large distance programs will have to explain why online tutoring isn’t offered across the board. • Cross-over questions may not be answered as completely as you would like.

24. Multi-discipline Tutoring • Offering tutoring in all or some of the subjects offered at your institutions widens the field while making tutoring user-friendly. Students use one log-on, one format, and one protocol for tutoring in many subjects. • Cooperation among a variety of departments, when it works, promotes collegiality. When it doesn’t, it’s a headache.

25. How Much Help Will We Give? • Certainly, we all agree that tutors should never DO homework for students, but how much help is enough and how much is too much is a critical decision. • In math, chemistry, and physics, we give more hints and help to students who are completely lost. Tutors often work through a similar problem, and then ask the student to try and re-submit. • How many times can or should a paper be looked at by a tutor? • In our English Center, we expect readable drafts. We prefer to look at no more than two drafts of a paper, but sometimes students slip a third one in.

26. English Tutoring Issues • Will we only offer online tutoring for papers for English classes or for papers in all disciplines? • Will we focus on grammar, structure, organization, content, or a combination of these factors? • If we provide English tutoring in all disciplines, what do we do about content?

27. Cross-discipline Tutoring • Tutors in our online English Center are not content specialists in all the subjects for which we get papers. • We piloted a two-tier approach with psychology tutors, and it worked so well that we are expanding it to other areas. • English tutors work the paper for grammar, structure, and organization. • Then, we pass the paper to psych tutors who deal with the content. • Students get two responses.

28. Who Will Tutor? • If you choose to outsource the content, the company you hire will provide tutors. There are no decisions to be made. • However ...

29. if you in-source the content, you need to look at many categories of potential tutors. Active faculty (full-time and adjunct), retired faculty, students, and outside tutors should all be considered.

30. Faculty • 1. Consider faculty first. Your faculty know the curricula, standards, materials, and sequencing of classes. • They are familiar with your student population and can tailor tutoring help to the students in your school.

31. Full-time faculty • Full-time faculty who also tutor are invested in the program and will encourage its use to their students. • Release time or office-hour tutoring can reduce costs. • Overload tutoring provides income with less work than teaching another class. • English teachers, however, often don’t want to mark even more papers!

32. Adjunct Faculty • Adjunct faculty whose classes don’t make or to whom you can’t give a full load can be kept in the system by using them as tutors. • This is probably the richest source of online tutors.

33. Retired Faculty • Retired faculty members or adjunct who choose not to teach for a semester or two are also a great resource. They have all the advantages of faculty but can usually tutor more hours per week than active teachers.

34. Students • Peer tutors may prove useful. If you have a strong SI (Supplemental Instruction) culture, this can be a great source of tutors. • Upper division or graduate students are also wonderful tutors. This is a way to groom potential faculty for later. However, they probably don’t have the knowledge of your system, so additional content training may be necessary.

35. Outside Tutors • While outside tutors can enrich a program, they probably do not know your system well, so more training is necessary. You may have to provide textbooks for classes they will tutor in.

36. Who Will We Tutor? • There is a tendency to think that only distance-ed students use online tutoring. WRONG! • Approximately 80% of our students are taking lecture classes, but their schedules make online tutoring necessary. • Online tutoring isn’t only for developmental students, either – a common misconception.

37. TechnologyIn- or Out-sourced? • In-sourcing technology means working very closely with your IT department. • Sufficient server capacity and back-up are crucial. • Archiving is needed. • Tech support help needs to be available. • E-mail can be used, but archiving and oversight are problems.

38. E-mail Tutoring • Some schools use their in-house e-mail system for tutoring. However, archiving and oversight are much more difficult. • There is no way to effectively archive work for review by supervisors and/or other tutors. • In my opinion, this is the least effective in-sourced technology arrangement, but it may work to show the need for a better system.

39. In-sourced Technology • If you decide to in-source your technology, you can design a system tailored to your needs. • Tweaks and changes are quite easily accomplished if you have a good working relationship with your IT department. • Authentication of student-users must be considered.

40. Out-sourced Technology • There are three primary types of outsourced technology. • 1. Commercial sites that provide technology and content on a per-use basis. • 2. Textbook-linked sites that are typically free to users of the company’s books.

41. Out-sourced Technology • 3. Companies that provide the technology but not the content. • This is the choice that we made. We use askonline.net. There are a few more companies coming along to do the same thing, but I do not have experience with them. • (This is not a paid endorsement!)

42. In- or Out-sourced Content • This decision is the heart of the matter. • Commercial services that provide the tutors are certainly easier to manage. Checks just have to be written on time. Depending on the company and the agreement you have with them, selected college personnel MAY have access to tutor work for oversight purposes. • However ... (my opinion follows)

43. Out-sourced Content tutors who are unfamiliar with your courses, your sequencing, your grading standards, your calendars, and your population may not be as helpful as tutors who know these things. This is why we chose to in-source our tutors.

44. Publisher-provided Tutors • These tutors can be really helpful, but only to students who are taking classes that use the texts. • MyCompLab and MyMathLab are two of the biggest. Student- and teacher- satisfaction with them are quite high at HCC, but not all of our classes use textbooks from ABLongman Publishers .

45. A Summary • In my opinion, based on a year and a half working with online tutoring every day, out-sourcing the technology and in-sourcing the content provides the best of all worlds. • However, managing such a program is a time- and labor-intensive process.

46. Who Will Be Responsible? • Depending on the size and complexity of your program, options are available. • 1. If you confine online tutoring to only one subject, the chair of that department (or her designee) may oversee online tutoring. • 2. If your school has a tutoring manager, this can be added to his job description. • 3. If you choose to provide online tutoring in several disciplines, a new position should be created to oversee the entire program to ensure consistency.

47. Responsibility - more • Decisions must be made about whether overall responsibility will reside on the faculty or student services side of the house. • We chose to keep it within the faculty domain because tutoring is teaching.

48. I have been managing our program on release times, but we have discovered that that is not the ideal situation. In the new budget, we have asked for the creation of an online tutoring manager position dedicated solely to overseeing and growing our program.

49. Responsibility – even more • Someone needs to oversee • Hiring and training of tutors • Scheduling of tutors • Payroll • Budgeting • Marketing • Technology trouble-shooting • Supervision of the work product

50. How Should We Structure the Administration of a Program? • Who is ultimately responsible for the development and management of an online tutoring program depends on your institution’s overall structure. • Do you have someone who oversees all tutoring or does each department or division take care of its own? • Where will funding come from? • How involved are student services personnel in the tutoring process?