The tutoring industry continues to be a very necessary supplement to the educational world. Let’s take a look at how tutors are shaping the educational world and reaching out online to make tutoring more convenient than ever before.

1.   SATs, Tutors, & You

by Eve Kelly, San Diego Reader

In this week’s San Diego Reader, Brian McElroy of McElroy Tutoring in Pacific Beach, California shares his insider tips with parents and students who are considering tutoring as a means to bring up their test scores.

In the article, he warns parents away from tutoring companies who offer a free “practice test” rather than a “diagnostic test” –practice tests from companies such as Princeton Review or Revolution Prep are intentionally difficult so that students sign on for tutoring classes at a higher price. However, McElroy Tutoring also pointed out that the ACT is a fantastic alternative if a student is particularly skilled at math and science, but that only a diagnostic test can reveal the right choice.

2.   Study shows year-end test scores significantly improved in school using Web-based Tutor

by Admin, Science Blog

This blog post highlights some very findings from a new study published in the Journal of Educational Computing Research. The study, which compared student’s 7th grade end-of-the-year test scores with their scores in the 6th grade, found that students who used a web-tutoring platform called ASSISTments performed better than the students who did not use the service.

3.  

by Staff Writer, Silicon Republic

A new website, www.24-7tutorials.com claims to make it easy for kids to get access to tutors by connecting them 24-7 with tutors around the globe. Based in secure online meeting rooms, students pay 15 euros and up for one-to-one online help done in real time. However, all problem solving is done without video, they claim its to protect the privacy of students and tutors, though sharing notes might be a bit of a challenge. However, the site does offer instant messaging, note sharing, and the ability to talk directly to the tutors who come from a variety of educational backgrounds: professors, teachers, business professionals and guidance counselors.

4.   Professors and tutoring services vie for students’ attention

By Krystal Nimigian

Looks like some of the professors at Texas A&M don’t appreciate the outside help their students are getting. According to the article, the two groups are in a neck-and-neck match to vie for student attentions; some professors even urge their students not to go to tutoring or they’ll “fail them.”

At the heart of the issue is that the laid-back nature of the off-campus tutoring environment and the highly academic, narrow views of the A&M college professor. Students appear to be enjoying the quick, easy to understand explanations that the tutors provide, while the professors would prefer if the students would attend school-offered Open Lab and ask help from graduate students.
On the other side of the fence are some students who believe that the tutors are opportunistic and making money off of services which the school already offers, if students would just seek it out.

5.   Open High: A Great Choice and Contribution

by Tom Vander Ark, HuffingtonPost.com

Online tutoring for every student, every day?

At Open High School, a virtual charter school in Utah which serves 250 Utah students, education can be done anywhere there is an internet connection. Students tweet extensively (you can follow their tweets using hashtag #openhs), the curriculm director pulls from sources far and wide to create an entertaining, well-rounded curriculm and their math teacher shares peer tutoring opportunities through Twitter which are executed through Twitter, gchat, skype and sometimes by just picking up the phone.

Collaboration is at the heart of the Open High experience, students use several services including vimeo, Flickr, Sliderocket, Voicethread, Geo Gebra, Onneeko, and Raptivity to connect with one another, learn and share. They also arrange monthly social activities to strengthen social bonds.

featured photo by cityyear

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