Posted by Jessie Bourneuf on Sun, Jul 03, 2011 @ 06:15 PM
Since 1984 the cost of attending a public college as risen nearly three times as fast as family incomes putting a college education out of the reach of many deserving students. Coming to grips with this economic reality, higher education professionals are re-thinking how best to deliver educational content and support to their students. Increasingly, technology is being used to expand the scope and reach of traditional classrooms.
At AskOnline, our clients are meeting these challenges in creative ways. I would like to share 5 examples of how our customers are stretching their budgets to deliver academic support to their students. In each case you will find common sense at work, and I hope you will find an idea that will work for you.
1. Join Forces with Other Departments
Stark State College in North Canton, Ohio, has a well-established e-learning curriculum for non-traditional students. The Division of Teaching and
Learning provides tutoring to their traditional students and turned to AskOnline to provide an online option for them.
To make the budget work, they collaborated with their colleagues at the campus OWL as well as the Distance Learning Group, splitting the cost of the license
among the three groups. Each of the departments have administrative privileges within the single AskOnline license, and the Stark State AskOnline platform is configured to work for all concerned.
2. Add Aysynchronous Tutoring to Your Toolkit.
Long-time AskOnline client, the Houston Community College System (HCCS), has enjoyed such success with their online tutoring program that demand for tutoring presses the limits of Houston’s tutoring resources. Over 10,000 students a year use the AskOnline platform, and the tutoring center responds to over 100 requests a day for academic support.
To conserve resources, HCCS uses only AskOnline’s asynchronous Ask tool to support their students. Questions are posted and papers are submitted for review in 20 subject areas. Responding within 24 hours, the tutors maximize their efficiency because they can queue their work online to eliminate idle time waiting for students to arrive for help.
HCCS’s 35 online tutors (many of whom are adjunct professors) love this concentrated workflow as it allows them to make the most efficient use of their workday. Benefits to the support center budget are compelling because no one is paid to sit around waiting for a question to arise.
3. Engage Faculty to Cover Tutoring Needs
Finding competent tutors for specialized (often upper level) courses is a common struggle of academic support centers. Several of AskOnline’s customers have discovered a clever way to solve this problem. They have simply asked faculty members to volunteer during a portion of their office hours (or their teaching assistants’ hours) to logon to the college’s AskOnline platform and host a Chat or Discussion session for their specific courses.
This is an easy way for a professor’s students to ask questions about a recent lecture or problem set. Moreover, the faculty find the online feedback helpful when preparing follow-on lectures.
4. Defer Capital Expenditures
Valdosta State University in Georgia has increased its academic support efforts dramatically over the past decade. Since implementing its AskOnline platform in 2006, the number of tutoring visits to the site has increased over 10 fold. Last year over 13,000 students used the Student Success Center.
This growth could not have been accommodated without going online. The physical constraints of the center just could not have fit everyone in. And, adding stand-alone computers to the center would have been cost-prohibitive.
But, with the AskOnline system in place, students use their own computers to get in touch from their homes or dorm rooms. Thus, Valdosta Student Success Center grew to meet their students’ burgeoning needs without having to build tutoring space or to buy and maintain computers and systems.
5. Save on Time and Gas
Non-traditional students who attend classes part-time and who live off campus are a fast-growing segment in higher education.
Getting to classes requires a single-minded commitment on the part of these students.
Adding a trip to the tutoring center is usually out of the question, but getting on line for tutoring can be a lifesaver.
Not having to burn up $4 per gallon gas is a big bonus—and not only for the students. Tutors, too appreciate the time and gas savings afforded by working on line from home or their offices.
At AskOnline, we work hard to make our client tutoring centers as productive as possible. We would love to help you bring AskOnline to your campus.
Jessie Bourneuf, President AskOnline
Posted by Jessie Bourneuf on Thu, Mar 31, 2011 @ 05:14 PM
The College Completion Tool Kit (released last week by the U.S. Dept. of Education) includes two charts of sobering statistics.
The first chart (at the right) shows that by 2018 only 10% of jobs in the U.S. will be open to people who do not have at least a high school diploma or equivalent and more than half of all jobs created in the next decade will require a post-secondary degree. The challenge is greater than ever for more of our students to get post-secondary degrees.
The second chart shows that 51% of students who enter 9th grade will go on to enter college. While this is a discouraging statistic, even more alarming is that over a third of college-bound students will require some form of remedial help (see chart at the left).
The twin goals of retention and persistence are mainstays of college and university mission statements. At AskOnline we hear from our clients that Academic Support Centers are challenged to increase their outreach to meet these goals, especially given the changing needs of their student populations.
There are over 7 million adults aged 25-34 with some college, but no degree, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. The Obama administration is urging colleges to focus their attention on this group. Such focus not only will increase the demands for institutions to provide support, but also will change the way support is delivered. These adult students typically hold down full-time jobs, have family responsibilities, or both. For them, the traditional face-to-face tutoring center is difficult to schedule into their very busy days. Studying happens in the “off-hours.”
Online tutoring platforms, such as AskOnline’s are ideally suited to support non-traditional students. Whether needing help revising a term paper or solving an equation, online tools are available to help students work through their problems. And, the tutors are only a keyboard away, at all hours of the day.
Jessie Bourneuf, President
AskOnline, Inc.
Posted by George MacNaughton on Tue, Feb 01, 2011 @ 09:40 AM
From U.S. News & World Report, October, 2010:
“Brian Burnsed writes, “Online Courses require more discipline by students—more effort by professors and advisors—than traditional courses.” In his article, Burnsed details new programs to curtail dropouts from online universities.
Simply delivering course content is insufficient to achieve online student retention consistent with the traditional classroom experience.
Bursed points to the University of West Georgia where retention rates for online students were 68% compared to 90% for traditional students. UWG deployed advisers to keep their online students informed about course details and deadlines. The advisors made certain the students knew how to connect with tutors, but most of all they delivered simple encouragement. Retention rates for distance learners are now in line with those for traditional students.
Reading Burnsed’s article confirms our experience and brings home what most of us in the tutoring world know intuitively--that the simple act of connecting a student with a tutor will magnify a student’s comprehension and commitment to his work. And this connection will result in better academic performance leading to improved retention rates for students at their universities.
At AskOnline we are committed to providing the best tools for connecting students with their tutors in an effective, controlled environment. Visit AskOnline.net to view an introductory video of AskOnline to see how we can help bring online tutoring to your distance learners.
Jessie Bourneuf, President
AskOnline, Inc.
Posted by Jessie Bourneuf on Tue, Dec 07, 2010 @ 02:43 PM
Recently I was talking with Linda Morosko, the director of Distance Learning at Stark State College of Technology, and she told me that their online tutoring had increased 100% over last year. Wow! When Linda filled me in on the source for the increase, I just had to pass it along. This is a wonderful example of how a simple concept can have a big impact.
Linda and her team asked the many and varied webmasters on campus to place a link on their sites to Stark State’s AskOnline tutoring site. From Fraternity Sites to the Campus Home Page students now see the “Tutoring” button inviting them to “click here” for help. And, the students have responded, more than doubling the online tutoring provided by the Distance Learning group.
So, why not start a list of the local websites frequented by your students? Then ask your tutors and students to add to the list. I think you will find the webmasters of these sites good partners to build awareness and usage of your tutoring center.
Increasing the number of students who are comfortable using our academic support centers is a critical aspect of improving our students’ success. Whether measured by GPA or Retention Rate, current research demonstrates the value of tutoring. Check out the Houston Community College study on the benefits of online tutoring for a compelling story of how as few as 3 or 4 tutoring sessions per semester improves student performance. (A link to this study can be found on our home page at AskOnline.net.)
Jessie Bourneuf, President
AskOnline, Inc.
Posted by Jessie Bourneuf on Wed, Oct 20, 2010 @ 01:55 PM
I was heartened last week to read many stories of students’ appreciation for their tutors during National Tutoring Week. Tutors are the lifeblood of any program, and the one-to-one relationships they develop with their students can be among the strongest bonds developed in a student’s academic career. For some students a strong tutor can be the difference that keeps a student on the path to graduation.
In an online tutoring environment making a connection between student and tutor has the additional challenge of navigating through cyberspace. Nonetheless, in the Facebook age, students are adept at bonding with their virtual crowd. And, online tutors likewise get to know and bond with their students. In our experience, the best online programs pay close attention to developing communication skills, training their tutors to make significant connections with their students, cognizant of the internet’s imperatives.
Learning is not just about the material, but is every bit as much about gaining the confidence to learn. The superior tutor is educator, coach, cheerleader, and friend. Students do know it when they experience it, as the outpouring of appreciation for their tutors attested during National Tutoring Week.I would love to hear stories of the successes your tutors have achieved. If you have special training activities that focus on “making connections with students,” I would be happy to collect them to make available to our online community. Send me your stories by email to Jessie@AskOnline.net.
Sincerely,
Jessie Bourneuf, President
AskOnline, Inc.
Posted by Jessie Bourneuf on Wed, Oct 20, 2010 @ 01:49 PM
Have you been fascinated, as I have, these past five seasons with MadMen and the shenanigans of Don Draper and his Madison Avenue cronies? Some of us were coming of age in the 60’s, and at least I was convinced then of the pernicious evil represented by Madison Avenue. The nerve of interrupting Dick Van Dyke, Laugh-In, and The Smothers Brothers with all those ads and jingles. I shudder now to think that I actually watched so much TV. Maybe it was the ads after all.
What does any of this have to do with running a Tutoring Center? Certainly we would all agree that developing a cadre of well-trained tutors lies at the heart of running a successful program. But, what about the students? It’s not so simple for them to walk in or to seek online tutoring assistance. We are painfully aware that for each student receiving academic support in our tutoring programs, there are more who need the help but do come to us. This is where Madison Avenue fits in. To expand our programs, we have to sell.
So, channel your inner Don Draper (well, perhaps your inner Peggy Olsen might be an easier fit), and get to work selling your tutoring program to your students. Think of market share, and grow the percentage of students who seek you out. Chart it. Watch the trend. Find all the prime-time events on campus and be there.
At AskOnline, we have developed a Marketing Guide I would love to share with you. Just click this link, and I will send you an electronic copy of the guide filled with tips and ideas shared with us by our customers over the years. This stuff does work.
Sincerely,
Jessie Bourneuf, President
AskOnline, Inc.
P.S. I may as well get all of this out of my system. Do you think that your faculty would benefit from increased awareness of your tutoring programs? And how about those administrators who hold tight their purse strings. You have many constituents, and you have to sell to all of them. And nothing sells better than visibility and success. Let them know that your program is shooting off the charts.
Posted by Jessie Bourneuf on Wed, Oct 20, 2010 @ 01:48 PM
Over the summer, I heard from a number of Academic Support Center administrators who recognize the need to offer online tutoring to supplement their walk-in centers. From “I need to help my students in Iraq,” to “my students just don’t have the time to come in during our regular hours,” students live increasingly non-traditional lives. Many have to work real jobs while getting their education. Others have family constraints on their time. And, yes, quite a few have been shipped to the battlefield.
In general, campus administrators understand the changing composition of their student body, but have a hard time understanding how to make sense of the dollars and cents proposition of expanding tutoring by going online. I would like to share with you a study sponsored by the Houston Community College System, an AskOnline customer, demonstrating the academic successes for those students who participated in HCCS’s online tutoring program. Such successes breed improved retention. And from retention, the dollars and cents proposition comes into perspective. It is far cheaper to retain the students you have than to recruit new ones to fill the class.
If you are interested in reading this study, just click this link. We would be happy to discuss how going online could work for you.
Sincerely,
Jessie Bourneuf, President
AskOnline, Inc.