Your Online Tutoring Program's Lifeblood
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.