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our online tutors near me

The Impact and Effectiveness of Online Tutoring: A Comprehensive Study

1. Introduction to Online Tutoring

“Online Tutoring” or “Tutoring at a Distance” first appeared in the American Journal of Distance Education in 1986. A comprehensive search of the literature revealed that there were very few articles about the theme, and those that did exist made claims that were either not substantiated by the evidence or were invariably based on highly specialized individualized training and teaching programs. There was little doubt that correspondence learning made extensive use of tutoring by mail, but the evidence indicated that the same types of problems affected it (i.e. how to ensure that correspondence students actually read and understood the tutoring intervention model) and its success in enhancing the student’s learning experience. More fundamentally, there were questions about the underlying assumption that all tutoring is beneficial, either to the tutor or the student. On the surface, it might appear that tutoring as a concept is sound, but was that because of the proposed methodology, an unknown process effect, or was there demonstrable evidence that in some way a tutor was actually responsible for the outcome?

2. Advantages and Challenges of Online Tutoring

Institutions have introduced online tools for content delivery. While online tools to support learning outside the classroom have many benefits, it is not clear if and in what ways student learning outcomes improve. We contribute to the literature by providing the first comprehensive analysis of how video usage affects student outcomes in a blended course context. We leverage both utilization data and student outcomes from an innovative management science elective course on technology-enabled blended learning to study the realized gains from students’ extracurricular engagement with short-form lecture videos. We find that video usage correlates with exam performance: when that usage is high, students earn exam scores over 50% greater than their peers who are in the lowest 20% of video watchers. Further tests reveal that overall course grade improves 16% when students watch videos frequently, answering the “how well does video use correlate with outcomes” question.

Research consistently shows that greater student engagement with traditional course materials (e.g., class attendance, readings, assigned homework) benefits educational outcomes, including grades, student persistence, and satisfaction. Student-centered learning theory (SCLT) suggests adjusting instructional strategies to promote greater student engagement. The widespread adoption of learning management systems (LMS) at tertiary institutions has led instructors and administrators to explore ways that these technologies can support students in their engagement with course materials. For instance, LMS frequently facilitate the integration of digital video modules, which can allow students to view course materials asynchronously or adjust viewing speed – known as “time shifting” – among other features. To maximize the impact of technology-enhanced learning tools, identification of the relationship between student engagement with these tools and course outcomes is imperative. Though the use of technology-enabled course tools (TEC) has expanded in recent years, their pedagogical implications have received antecedent scrutiny. As a result, much remains to be discovered about how student engagement with TEC affects learning.

3. Best Practices and Strategies for Online Tutoring

The educational initiatives, public concern about access and equity, and the competitive marketplace have contributed to the rise of online learning in higher education. But notwithstanding a great deal of anecdotal or advocacy reporting, most serious students, educators, and colleagues have little experience or strong doubts that online learning will be effective for their purposes. At the heart of the issue is the extent to which online learning can be a conversational and interactive environment which is pivotal in addressing recent calls for more student-centered and active social communities within academe. Thus, an effective and engaging online interaction must be used to connect students no matter what content is being taught in an online tutoring relationship. Although social sciences do not have a firm grasp on interactivity in and of itself, applied best practices and research findings are available that have the potential of opportunity for online tutors and teaching assistants to develop an environment that enhances learning through problem-solving examples, search-and-investigate exercises, and learning in an individually paced manner with a pedagogical partner.

In many ways, the guidance provided here should frame the preparation and design of the online learning environment. Certainly, how online learning is delivered has a strong influence on the kinds of communications that are possible and successful. Preliminary findings showed that proactive and timely interactions were very effective in improving student performance and overall experience with a class, but the bulk of the guidance was anecdotal, meaning it came from instructors or students’ experiences and beliefs. The online environment has also raised barriers that are accelerating the downward spiral of student isolation. It is overwhelmingly clear that most faculty embrace a more interactive (or harder, more invigorating) learning approach which enables students to grapple with problems, exchange ideas, and produce, as opposed to just learn and regurgitate the facts; hence, the need for practical advice on how to use tutoring and planning our users in an interactive way. The experience on the human level often has an online way to go.

4. Case Studies and Success Stories in Online Tutoring

This section is intended for online tutoring providers and e-learning organizations to provide practical examples and experiences to guide the implementation of online tutoring. Many students in various disciplines and different parts of the world are using InGear Online. As instructors and content developers, the authors can also share with the e-learning community their experiences, guidelines, and insights gained from building an online study aid entitled InGear. Case studies in various customer projects can help understand and apply the creativity and innovation achieved in the customer projects in the design and development of tutoring and drilling tools.

This case study concerns web-based assessment for mathematics, statistics, and physics. It is funded by the British government and is part of the MANTCHI (Mathematics and Numeracy Teaching using Computer-aided and Human-based Interaction) project, a module of the UK eUniversity, led by the University of Plymouth. The project serves MANTCHI via a Nottingham-based web-based assessment engine specialized for mathematics, statistics, and physics employed nationally in support of e-learning. The engine underpins intelligent and accessible tutoring environments developed primarily in the UK, but with increasing European and global business. Such environments are receiving significant recognition in the e-learning market, ranging from educational publishers and universities to government agencies.

5. Future Trends and Innovations in Online Tutoring

Introduction

The remainder of this research handbook takes a broader and more futuristic view on online tutoring. Due to the rapid advances in computer technology, what is currently considered innovative for e-tutoring will soon become normal and expected. Even though some of the ideas discussed below may appear futuristic and speculative, the intention of highlighting them is to inspire further innovations in online tutoring that correspond to the needs of future students and the expectations of future educational systems. However, the full potential of many of the presented ideas can probably only become apparent when they have been successfully implemented and tested in the real world characteristic of online tutoring.

This chapter will provide an overview of “future” trends and innovations in online tutoring such as development of computer-assisted and Internet-based technologies, growth of learning networks, federal support and deregulation, distance education changes, teacher education accreditation, regional accreditation alliances, increased attention to colleges for distance learning, return of brain-based research, national focus on teacher quality, states address teacher quality, demand grows for professional development, vying for teacher training dollars and electronic textbooks. Recommendations for designing effective online tutoring programs are provided in the last part of the chapter. Summaries of programs and businesses are included.