Online Tutoring Found to be Consistent with Best Practices of In Person Tutoring
NEW YORK – March 28, 2014 - Tutor.com today released “The Benefits of Online Tutoring.” This new whitepaper was commissioned to determine if online tutors are able to provide research-based pedagogical practices associated with gains in learning outcomes. An analysis of hundreds of online interactions and student comments shows that online tutors at Tutor.com provide a rich learning experience that closely parallels the best practices of face-to-face tutoring.
Colleges and universities are adopting online tutoring to expand their individualized support services to meet the demands of an increasingly older student population as well as the 18-22 year old digital natives. Online tutoring provides individualized instruction on the student’s schedule. This has become more important now that over 42% of the 21 million enrolled college students are 25 years or older and many must balance jobs and children along with classes and coursework. Over 7.1 million students take at least one course online and many are looking for help online too, both traditional and the older or post-traditional students.
Research regarding online tutoring lags the practice. “The Benefits of Online Tutoring” examined hundreds of online tutoring sessions and thousands of student completed surveys and open-ended responses to determine what practices online tutors employed and how these were received by college students who used Tutor.com services.
Online Tutors Adhere to Proven Best Practices
The research conducted by Cherie Mazer, Ed.M., found that online tutors provided all four aspects of successful learning:
- Cognitive support: provide active-learning through guided inquiry and coaching
- Socio-affective support : demonstrated through establishing a friendly rapport and closely monitoring progress throughout the session
- Motivational support: help students see that they complete tasks successfully
- Metacognitive support: develop students learning strategies and study skills
“We can attest to Tutor.com’s use of best practices for providing a personalized learning service to our students,” reports Dr. Ted Lewis, Vice President of Academic Affairs at Pellissippi State Community College. “Many of our students are balancing jobs and families and Tutor.com’s learning program allows them to get help at their moment of need, 24 hours a day. With our diverse population of students it is critical that we have support services that can partner with us to enhance student success.”
“The Benefits of Online Tutoring” was researched and written by Cherie Mazer, Ed.M. a Doctoral Candidate (2014) in the Carnegie Project on the Education Doctorate at University of Central Florida and a graduate of the Harvard University Graduate School of Education, Technology, Innovation and Education program. Download the paper in its entirety.
About Tutor.com
Tutor.com is the largest online tutoring company with a community of more than 3,000 expert tutors and more than 10 million one-to-one tutoring sessions completed. Professional tutors are available 24/7 in 40 subjects, including AP courses and SAT/ACT test prep. Ninety percent of students who use Tutor.com report getting better grades, feeling more confident and completing their assigments on time. Tutor.com, an operating business of IAC [NASDAQ: IACI], powers tutoring and homework help programs for the Department of Defense: thousands of public libraries, school districts, colleges and universities; and the states of Alabama, Alaska, Louisiana, Montana, North Dakota, Rhode Island and the District of Columbia.