Demand for online math and writing support grows as more students choose online programs. Asynchronous support is readily embraced by students and tutors. This presentation will share strategies for serving geographically diverse student populations in online programs and discuss how to choose the best tutoring modality for an academic institution.
Demand for online math and writing support grows as more students choose online programs. Asynchronous support is readily embraced by students because it provides more flexibility for students and time for research by tutors that is difficult with real time methods. For example, when students have busy schedules or live in different time zones, it is difficult to organize real-time meetings, whether online or face-to-face. In addition, some issues require careful consideration and research before a response is composed. This is challenging with real-time methods. Furthermore, with an asynchronous discussion, a permanent record can be kept easily on a web site. With most real-time methods, this is not so simple.
This presentation will share strategies for serving geographically diverse student populations enrolled in online undergraduate and graduate programs and discuss how to choose the best tutoring modality for an academic institution. Specifically, we will discuss our experiences in choosing between synchronous and asynchronous modes of tutoring. In addition, we will share the specific demographics of our online students which led us away from synchronous toward the asynchronous tutoring modality. We will also compare the demographics of our online students versus our on-campus students. Using Venn Diagrams, we will show how students are utilizing the tutoring options available on our campus.
This presentation will also address overcoming technological challenges and explore best practices in the virtual tutoring environment. Using a student friendly, online platform like Upswing allows administrators to see every aspect of the process in real-time, which improves tutor management and quality control. For example, having the ability to view every aspect of the process, administrators can determine where to allocate recourses when training is needed, and how to help more students succeed. Upswing is transparent for administrators, efficient for tutors, and intuitive for students allowing us to provide effective online tutoring to IU East and IU Online students. Having a single online platform where data is stored, collected, and viewed in real time by administrators allows more accurate forecasting of usage patterns, which, in turn, gives us the ability to better tailor and improve service availability and delivery.
When offering online assistance to a geographically diverse student population, it is imperative that a broad range of times are available to the student. It is ideal to schedule tutors who live in multiple time zones. Consequently, it is challenging to train workers in a synchronous environment. Thus, online asynchronous tutor training provides an alternative solution for us. However, we still host a face-to-face, on-campus training event for writing consultants and math mentors who prefer that option.
In conclusion, as Writing and Math Center Directors, we are fortunate to have administrative support, technical support, time for research, and a user friendly platform so that we can continue to maintain as well as improve our services. We plan to continue support for all IU East and IU Online undergraduate and graduate, on-campus and online students who are pursuing an online degree. In addition, we will strive to increase student utilization of the feedback form embedded in the online platform so that student voice can play a bigger role in shaping the future of our online services.