Jan 18, 2008
CONTACT: Beverly Makhani, Dir. of Communications,
WSU Office of Undergraduate Education, 509/335-6679,
makhani@wsu.edu
Patrick Johnson, Co-Director, Undergraduate Writing
Center, 509/335-4845, pdjohnson@wsu.edu
WSU Students Access 24/7 Northwest Online Tutoring Consortium
PULLMAN, Wash. -- Washington State University students returning to school in January are finding that help for some of their assignments is just an Internet connection away -- 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Thanks to WSU’s membership in the new Northwest eTutoring Consortium, students registered at all campuses can access eTutoring.org and use the online services of tutors from several colleges – including WSU. They can get help with their writing as well as the academic subjects of accounting, statistics, and math (beginning through calculus).
Janet Kendall, director of Distance Degree Programs, was instrumental in organizing the program. For years, DDP and other units had depended on outside service providers for online tutoring help for students. She learned about a Connecticut-based distance-learning consortium from her professional network, and thought a regional approach in the Northwest would work.
She contacted Washington community colleges and universities. Though other four-year institutions are not participating at this time, the consortium has grown to include Bates Technical College, Edmonds Community College, North Seattle Community College, Tacoma Community College, and all WSU campuses. Kendall expects others to join. Andrea Kerr, who helped Kendall build the consortium, serves as operations coordinator of the program.
Within WSU, Kendall called on many colleagues for ideas and support. Katherine Lovrich, tutoring coordinator for Student Advising and Learning Center, helped by engaging tutors. For the past year, DDP students have used the online service in increasing numbers. Now Kendall and others feel it’s time to extend eTutoring university-wide.
“We, in the WSU Writing Program, believe that eTutoring will be well used and a nice upgrade for our students,” said Patrick Johnson, WSU’s eTutoring writing director. ETutoring replaces their former service--the Online Writing Lab (OWL)--that served about 700 student requests yearly. OWL, built in 1995 by a WSU graduate student, was retired when eTutoring went live the week of Jan. 7.
Vancouver’s Joe Randal, a math instructor with 22 years experience, is leading plans for math tutoring for the northwest consortium. He has high expectations it will be a positive supplement for students and is excited to face a steep learning curve to get up to speed in this medium of teaching. “It’s wide open as to what can come my way with this new program and I’m looking forward to the challenge.”
By switching from old systems to eTutoring.org, DDP and the Writing Program and other units across WSU campuses are likely to save thousands of dollars. “The new service, hosted on Connecticut Distance Learning Consortium computers, will cost WSU just a few thousand dollars a year, plus the cost of tutoring staff,” said Kendall. “We believe the services will be better and the cost savings significant.” WSU in Pullman, Vancouver, and Tri-Cities are contributing instructor and student tutors.
Tutors from participating schools will work five hours weekly during assigned blocks. All have received similar training, so those at one school answering questions from another should be equally prepared.
Writing tutoring will be through an asynchronous (not in real time) connection, aiming for 24-hour turnaround to students submitting questions and drafts online via eTutoring.org.
The academic topics (math, accounting, and statistics) are available using synchronous technology, allowing tutors and students to interact in real time by video and/or voice over their computers. Questions not requiring face time with tutors will be answered within 48 hours.
Students can log on at eTutoring.org, select “Northwest eTutoring Consortium,” and then “Washington State University System.” Instructions follow on the screen.