Students stay on track with new online tutoring
Sarah Evans
MCC has recently invested in a new tutoring program available to students 24 hours a day. Smartthinking online tutoring is now accessible through the My MCC portal.”With the growth of distance education and just the growth of the college in general, we’re really always trying to expand the access and make services more available,” said Sarah Henderson, faculty member at the learning enhancement center.
Getting the news out about online tutoring is a priority for many faculty members at MCC.
“It’s an experiment, but we’re optimistic. (Students) have already started using it,” Henderson said.
Smartthinking connects students to live tutors for a variety of classes. They can ask questions and receive positive reinforcement via online messaging.
“It’s real people in real time. They’re people who are experienced tutors. Most of them have taught,” Henderson said.
Along with speaking to live tutors, students have the option to submit written work and questions that will be evaluated or answered within 24 hours. Students can also set appointments with online tutors.
Roger Yohe, dean of innovative learning, emphasized the importance of providing flexible services to all students.
“There’s three reasons why students take online classes, flexibility, flexibility, and. flexibility,” Yohe said.
Yohe explained that the online tutoring program is quality as well as compromising.
“Ninety-five percent or more (of the tutors) have a masters degree or higher, and they’ve been trained as an e-tutor,” Yohe said.
All conversations with tutors are recorded for quality control.
Smartthinking is available for any student, on campus or online, who needs tutoring anywhere at any time. Each student is allotted 20 hours of service a year.
“You can just get a hold of anybody at any time,” said Chelsie Moran, biological science major at MCC.
While taking 15 credit hours and holding a part-time job, Moran said she would be using the service a lot more.
“They (ask). ‘What do you think the answer is?’ They give you hints, (and) make you think through it,” Moran said.
Smartthinking can be accessed on My MCC portal under tutoring.
