Northwest eTutoring Consortium: A Multi-Institution Online Tutoring Service
• Bellingham Technical College• Chemeketa Community College• Clark College• Clover Park Technical College• Columbia Basin College • Edmonds Community College•Everett Community College
• Lake Washington Technical College• North Seattle Community College• Peninsula College• Pierce College (Ft. Steilacoom & Puyallup)• Portland Community College •Skagit Valley College•Tacoma Community College
In collaboration with the Connecticut Distance Learning Consortium
• Spokane Falls Community College• South Seattle Community College• Whatcom Community College•Washington State Board for Community and Technical Colleges •Washington State University: Distance Degree Programs, Pullman, Tri-Cities, Vancouver
ABOU
T USA Brief History of eTutoring.org
• NW eTutoring Consortium – Started January 2008– Currently 19 schools are participating
• Building on the Connecticut Distance Learning Consortium (CTDLC) eTutoring Program
– Started Fall 2001, funded by a grant from the Davis Education Foundation
ETUTO
RING
SERVICES
Online Tutoring Services Offered:
Synchronous Student-Tutor SessionsDrop in sessions scheduled 7 days a week
Asynchronous Student QuestionsResponse received in 24 to 48 hours
Asynchronous Online Writing LabResponse received in 24 to 48 hours
ETUTO
RING
.ORG
A Collaborative, Aggregated Service:
• Tutors provided by each institution
• Tutoring hours are combined into one schedule
•Students at each institution access all tutors on this one schedule
ETUTO
RING
.ORG
PHILO
SOPH
YTutoring Philosophy
•Our writing tutors are trained to follow the best practices for responding to student writing, including:
o the prioritization of higher level concerns over lower level concerns,
o an emphasis on global/systemic errors that resist simple correction in favor of explanations and examples,
o a focus on the student as a writer rather than on a single writing assignment.
•Our synchronous tutors in math and other subjectso provide examples and options, o ask discerning questions, o guide students toward solutions rather than
simply providing answers.
NWeTC Facilitates Quality Control MonitorsSchedulesTrains
CTDLC Creates Platform
ProvidesTechnical Support
HostsINSTITUTIONS
MarketHire &
Pay Tutors
Meet RegularlySet Policy Collectively
Choose SubjectsSupervise Tutors
Coordinators
COLLABORATIVE TUTORING MODEL
PROG
RAM CO
STResponsibilities of member institutionsResponsibilities of member institutions• Washington institutions pay a $500 one-time setup fee• Institutions hire and pay tutor(s)
o Institutions determine tutor wageso Institutions initially provide a minimum of 5 tutoring hours a week to
support 150 tutoring sessions a semester/quartero Institutions increase tutoring hours in 5 hour increments for every set
of 150 sessions students utilized in a semester/quarter over the initial 150.
•Institutions tutoring math purchase computer tablet (approx. $90)•Institutional coordinator monitors its tutor and communicates with NWeTC Administrator•Institutional Coordinator completes batch upload of institution’s students •Institutional Coordinator attends semi-annual NWeTC Advisory Council meetings
FIRST-YEAR COSTS
Each Institution’s Total Costs for the First Year of Membership:
• Tutors (usually writing tutors, sometimes another subject) for a combined total of 5 hours a week, 50 weeks a year. (At $10/hr., this amounts to $2500.)
• $500 one-time setup fee• $2500 membership fee
– The SBCTC elearning department will pay the $2500 membership fee for Washington community and technical colleges.
The SBCTC’s generous contribution means that first year costs (including tutor wages and the set-up fee) amount to $3000 rather than $5500. Most schools assign a current tutor to eTutoring so the eTutor isn’t an additional expense.
COSTS FO
R CON
TINU
ING
INSTITU
TION
SEach Continuing Institution’s Total Costs for
Subsequent Years of Membership:
1. Tutorso The institution is responsible for providing one tutor (for five hours a week)
for every set of 150 sessions over the initial 150.o For example:
0-150 sessions 1 or 2 tutors, 5 hours/week 151 – 300 sessions 10 hours/week 301-450 sessions 15 hours/week
o We usually ask that institutions provide writing tutors first because the Online Writing Lab garners the most usage. However, after that point, you may add tutors in any of the available subjects.
2. The Institutional Coordinator will spend some time checking on tutors and conferring with the Northwest Consortium Administrator.
You supply a tutor or two and just a little of
your time!
THE BEN
EFITS OF JO
ININ
G TH
E NW
ETCWhy Join the NWeTC?
• Compared to popular services like Smarthinking.com, eTutoring.org is very cheap!
• As a consortium with a large tutoring force, we can offer more subjects than most face to face tutoring centers.
• As a member of the NWeTC Advisory Council, you’ll contribute to the creation and revision of the policies and pedagogies that inform our practices.
• Tech support and platform updates are provided by the Connecticut Distance Learning Consortium (CTDLC)
• Tutors are hand-picked by institutional coordinators, but the NWeTC Administrator handles the scheduling and additional training
THE CO
LLABORATIVE EFFO
RT Why Build Collaborations?Why Build Collaborations?
• Cost savings• Shared resources• Build it TOGETHER, own it TOGETHER• Flexibility in design• The strength and size of the group makes more things possible
THE D
EVELOPM
ENT PRO
CESS
All Stakeholders Inform the Process:
• Tutors identify what works, what doesn’t, what’s missing
• Students let us know if our processes and systems are easy to use
• Coordinators identify tools they need: reports, student registration, eTutor supervision
Consortium-w
ide SupportThe NWeTC is a mutually supportive consortium.
• We encourage coordinators and tutors to contact one another to share ideas, ask questions, and support each other’s work.
• The listservs [email protected] and the [email protected] have been created for the purposes of this collaboration.
ETUTO
RING
.ORG
’S HO
MEPAG
EA Quick Look at the eTutoring Platform:
The Administrator’s View
The Homepage:
Contact Information
That’s It! If you have any questions, please contact:
Sarah Bergfeld, NWeTC AdministratorEmail: [email protected]: 509-335-5157
OrJanet Kendall, Director of Distance Degree ProgramsEmail: [email protected]: 509-335-3557
We sincerely hope you join the exciting world of eTutoring!