Online

Tutoring Fills Academic and Lifestyle Gaps for Houston Community College Students
If all it took were great teachers and ambiGous students, higher educaGon would be easy. Unfortunately, a host of other variables decide success, including a students academic background, learning style, naGve language, and the rigid demands of work and family. Tutoring is more important to student success than ever, says Deborah Hardwick, director of HCCSs online tutoring program. Thats why, in 2006, the Houston Community College System (HCCS) of Texas launched an online tutoring system that one out of six students now use to supplement their coursework. Using any internet-connected computer, students can ask a quesGon or submit a paper for review by a tutor at any Gme. The program builds on a decades-old face-to-face HCCS tutoring program that, while eecGve, was failing to fully serve the growing number of students with work and family pressures. It is simply impossible for many students to nd the Gme during normal school hours to get away from the workplace or to arrange child care and then travel to campus to sit down for help. The online program, powered by AskOnline, employs 35-plus faculty members and has supported over 10,000 registered students.

Keeping it Socra=c

Hardwick is a 40-year teaching veteran who supervised face-to-face English tutoring for 15 years. She has deep insight into what works and what doesnt. Our tutors dont actually do the work for our students, she says. We show them when theyre going o track, we point out grammaGcal mistakes but dont x them, we refer them to sources, and when they need help with a math problem, for example, we have them show us the work theyve aXempted and where they got stuck. We keep it SocraGc.

Ingenious Tool-Bar

To expedite reviews of student wriGng while prevenGng over-ediGng, HCCS tutor Sandra Vaughn developed a macro toolbar for use with AskOnlines tutoring plaZorm,. Tutors press hotkeys that mark text with comments such as run-on, fragment, citaGon needed, parallelism, slang, and verb tense agreement.

Each comment comes with a companion explainer bubble that tutors can edit, based on the parGcular student or context. HCCS oers the macro toolbar free to any online tutoring organizaGon.
HCCSs AskOnline tutoring program kicked o in fall of 2006, with a pilot for English classes. Today the program serves thousands of students each year in diverse subject areas from science through the humaniGes.

Success of HCCSs Online Tutoring Leads To Higher GPAs and Explosive Growth in Services
Students Flock to System
When rst implemented in 2006, it took 11 days for HCCSs AskOnline system to receive 100 student requests for tutoring. In 2010 the system handled an average of 100 requests per day in English, chemistry, physics, biology, math, social sciences and humanities. These requests generally are answered within half a day, but almost always within 24 hours.

The Secret of Success

What is the secret to HCCSs success? MarkeGng, markeGng, markeGng, says Deborah Hardwick, director of the online program. The tutoring organizaGon sets up an informaGon table at major student gatherings such as health fairs and Cinco de Mayo celebraGons. It posts yers all over campus, and Hardwick and her tutors talk it up constantly. Building faculty alliances is criGcal. Many faculty members mandate tutor review of papers or give extra credit to students who engage with tutors. And the faculty sing the praises of the tutoring program in their classes.

Higher GPAs

A recent study shows that HCCS students who use the online system as few as 3 or 4 Gmes in a semester can improve their GPA by nearly half a grade--i.e.; a high C becomes a low B.* This increase in classroom performance leads to improved persistence and retenGon, key metrics of HCCSs Chancellors Performance Goals for 2011.

HCCS at a Glance

Drama=c Growth in Distance Learners

69,500 enrolled students English is a 2nd language for

45% of the student body World-wide enrollment from 148 countries 55% of students are age 22 or older Twenty campuses serve six semi-autonomous colleges Accredited to award Associates Degrees

Distance EducaGon enrollment at HCCS has increased 103% in the past 5 years. Not only is this growth fueled by students as far away as India or VietNam, but also by the number of non-tradiGonal students (for instance, those working full-Gme or heading a household). For these students geing to one of HCCSs 20 campuses for classes is just not an opGon.

HCCSs AskOnline tutoring plaZorm oers these distance students quality tutoring when they need it, working within their rigorous schedules.

* To download a free copy of the complete HCCS research study, visit www.AskOnline.net