This semester, students will be able to receive free, personalized tutoring in a variety of subjects from the Web site www.smarthinking.com.
The Louisiana Board of Regents has purchased 900 hours of tutoring time from Washington, D.C.-based smarthinking.com as the first step in a series of online service efforts.
Through the Web site, students can access the tutoring system and receive help in areas such as mathematics, statistics, accounting, economics, grammar, Spanish and chemistry.
The Web site also contains an interactive writing center to help students with essays, papers and other written projects.
Ron Hay, executive director of Computing Services, said he supports online tutoring as an alternative method of providing assistance to students.
“I’m all in favor of it,” Hay said. “It removes the barriers of geography and time.”
Hay said the Office of Computing Services has developed its own model for online tutoring using the Microsoft Meeting software program. However, Hay said problems with that system still are being worked out, and it is not currently available for student use.
According to Hay, the biggest problem facing online tutoring is finding capable individuals who are willing to give their time to assist students.
Mike Abbiatti, associate commissioner for information and learning technology for the Board of Regents, said the tutoring on smarthinking.com is provided by qualified educators who have been specifically trained to provide this type of assistance.
Abbiatti said the Board of Regents has trained 200 faculty members statewide to help integrate the system in the state.
After reviewing several tutorial Web sites, the Board chose the one it felt best suited students’ needs.
“We did a study of all the online tutoring programs, and smarthinking.com met our requirements — easy access, easy to use, one-on-one involvement and easy implementation,” Abbiatti said.
Scott Gage, LSU’s Writing Center assistant director, said if done properly, he did not see any disadvantages to online tutoring.
“I think that if they have live interaction, there’s not much of a difference,” Gage said.
Gage also said use of online tutoring may depend on a student’s lifestyle. For example, a student with a break between classes may choose to receive real-life assistance on campus, while students with busier schedules may find it more convenient to use an online system.
Currently, the Board of Regents’ association with smarthinking.com is only a pilot program.
“We are doing the pilot to determine the benefits and liabilities of online tutoring, not the relative merits of one product over another,” Abbiatti said.
The Board will evaluate use of the site in June to determine its effectiveness.
Meanwhile, Abbiatti said he hopes many people will try smarthinking.com as a learning assistance tool.
“We want to provide easier access to higher education to a wide range of people,” Abbiatti said.