Interviews with Digital Media Thought Leaders
Authoritative and Inexpensive On-Line Tutoring
Podcast Audio | Posted by Phil Leigh on November 1, 2007
If you would like to learn how to get authoritative, yet inexpensive, live tutoring over the Internet, this interview is for you.
Our guest today is John Stuppy who is President of TutorVista.com. His company provides live tutoring services over the Internet. When I was in my early 30s, I returned to college for an electrical engineering degree. Most of the other students were 10 years younger and I had a difficult time keeping up. Typically, I would sit at the front of the class in order to get a good view of everything the professors were putting up on the blackboards. I would also try to make friends with the brightest students so that I might consult with them over homework problems.
Finally, I spent a lot of time in the tutoring labs. I needed help in various subjects including Physics, Calculus, and Electromagnetic Fields & Waves, among others. It was a hassle, because often the best tutors were busy with other students and the lab had restrictive hours of operation.
In recent years, my earlier experience set me to thinking that live sessions over the Internet would be a great advance in the tutoring state-of-the-art. TutorVista.com, which was founded in India a couple of years ago, seems to be fulfilling such a vision. Most of their instructors have Master or PhD degrees in the fields that they tutor. A student pays only $100 per month for unlimited sessions.
Typically the student and tutor work on a shared “whiteboard” displayed on their personal computer screens. They communicate audibly over headsets that utilize the integrated VoIP in each session. Writing on the whiteboard is normally facilitated with a tablet and pen that connects to the computer via a USB port. Such an arrangement would likely have permitted me to get the tutoring I needed on-demand in at least some of the subjects where I used the college tutoring lab. In time, it is likely that TutorVista will add many other classes as well.
TutorVista helps students from Kindergarten through college. At present, the concentration is in middle and high school. My guess is that services like this may well prove to become essential to the United States if our workforce is to remain competitive in a world economy that increasingly rewards those countries with the best technical skills.
Length: This audio interview is about 19 minutes long.
Categories: Podcast Audio
Tags: algebra, Calculus, digital media, distance learning, Education, Internet Tutoring, John Stuppy, On Line Tutoring, Phil Leigh, Physics, Tutor, Tutoring, TutorVista
Permalink | Email This |
Leave a Comment
If you would like to make a comment, please fill out the form below.
