Category Archives: tutoring

parenting, tutoring

InstaEDU-Online tutors anytime, anywhere

instaedu

Why was InstaEDU created and who are the creators?

InstaEDU was created to solve two big problems with the traditional private tutoring industry. First, while not every student needs an hour of tutoring every Tuesday from 3-4 p.m., every single student knows what it’s like to get stuff on a tough subject and need a little extra help. And second, private tutoring is prohibitively expensive for many students; in some parts of the country, tutors charge more than $100 per hour, making it difficult for many families and college students to afford. As a result, InstaEDU was launched to make high quality, one-on-one online tutoring accessible to anyone with an Internet connection and a desire to learn — regardless of time of day or if you planned ahead. The company was founded by Alison Johnston, her brother Dan Johnston, and a friend Joey Shurtleff in late 2011; all three went to Stanford University.

Is InstaEDU expensive?

Not at all. Every new student on InstaEDU gets to try the service out for free. After that, tutoring starts at just $24/hour, and it’s billed by the minute. So, if you only need help for a few minutes, you can pay just a few dollars. But if you want to work with your tutor for an hour or more, we want to make sure it’s affordable, too!

How does it work?

Students come to InstaEDU and let us know what subject they need help with. From there, we can get them connected with a tutor from a top college in under a minute. Here’s how it works: When tutors sign up with us, we require them to register with either Facebook chat or GChat. Once they do that, our service can tell when they’re online. So when a student comes to us looking for help with a specific subject, we can send chat messages to tutors who are both experts in that subject and online. If a tutor is available, they simply click on a link to take the lesson.

Beyond our on-demand service, we also know that many students like working with the same tutor on a regular basis — they want the traditional hour per week with a tutor they connect with. We also offer the option to message and set up lessons with tutors. This can be especially useful for students in college who need help with more advanced subjects and want to find a tutor who knows, for example, college-level organic chemistry.

What type of tutoring do you offer?

All of InstaEDU’s tutoring is done online in our collaborative lesson space (it has a whiteboard and document uploader with editing). Students can choose to use video chat, audio chat or text chat — it’s totally up to them. In terms of subjects, we cover all high school subjects and most college level subjects as well. Literally everything from basic algebra to advanced econometrics.

How do you vet your tutors and who are they?

All of InstaEDU’s tutors are either current students at, or recent graduates of top colleges like Stanford, Harvard and MIT. When they apply, we require them to sign up with Facebook — that’s how we can verify they’re associated with the school they say they are. We also have them  do an interview where they tell us about past tutoring and teaching experience, which is required to work with us. After every session, students also have the option to rate their tutors, so it’s easy to see if a tutor isn’t doing a great job; if that’s the case, we’ll determine if they’re a good fit for InstaEDU or work with them to resolve any issues.

How can parents use this service for their high school and college students?

We frequently see parents come to InstaEDU looking for a tutor to work with their student[s]. With high school students, parents can set up an account for their child, and then from the parent account it’s simple to manage payments and scheduling. All the student needs to do is show up for his or her lesson. With parents of college students, what we’ll see is parents turning to InstaEDU when their college student is in over his or her head in a tough course or needs help with a paper. Just like with the high school students, parents can manage the payment aspect of the account so the only thing the student needs to focus on is their lesson.

Is it easy to get started using InstaEDU?

Absolutely. We give every new student on InstaEDU a free trial so they can see how the service works and make sure it’s a good fit. All that’s needed beyond that is an Internet connection and a desire to learn.

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admissions, college guidance, college planning, parenting, tutoring

5 Ways to help a student who is struggling academically

imagesWhen your child is in their junior and senior year of high school, one of the most exciting things about that time in their life is knowing that they are just several months away from going away to college. But sometimes, even amidst all of the planning and excitement, it can be challenging to maintain the kind of grades that are needed to be accepted into the school of their choice.

If you have a college bound kid who appears to be struggling academically and you’re looking for some tips on how to help them, we have five proven ones that will have them ready to receive their college acceptance letter sooner than you might think:

Encourage them. Whether it’s been while we were in school or on our jobs, we all have experienced moments when we were simply burned out. That’s why, even in the midst of all of the hustle and bustle that comes with the everyday demands of life, it’s important check in with your child and keep them encouraged. Oftentimes a little pep talk can go a long way toward getting them back on track.

Suggest that they to get into study groups. In college, it’s nothing out of the ordinary for students to get together and have study sessions. So, in preparation for campus life, why not encourage your child to either become a part of a study session or to start one in high school? Having the support of their peers can also be a very effective tool.

Be willing to assist them. Yes, for many of us, it’s been years since we were in high school or college, but you might be surprised by the amount of information that you’ve retained. It doesn’t hurt to at least sit down with your child and ask them about the areas where they are having trouble and then offering your assistance where you can. If that doesn’t work, then there’s also the next suggestion.

Get them a tutor. There is absolutely nothing wrong with getting your child a tutor. As a matter of fact, it could prove to be one of the best things that you could do for them if their grades are truly suffering. A wonderful thing about this particular option is that there are private tutors who can come to your home, or you can enroll them in something like a Sylvan’s Learning Center program, or there are even free online tutoring options available. Some of them include Khan Academy, Free-Tutoring-Online and LearnToBe.org. If your child is comfortable with a tutor now, they will be less hesitant to get one later should they need something like a GMAT tutor to prepare them for an MBA or law school entrance exams down the road.

Don’t rule out getting them tested. Sometimes, you can find yourself doing all of the “right things” and your child is still not excelling. If you sense that they are doing their best and you’re still not getting the kind of results that you would like, don’t be closed to the idea of having them professionally tested. If they do have some kind of learning disability, it’s better to know as soon as possible so that you can get them the appropriate help that they need before they get to college.

 

parenting, tutoring

Helping your college student find a tutor

tutor1When most kids get to college they are understandably a bit lost. If you’ve done a good job of teaching them how to get by in unfamiliar surroundings they can no doubt find their way around (or humbly ask for help from more experienced students). Attending orientation and taking the campus tour couldn’t hurt, either. But there are bound to be things students need that they don’t know how to get. In fact, they might not even know where to start looking.

If they find themselves struggling with a particular subject, for example, it might not even occur to them to seek out tutoring services in order to get the help they need. As a parent, it’s your goal to see that your kids are given every opportunity to succeed, and that onus doesn’t end the minute they turn 18 or leave your house. So whether they call you up complaining about a hard class or you’ve notice their grades starting to slip, it may be high time you help your student find a tutor.

The first thing every student should try to do is take advantage of any tutoring services offered by the campus. Many schools employ knowledgeable upperclassmen in some type of learning center on campus to provide tutoring in basic coursework for their peers who are struggling. So if kids are having trouble with their general education requirements they can get the help they need to understand the fundamentals and prepare for more advanced coursework. Some teachers also have classroom aides that make themselves available to assist any students that are having trouble understanding lessons. This is especially common in large and popular courses that have several hundred students (too many for a single teacher to manage alone). While students can always speak with a professor during office hours, they are understandably busy and they may not have time to tutor individual students. So have your kids inquire with the professor about a qualified classmate that may be able (and willing) to help.

Of course, there are also professional tutors to consider. In some cases, graduate students will tutor undergrads for money to pay their ongoing tuition and other costs. This is a great resource for kids since they are in close proximity and they often charge less than teachers or other types of tutors. But if your student is still having issues finding an appropriate tutor, you might consider looking into professional online tutoring services like SmartThinking.com, Tutor.com, Brainmass.com, Classof1.com, and EduWizardS.com, amongst others. These sites often have tiered pricing structures depending on the amount of help students need, they offer a diverse array of specific subjects, and they allow for flexible scheduling of sessions. Additionally, if your student is well versed in any subject, they can earn money by sharing their knowledge with Learnok.com.

The idea here is that the resources available to students in need of a tutor are practically unlimited in this day and age. If they can’t find tutors here and there within the local area, they need only hop online to find a whole world full of qualified individuals just waiting to help them ace their classes. It may not be free, or even cheap, but if you want your college students to do their best, then help them to find the tutoring services they need. Start by searching for free resources, of course, but don’t shy away from paid options; they’re bound to cost less than another semester of tuition to retake a failed class.

Guest Posts, parenting, tutoring

4 Do’s and Don’ts for your struggling student

High school is a balancing act, and students are often doing so much – and sleeping so little – that their grades or test scores may fall by the wayside. As parents, there are actions you can take to help when your student’s grades are dropping, and a few actions that won’t help at all.

What Won’t Help

Do the student’s homework for them.  It may be harder to give a student suggestions and guidance for an essay than to walk them through every sentence. But when they’re fed the answers, students aren’t learning. They’ll learn more by coming up with a wrong answer on their own than by you simply providing the right one.

Ignore your student.  They may want to be left alone, but poor grades are often an indicator of deeper problems. You can have a conversation with your student about their grades while still respecting their privacy.

Go behind their back to the teacher. It may be tempting to blame a teacher for a student’s bad grades. A high schooler, however, should be learning to take ownership of their class performance and communicate with the teacher themselves.

Berate them for poor time management or lack of study skills. It’s one thing to point out that your student spends more time with friends than with books. It’s another to make them feel like all their choices are poor ones. Constant haranguing risks lowering a student’s self-confidence, which could make academic performance even worse.

What Will Help

Get the whole story. Listen if they explain why their grades fell, and don’t automatically accuse them of making excuses. Many factors in a high schooler’s life could be contributing to poor grades or test scores; bad decisions are often a factor, but it’s rarely as simple as laziness.

Help the student set small, specific goals. A few math problems a night or an outline for an essay are manageable steps. Although you should keep holding your student to a high standard, any progress can be noted and praised.

Communicate regularly with your student (and teachers, if necessary). Ask your student what you can do to help. Attend parent-teacher conferences and ask teachers what they recommend – and encourage your student to keep an open dialogue with their teacher.

Make the student take responsibility. If they fail to meet their goals, hold them accountable. Trust them – and make it clear that you trust them – to do their work on time and bring up their own grade. Remember, they’ll need to be accountable and responsible in college. They might as well start now!

Students need to know that you’re their cheerleader and advocate, especially if they’re struggling in school. It can be tough to bring up a low grade or redeem a failed test, but by working together, you can do it and learn something in the process.

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Today’s guest post is from Amy. Amy edits and writes for the University Language Services blog, a resource for students from college application to graduation and beyond. 

parenting, tutoring

LearnSmart–Personal Digital Tutor

 

McGraw-Hill Higher Education has made its industry-leading personal digital tutor – McGraw-Hill LearnSmart – available for students to purchase directly. Traditionally, McGraw-Hill has marketed LearnSmart, which is available in almost every subject area, to universities and professors for class-wide adoption, which it will continue to do. But now, students can access LearnSmart on their own – a move the company made because of the solution’s growing popularity and proven effectiveness among students.

Students using McGraw-Hill LearnSmart have been proven to move up a full letter grade by studying smarter, not longer. With LearnSmart, students use their out-of-class study time to answer questions that are related to what they’re learning in their course. The fully digital system acts like a personal tutor, continuously assessing students’ knowledge and skills and providing personalized content and recommendations that help them master basic course concepts and retain their knowledge over time. Because LearnSmart is conveniently accessible online and via mobile apps, the technology and devices that students use every day will power a personalized, study-on-the-go experience that will give them the information and focus they need to ensure success in their courses.

Widely available for more than 100 best-selling McGraw-Hill college textbooks and across more than 40 course areas, LearnSmart is great even for students on a budget, starting at $24.99 per semester. Parents wanting to ensure their children get the most of their education can rest assured that LearnSmart is a smart investment. In a study released last year, LearnSmart was shown to turn C students into B students, and B students into A students.

“I have had so much success using LearnSmart,” said Tracy Chupp, an Anatomy & Physiology student at Ivy Tech Community College. “By using LearnSmart to study, I know exactly what I need to practice and how much I know about each topic.”

Originally developed in 2007, McGraw-Hill LearnSmart uses a wealth of data to continuously analyze students’ knowledge and skills and direct them to the exact material (in their e-book or print book) they need to study. LearnSmart also contains engaging gaming elements to push students to improve their performance by showing them how they rank relative to their peers. LearnSmart is perfect for today’s multitasking students, whether they are over-achievers seeking an added edge, struggling students who need extra help to prepare for their exams, or students who are simply pressed for time. More than 950,000 students have answered nearly 700 million questions using LearnSmart – which is good news for students, as LearnSmart gets smarter the more widely it is used.

“We have technology with the power to personalize the learning experience and give students an academic edge,” said Brian Kibby, president, McGraw-Hill Higher Education. “We’re making LearnSmart available directly to students – and their parents who want to help them succeed – so we can ensure that more students have the tools they need to empower themselves and get the most out of their college education. As a student in today’s highly competitive and expensive college environment, why wouldn’t you use a digital tutor that could increase your course performance by a whole letter grade?”

Students and parents can purchase immediate access to LearnSmart from the recently launched LearnSmart website at www.mhlearnsmart.com, by simply finding the McGraw-Hill textbook title for the courses they are taking. McGraw-Hill LearnSmart will also be available for purchase at Follett’s network of 940 college and university campus stores throughout North America and on Follett’s website. LearnSmart can also be purchased through the McGraw-Hill Education online store at www.shopmcgrawhill.com.

To promote the proven effectiveness and expanded availability of this exciting study tool, McGraw-Hill is also announcing today the Going Places with LearnSmart Sweepstakes, in which  students who enter will be eligible to win prizes totaling more than $10,000, including gift cards students can use towards spring break travel, and free LearnSmart products. For more information and to register, students should visitwww.mhlearnsmart.com/goingplaces.

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 About McGraw-Hill Education

McGraw-Hill Education is a content, software and services-based education company that draws on its more than 100 years of educational expertise to offer solutions, which improve learning outcomes around the world. McGraw-Hill is the adaptive education technology leader with the vision for creating a highly personalized learning experience that prepares students of all ages for the world that awaits. The company has offices across North America, India, China, Europe, the Middle East and South America, and makes its learning solutions available in more than 65 languages. For additional information, visit www.mheducation.com.

admissions, college guidance, college planning, tutoring

Alleyoop connects with Naviance to maximize student success

Earlier this year, I wrote a post about Alleyoop, a program designed to help students prepare for college by improving their math skills.

Today Alleyoop is partnering with Hobsons to create even more customized recommendations to keep students on track to reach their college and career goals through Naviance. With more than 5 million students in 5,500 schools around the globe, Naviance is the world’s largest college and career readiness platform. Through this partnership, students can use their Naviance Family Connection accounts to benefit from the collective intelligence of the Alleyoop Super Brain to improve their math and science skills.

“Alleyoop is about so much more than getting immediate math and science help — it’s about letting students take control of their education,” said Patrick Supanc, president of Alleyoop. “With this new partnership, Alleyoop becomes a destination for students and families on Naviance to get personalized academic resources that help make their dreams a reality.”

Alleyoop helps students succeed by connecting them with the right resources at the right time. Students will now get customized, tailored math and science help from Alleyoop based on the goals they set within the Naviance Family Connection portal.

According to The National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education, every year in the United States, nearly 60 percent of first-year college students discover that, despite being fully eligible to attend college, they are not academically ready for postsecondary studies. Alleyoop and Naviance are helping to bridge the gap between college eligibility and college readiness by providing a way for students to set academic and career goals, and map out a plan of action to achieve them.

 

“The combination of Naviance and Alleyoop makes it easier than ever for students to tie learning to life,” said Stephen M. Smith, President, Hobsons K-12. “At Hobsons, we strive to connect everything a student learns to a real-world objective. Our partnership with Alleyoop helps students tie their interests and skills to real college majors and careers, and preparing them academically and personally for a bright future.”

test prep, tutoring

ADHD and the ACT: Why the ACT may be a smarter choice for ADHD students

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For many years, the SAT was really the only choice for college-bound students.  The ACT was largely unknown beyond the west coast, and many, if not most, colleges didn’t accept it.  This circumstance has changed dramatically in the last few years.  The ACT is accepted almost everywhere, and it has gained in popularity with students.  While the standard version of the test isn’t for everyone, the accommodations available to students with disabilities make it an attractive choice for ADHD students.

I’ve mapped out the differences between the SAT and ACT in terms of the available accommodations useful for ADHD students.  While the options are largely identical in name, in practice the ACT has significant advantages.

Available accommodations SAT ACT
Extended time (time & ½) Yes (5 hours, 11 minutes) Yes (up to 5 hours; 5 hours, 45 minutes with writing)
Extended time (double time) Yes, very difficult to qualify Yes, very difficult to qualify
Multiple day testing Yes, for double time only Yes for special circumstances
Extra breaks Yes, between each section Yes, between each section
Extended break time Yes, twice length of standard breaks Yes, breaks are student paced
Small group testing Yes No (but if receive extended time, will be small group setting)

Specifically, the ACT allows students granted extended time to largely work at their own pace within a five hour total time limit (five hours and 45 minutes if taking the ACT with writing).  This means students can take breaks after each section as needed, and for as long as they prefer.  If a student finishes the test before the time limit, he or she is free to leave.   This flexibility may be invaluable for an ADHD student.

In contrast, with standard accommodations the total testing time for the SAT is five hours and 11 minutes (the experimental section is eliminated for students with extended time).  However, if a student also receives extra and/or extended break time, which may be critical for an ADHD student, the total testing time could be increased by an hour or more.  While snacks are allowed, a student in this situation could find him/herself not eating lunch until 3 PM!  The stress of such a long day can be very difficult for an ADHD student, and his/her performance on later sections will almost certainly be negatively impacted.

While I don’t recommend choosing the ACT solely because of the available accommodations, the advantages should certainly be considered when choosing which test to take.  For those students who prefer the format of the SAT, they should absolutely take the SAT.  In the end, the ability to get more questions correct is the most important variable.

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Today’s guest post was contributed by Jenn Cohen, owner of Jenn Cohen Tutoring and President and Chief Word Nerd of Word-Nerd.com, an SAT vocabulary website.  She specializes in tutoring ADHD students for the SAT, PSAT and ACT.  You can find her on Twitter @satprepforadhd and @SheldonWordNerd.