Online tutors a plus for Plano math classes
District is trying out program that links wireless laptops to online tutors
By KIM BREEN Collin County Bureau
Published November 28, 2004
Click here to go back to results.
|
Amber Branch's classroom is full of teachers, but she's the only one who needs a desk.
Students in two of the Plano teacher's algebra classes at Williams High School have access to tutors whenever they need them - in class or out. They'll just never meet them in person. They chat with them online as they work through math problems.The students are trying out an online tutoring service that the district hopes will serve as a tool for closing the achievement gap.Ms. Branch, who teaches students who have been identified as needing extra help in math, gives the tutoring service high marks. Teachers can't be everywhere in a classroom at once to see if someone's made a mistake or is struggling, she said."You can't catch every single one, every single time," she said.Especially in algebra, it's important to make sure students understand all the steps. Students can chat with the tutors when they've first made a mistake. "They get instant feedback," she said.During a recent class, Ms. Branch handed out a page of word problems for the students to solve. They logged into wireless laptops and sought advice from tutors who were standing by, already armed with copies of the assignment.Student and tutor take turns drawing diagrams and explaining questions and answers.Tutors ask questions like, "Can you tell me the sum of the angles in a triangle?" and ask to see the students' work, "Please go ahead with your steps."In the beginning, students got frustrated because the tutors asked so many questions and wanted to see all the steps in their work, Ms. Branch said.That's by design, said Sridhar Iyer, chief educational officer of Socratic Learning Inc., a Plano-based company. His wife, Mythili Sridhar, started the company and serves as president. "It's teaching by asking a lot of questions," Mr. Iyer said.Tutoring is available in all subjects, he said. Seventy percent of the tutors have master's degrees in the subjects they are teaching. About 50 percent are certified teachers, and the rest are in the process of becoming certified, Mr. Iyer said.The company has clients - primarily in urban school districts - throughout the country."It helps you put highly qualified instructors where the demands are greatest," he said.Plano is using the company's services on a trial basis all year, only in Ms. Branch's class. The company is offering the service for free in hopes the district will expand the program next year.Mary Hewett, executive director of instructional technology for Plano, said the district will compare the achievement of students in the program with other students to see whether the program has been effective."It's probably worth it," said James Gantt, 15, one of Ms. Branch's students. Teachers, he said, "can only concentrate on one person at a time," he said. With tutors, "everybody gets their own individual attention."E-mail kbreen@dallasnews.com
|
|
