Presentation slides for Leanne Frost and Chairsty Stewart's NADE 2010 presentation for Elluminating the Road: Starting Your Online Tutoring Program.

1. Elluminating the Road: Starting Your Online Tutoring Program Leanne Frost and Chairsty Stewart Academic Support Center Montana State University Billings

2. Don’t forget: You can copy-paste this slide into other presentations, and move or resize the poll.

3. Elluminating the Road: Starting Your Online Tutoring Program Leanne Frost and Chairsty Stewart Academic Support Center Montana State University Billings

4. Montana State University Billings 4-year university located in Billings, MT 2-year College of Technology campus Approximately 5,000 students One of four Montana State University campuses

5. Academic Support Center Recruits, trains and manages staff, including: 1 director An additional 5 FT and 20 PT instructors, who also tutor 60 tutors Two part-time administrative assistants

6. Academic Support CenterUniversity Campus Equips, manages and staffs a main campus Learning Lab with: 40 computers 14 tutoring stations Serves nearly 600 students per day!

7. Academic Support CenterCOT Campus Equips, manages and staffs a COT Learning Lab with: 16 computers 7 tutoring stations Serves nearly 125 students per day

9. 89% are commuter students

10. Average age of student is 24

11. 35% of students are 25 or older

12. Retention data on our 2007-2008 first-year to second-year students show:

13. Students taking a combination of online and on-campus classes are the most successful.

15. Things to Consider Prior to Implementation

16. Things to Consider Subjects to be tutored What are the needs of the subject areas based on the needs of the students? Synchronous or Asynchronous or both? What are your resources – enough staff? Outsourcing/In-house A 2nd party virtual learning assistance center? A regional consortium? In-house online tutoring center?

17. Things to Consider Technology Available/Needed Laptop/Desktop/Tablets Internet connectivity Headset microphones Noise-cancelling USB plug-ins Webcams Software ADA accessible Tutorials Access to electronic versions of course materials

18. Things to Consider Operational Expenses Software Hardware Peripheries Employee wages Training Funding Departmentally funded Grant funded Shared funding opportunities

19. Things to Consider Tutor selection Who is tech and subject savvy? Who is available to tutor and when? Scheduling (hours/availability) What are the hours? Balance between tutor availability and student need During on-campus hours and/or extended hours

20. Things to Consider Training Who will coordinate and supervise the online tutoring program? Must know the program before training others Certifications/tutorials/webinars Start-up workshops Ongoing through semester Practice sessions

21. Things to Consider Gaining buy-in/support across campus Articles in campus publications Notices to instructors Notices to students from online instructors A link on the campus home page A link on the student services webpage Demonstrations to faculty Workshops for students Posters Give-aways A “Grand Opening”!

22. Things to Consider Oversight (administration--who is responsible for what?) Purchasing Training Scheduling Monitoring Troubleshooting Equipment Security

23. Things to Consider Tracking Saving sessions Creating logs Assessment Instructor feedback Student satisfaction surveys

24. Things to Consider Implementation Time Schedule Set an approximate start date Research options available Obtain approvals Purchase software and equipment Hire and train personnel Publicize services

25. Online Tutoring demo

26. Obstacles to Success Funding Limited technology Students Tutors Oversight Lack of tutor training Lack of tutors or availability Territoriality Faculty hesitancy Fear of the unknown Lack of awareness of services/program First impressions

27. Overcoming Obstacles Plan ahead, but be willing to adapt. Take the time to “play” with hardware and programs before making a final decision. Work with disability services to ensure access for all! Early decisions made in concert with all stakeholders -- faculty, administrators, students, and tutors -- increase the potential for a successful program. Respond to tutor and student needs. Provide plenty of training. Assess and adapt.

28. Questions?

29. Contact Us Leanne Frost, Interim Director, Academic Support Centerlfrost@msubillings.edu (406) 657-1714 Chairsty Stewart, Math Instructor and Online Tutoring Supervisor, Academic Support Centercstewart@msubillings.edu (406) 657-2010