THE WRITING & READING CENTER OFFERS ONLINE TUTORING (FOR ONLINE AND BLENDED STUDENTS

TAKING COURSES THROUGH PCE ONLY). ONLINE TUTORING HAS BEEN AVAILABLE SINCE

FALL 2010

ONLINE TUTORING AT UMD

THE WEBSITE EXPLAINS:

Peer tutors are trained to help you develop your writing and your skills as a writer. This requires your participation in the process.

In order to benefit from the services offered, engage with a tutor early in your writing process—when you have the time to revise after your session

WHAT TUTORS CAN and CANNOT DO

WHAT TUTORS CAN DO:

Peer tutors can assist you with the following in the order listed below:

Brainstorming for original topic ideas (live chat option)

Drafting (refining your thesis, outlining major points)

Revising for organization, clarity, concision, development of ideas, sense of audience/purpose and voice (rhetorical situation)

Contextualizing sources for utility and flowDeveloping your proofreading and editing skills

WHAT TUTORS CANNOT DO

Peer tutors cannot proofread/edit your draft for you

This is an important reminder because many students, whether seeking F2F or online assistance, hope to have a copyeditor do the work for them.

ONLINE TUTORING OPTIONS:

1. ASYNCHRONOUS: The most popular option

2. LIVECHAT: Used minimally in the first semester only (fall 2010)

3. SYNCHRONOUS: Never used by students (perhaps because the asynchronous option is more time-efficient for students)

ASYNCHRONOUS

Submit your paper for feedback via email

Use this option if you have already created a first draft and have a clear idea of the help you want. For example, you may want help: developing your ideas/support, eliminating unnecessary repetition, refining your thesis, revising for a clear sense of audience/purpose, etc. You will submit your paper and the assignment so the tutor can mark it up with notes and questions to help you revise. Please save and submit your paper as an (.rtf) file (Rich Text File).Allow 2-3 days for a response.                  

LIVE CHAT

Live Help Desk

Live chat with tutors via our help desk. This service is for quick questions or to get help brainstorming for a paper. Keep in mind that the live chat feature is for quick assistance, not for full paper review.

Available Mondays and Wednesdays from 8:00-10:00pm. 

SYNCHRONOUS

Online Writing Tutoring

Want to talk with a writing tutor, but don't have time to go to the campus writing center in person? Try out the new online writing tutoring classroom. Here, you can meet virtually with a writing tutor and discuss your paper in real time. The classroom is set up so you can hear the writing tutor talking to you via the computer, and you can share your paper for comments just as you would in a face to face setting.

Available Mondays and Wednesdays from 8:00-10:00pm by appointment.

Online Language Tutoring

Pilot running for online Spanish language tutoring in support of SPA 203 online

Tutors provide individual conversation and tutoring sessions for class

Student satisfaction survey will be conducted in April 2011

Future Plans for AY 2011-12

UMass Dartmouth is reviewing possible software tools for online tutoring Software will provide scheduling tools; recording of

tutoring sessions; and, additional resources for students

Online tutoring will continue for writing and Spanish

Goal: extend online tutoring to math and scienceOnline tutoring options will become available for

day students use by Spring 2012 (if not sooner!)

For More Information

Contact:

Jen Riley, Academic Director of Online Education jen.riley@umassd.edu

Susan Hagan, Online Tutoring Coordinatorshagan@umassd.edu