Online teaching part of a growing trend
Saturday, July 24th, 2010Gaurav Sharma CEO and founder of online tutoring services, credits the increased demand for online tutoring services to a number of factors including the number of non-traditional students who do not have plenty of time to look for on-campus resources become more competitive educational landscape in which colleges and schools are trying harder to attract students with additional services and students with greater knowledge on the Internet. More than 500 institutions, including the Anne Arundel Community College, Gallaudet University and the Art Institute of Washington, ordered online tutoring services. And the company says that it was signed by 19 institutions this fall, including District-based Southeastern University. Online teaching services for schools to pay a block of time and offer students free access to services on a PC or college laboratory. College login first opportunity to buy scheme, which allows up to 15 hours of instruction for each student and then adjust their next use in accordance with the contract, said Gaurav. The company did not disclose the amount each time. Terry H. Coye director of tutorial and instructional materials, programs, Gallaudet University, said his school access to online tutoring services to supplement its limited tutoring services for graduate students. Many of Gallaudet’s deaf and hard-of-hearing students accustomed to learning online service is a good fit, Coye said. Founded in 1999, online tutoring services, employing over 450 part-time teachers from around the world to offer round-the-clock supervision. Washington students struggling with math in the middle of the night to answer a question could be the supervisor in India, where the work was started this morning. The company claimed that 80 percent of its online tutors have graduate degree in his discipline. While tutors come from around the world, 98 percent of writing instructors in the USA. While some critics might worry that a student could get too much help from someone outside the classroom, the company said it trains its tutors – who receive an average of 15 hours of training – to guide students to problems and not give away the answers. The company is not yet profitable, Gaurav said, but found that sales rose by “35-40 percent” last year. New contract is expected to fall further $ 500,000 to $ 750,000, said Gaurav. As more students are accustomed to technology, online tutoring services is likely to heat up the competition. Existing educational services giant Kaplan Inc. within the Washington Post Co., and Princeton Review Inc. has approached the online tutoring services. And the Baltimore-based Education Inc. said it plans to expand its online tutoring service. “Long term, there is no reason to believe [online tutoring] is not going to be on the Internet and students to take classes,” said J. Mark Jackson, director of K-12 research Eduventures Inc., a market research firm. Because it is an additional service, not the primary offer, he said, it is unclear how large the market might be.