Online Tutoring Still In Its Infancy: Sylvan Learning CEO Jeff Cohen (Part 5)

SM: If we were viewing the screen of an online tutoring session, what would we be seeing? Is there a whiteboard?

JC: It feels like a whiteboard. It is a shared environment where both teacher and student can see the lesson plan. The teacher can make comments on the screen and write on the screen, as can the student. Using either a mouse, stylus, or tablet the student and teacher can physically write on the screen.

If your child is in a math program, then the teacher can take that child through a guided practice and show the child how to compute certain equations. They can then turn it back over to the child to demonstrate that they understand the skill. The student can then show the teacher how they solve the problem by writing with the stylus or mouse.

It is very collaborative. It allows for the teachers to change colors, highlight, and give rewards, and it is almost identical to sitting across a desk from one another. The only thing they cannot do is see each other.

SM: You don’t have video?

JC: No, and I am glad you asked that. We found there was no need for it. It takes up a lot of bandwidth and did not add any significant benefits to the teaching or learning experience. Honestly, we like that the two do not need to see each other. It is a tutoring experience versus a personal relationship.

SM: So it is an audio and Web experience?

JC: Yes. It is a VoIP and shared collaborative Web environment that we have built using proprietary technology.

SM: Does a student get a different tutor each time they come online?

JC: It can be a different tutor. That is part of the secret sauce of the Sylvan program. Even in a center, a student can have a different tutor on any given day. The curriculum is what is designed for a student’s needs. Teachers are trained in our curriculum to pick up the lesson plan at the point of delivery and know exactly what to do with the particular child that they are teaching.

That being said, both in-center and online programs strive to keep a tutor and child together if it is working out. There are often times where a parent identifies a teacher who has really found a way to connect with their child and requests that teacher to be the one who conducts the lessons. Obviously, the teacher has to want to teach at the same time that the student is available. If the child and family are showing up at regular intervals and it works from a scheduling standpoint, then we will accommodate that. The system, however, is not dependent on a regular teacher/student match.

SM: How many subjects are covered by your online tutoring?

JC: The online curriculum is predominantly math and reading. It covers beginning math and reading and goes through early high school. On the math side it goes through early algebra.

This segment is part 5 in the series : Online Tutoring Still In Its Infancy: Sylvan Learning CEO Jeff Cohen
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