Identifying problems and solutions for online tutoring

After writing my post about the difficulties in finding an innovative solution to a problem in my practice I decided that through my discussion of the issue (i.e. with clients, peers, friends and family) combined with the reading of educational literature, I would eventually identify a problem, although whether my solution will be innovative will yet to be resolved. Through writing on my blog about a paper by Herrington et al (2007) on what design-based research should include, I identified an issue I was having with online tutoring.

It all began with an interesting point that Herrington et al (2007) cite from Reeves (2006) about how educational technology research has been and continues to be "largely pseudoscientific" and "socially irresponsible." I thought, and agreed, that there has been a tendency for some individuals to make revolutionary claims about ICT, particularly networked learning, and even to espouse it as essential to innovation. I, myself, have often posited technology as a panacea to educational problems.

I believed and still do, although there are many benefits to using technology to facilitate learning, conventional methods, such as face-to-face instruction, is invaluable. There is, I would say, something deeply personal about being with a knowledgeable or well-skilled "other." One of my clients recently spoke with me about the importance of seeing me in person and the beneficial effects it has on her learning, particularly being able to discuss the practice and have opportunities to discuss issues with me in person. For this reason, I was finding it difficult to conceptualise how networked learning could transform my practice, particularly when I believed that what I was doing was working. However, some of my clients, including the one above, began asking for online tutoring, something that I had dabbled in as a owner of a tutoring centre, where I would tutor through Skype, and as a course lecturer, but only in a question and answer format.

Therefore, I decided to do some research on online tutoring to see what others were saying about it on the Web. As I expected there is an abundance of articles citing the practice as "impersonal," and not as "constructive" or "beneficial" as in-person tutoring, whereas others were espousing the "practicality" and "convenience." This coincides with my earlier beliefs about online modes of learning. Prior to 2014 I never imagined that I would be completing my Masters online with USQ, or even enjoying the process. This is not only because of the convenience and practicality of the option, where I am not required to travel to an institution each week, sometimes on multiple occasions, and organise other face-to-face meetings with fellow students. It is because it allows me more time to spend with friends and family, and juggle work commitments. I have found this to also be the case with several of my university clients, who have opted to use Skype as a tutoring method.

However, I have found that although Skype is an excellent tool (as both the teacher and student can see who they are talking to and even are able to share a screen, enabling the teacher to provide immediate instruction or assistance that both can see) there are issues with clarity. This is one of the issues with online tutoring in Australia - the issue of bandwidth causing disruption to connection, particularly live streaming. Although I have unlimited broadband access, when sharing a screen and speaking at the same time, even with the video capturing mode disabled, there can be issues with connection, sometimes causing the screen to be blurry or speech to be intermittent due to slow connection or other issues. This can happen on both sides, for either the teacher or student. There has also been the "echo effect" or a "tinny sound" that can sometimes be heard whilst using Skype. These sounds can become annoying, and in worst case scenarios, can cause sessions to cease, either momentarily or indefinitely. I understand that this is not as much an issue in other "first world" countries, or even other neighbouring countries. Both my sons who upload videos to YouTube constantly talk about issues with Internet speed in Australia in comparison to other countries, particularly the United States.

As a potential solution I have recently found with one of my clients that turning off the video camera mode does provide better screen clarity but it is not reliable and does change throughout the session. A better option is to share a Google Doc, as both client and student can share the same document and edit it at the same time, and use Skype only for audio. There are other tools that are very effective, such as Blackboard's Collaborate and Citrix's GoToTraining, although they require a paid subscription and do not provide the ready intervention of Google Doc.

I realise the truth of the claim by Herrington et al. (2007) that a crucial first step to design-based research in education is the "identification and exploration of a significant educational problem." Now that I have identified a problem in my practice, along with possible solutions, my task is to illustrate how this will transform the future of my practice, particularly if I desire as a practitioner to be an active participant in the transformation economy, such as illustrated in the continuum below.

   by  jeanbaptisteparis 

References:

Herrington, J., McKenney, S., Reeves, T. & Oliver, R. (2007). Design-based research and doctoral students: Guidelines for preparing a dissertation proposal. In C. Montgomerie & J. Seale (Eds.), Proceedings of World Conference on Educational Multimedia, Hypermedia and Telecommunications 2007 (pp. 4089-4097). Chesapeake, VA: AACE.