This morning, when I turned on my computer, my Sympatico MSN home page had an article by Marc Saltzman featured at the top and… I could not resist the temptation of clicking on the title and reading it.
It was an interview with Stuart Ackerman, the Toronto-based founder, writer and host for Tutorgiant (I think the name is kind of tacky… yet my opinion is not that important, right?). This is a site targeting parents who cannot really afford private tutors for their kids who are having trouble in school and need extra help in order to achieve.
According to him, private tutors at home cost an average of $40 to $50 per hour and online tutors charge something like $25 for 50 minutes… With Tutorgiant, on the other hand, parents will pay between $69 USD (14 days) and $499 (365 days) and their children will have access to tutoring 24/7 with illimited time!… Wow!… What is the catch then? Unless Tutorgiant is paying their tutors (with money they get from companies advertizing on their site), no one will ever be available to teach online for such a low cost…
Well… here how it works: parents sit their kids, who for instance have problems with mathematics, in front of the computer and they have them watch a video with a tutor giving instruction on the subject. I would like to know how children who cannot grasp what is taught in their regular classes, in spite of their teachers’ help, will suddenly understand by watching a video. These kids need help! They need to interact with someone… someone who will be there to comfort them when it is necessary… someone who will show patience and understanding… someone who will sometimes give them the pep talk they need when they are frustrated or discouraged… someone who will have special skills in teaching students with learning differences…
My students are adults… yet they need my support and my undivided attention… they need to know that I am there and I can help them with whatever problems they may encounter in their learning process. Therefore imagine young children when they just do not get it!
Parking them in front of a computer is not a solution… it is like parking them in front of a TV set… no one needs a PHD in psychology to know that watching TV is passive and the brain is on neutral… there is no brain activity when we watch TV. Learning is active, not passive… interaction is a must… learners must engage in the learning process…
It reminds me of a program called Télé-Université that has been on air for many years in the 70s and 80s… There was a university professor looking at the camera and speaking about Art History, Architecture or Music… the program was only 30 minutes (and trust me, it was more than enough!) and it never presented any subjects such as mathematics, physics or chemistry… only Liberal Arts and Religions… because the producers knew back then that people would not “learn” anything from those courses… It was considered as something cultural… nothing more!
But, back then, people were still communicating in face-to-face settings… they were interacting with each other… they were engaging in conversations. Today, screens are our best friends! How much time do we spend in front of our computers every day? Too much I am afraid…
Perhaps people developed an allergy to human contacts… Friday, on CTV, they were asking guys on the street what would make them feel most deprived on Valentine’s Day: 24 hours without their BlackBerry/iPhone or without their girlfriend? I was not surprised to hear that 80% would rather give up their girlfriend!
Are children now raised with computers as their only friends? Hopefully not… yet, if parents offer their kids tutoring through videos, I really do wonder…
I guess Ackerman did understand that new trend quite well… if parking children in front of a computer watching videos is considered as helping them with their learning problems, then… I give up! I do believe in online tutoring and teaching, because there is still some interaction going on… there is still a human side to it… I know because I do it and, actually, there is not much difference between having a class online and having one in a classroom… I can still see my students (facial expressions are good indicators of how they feel)… it is still possible to engage and develop a relationship… If I were a parent and could not afford a tutor at home, well… I would opt for the online tutor for half the price! And I would rule out the videos right away!…
Le difficile, c’est ce qui peut être fait tout de suite; l’impossible, c’est ce qui prend un peu plus de temps.”
George Santayana
10 Comments
I am totally with you, I teach for university students at their houses. I mean that their parents are in the next room, I shout and yell for paying attention. I think tutoring online for children is not a good idea.
Also in Egypt we have an educating program for middle and senior students, but the funny part is that they watch it a day before the exam so they can know how the exam is going to be!!! as the ministry of education permits to give hints about the exam in this program.
We spend millions of pounds in private lessons in Egypt and we are still a developing country.
Hi Zeinab!
Indeed, where is the shouting/yelling (necessary part!
) when students are watching a video? LOL
How interesting that students in Egypt are tipped on the exams beforehand! I’m sure many here would love that! But in their dreams! It would be considered as a fraud! What’s the point anyways? Is is because the Ministry of Education wants to show an excellent success rate?…
BTW how’s the weather in Alexandria?
Have a good day!
Interesting article.
You stated,
“I would like to know how children who cannot grasp what is taught in their regular classes, in spite of their teachers’ help, will suddenly understand by watching a video.” I’ve been in the classroom for 12 years now. I’ve had split grade classes with over 35 children on several occasions. Consider the fact that there are children with ADD/ADHD, other learning disabilities, a history of low academic achievement, behavior problems, and a lack of motivation. These children are at a disadvantage in a regular classroom setting. My website provides these students with the skills and concepts that they are missing and have missed in class.
Furthermore, these students have the opportunity to involve themselves in the videos ‘on demand’, when and how often they wish.
You also mentioned, “no one needs a PHD in psychology to know that watching TV is passive and the brain is on neutral… there is no brain activity when we watch TV.”
My videos cannot exactly be equated with watching TV. In fact, teachers throughout North America still resort to the ‘lecturing’ modality of teaching. They have to. My videos are effiicient and clearly explain the concepts and skills that are needed as they only contain techniques and information rather than passive consumption.
I have never claimed that my service is a replacement for the classroom, rather it is an economical and practical reinforcer.
I respect your opinion but I also respect the opinions of my numerous members who applaud what I have done.
Stuart Ackerman
Good evening Stuart,
I’m honoured that you replied to my post! Most of the time, people don’t dare to come out of the shadow and discuss whatever I wrote. For instance, after all this time, I’d like someone from the PSC to reply so that it could put some light on their tests I’ve been questioning for a long time.
That being said, I totally agree with you that these days classes have too many students: I really do admire teachers who have to struggle with that on a daily basis. The schooling system isn’t perfect either! Personally, I couldn’t work with more than 4 students (the maximum I do accept in my groups) without thinking that I can’t answer their individual needs.
And I’m happy that you brought up the fact that the children can actually get somewhat involved in the learning activity/process (this was my main concern indeed!).
Of course this trend of online teaching is fairly new and I guess we will see the results only in a few years from now. I’ve been reluctant myself and, even if I started doing it in one-on-one sessions, I don’t think it suits everyone… we shall see!
Thanks for your comment, I really appreciate it!
Lyne,
This topic of self learning is debatable. …though thinking about learning needs for young generation, specifically the school kids, I feel the most important part is to engage their attention and interest and help them increase the retention of the information taught in the class room – not easy!
From my own experience (raising a kid) what I feel important is to address kids’ curiosity and engage their interest in asking questions at as early as age 5 when the schooling is not with heavy load of homework. Then comes the self discipline and self confidence and the determination… all sounds very strong words but these are the keys.
I do feel sorry for the teachers with big class size as it’s a challenge to address specific needs a kid may have in a class size of more that 15. Though here some responsibility of parents plays a very important role in kids’ education, not necessarily for parents to know the subject but to sense whether their kid is struggling with a specific problem or a concept and then talk to teachers to help them to help kids for that specific need.
I am hesitant to name (as not advertising the school or after school learning centers), but there are options available for kids to learn in an interactive, but self learning environment such as for math where a grade 4 student can learn mathematics concept of University level. Once a student is capable of showing his/her strength and see progress, it motivates him/her in other areas as well.
I can see the key learning components very clearly in my own learning French (!) …
Seema
Good afternoon Seema,
Hopefully everything’s going smoothly for you with your French training. I think you addressed an important key issue here: the parents’ involvement in their childrens’ learning experience.
It is very important that parents know exactly where their kids are at in school so that they can provide them with solutions before it’s too late… and it is also important that they follow up with the teachers. Unfortunately some parents don’t feel it is necessary and they come aware of their children’s problems once, sometimes, it’s kind of too late.
And I’m for self-directed learning as long as there’s still some engaging interactive activities… and it doesn’t become too much of a challenge for the children. Parents must also recognize their kids’ limitations and not push beyond them… learning must be fun, right? In your case, Sam never encountered any learning problems and she always wanted to learn more… and it’s great that you encouraged her curiosity! I know that, today, she’s the one who pushes herself too much!
How’s school these days?… keep me posted!
À bientôt!
I think you didn’t get my point, I said a hint not the whole exam, and they do this to help students to cool before the exam, as this exam is important to determine which faculty you will be in. We call it here “The senior crisis” – you will never understand this, it is our education system – sorry for that.
Zeinab,
I guess none of us is familiar with this system! Here, at no time, students would be given hints before any exams… it would be considered as cheating. Even the PSAC SLE tests (which in fact aren’t anything official except inside the government) are modified all the time and candidates have to sign a confidentiality clause (as if they could remember 65 long questions!)… Personally, I don’t have anything against giving students some hints : I think it only alleviates nervousness and anxiety. But, around here, giving hints is unthinkable!
À la prochaine!
Some hinting goes on in Ontario schools, at least in my experience.
In both high school and University classes our teachers/professors/TAs would give us “review sessions” before tests (especially midterms and final exams), and those review sessions almost always would include not just what topics the exams would cover, and how many questions on which subjects, and how many of what type of questions (e.g. 10 M/C, 15 T/F, 7 short answer, choose 2 of 5 long essay, 1 bonus); but they would also give us at least a few specific pointers that if you paid attention would tell you exactly what to study to allow you to answer at least a couple questions. Sometimes even telling us actual question(s) (for one or two questions), especially if not too many students came to the review session.
We quickly learned that taking the time to come to the review session (which was often optional) was worth it !
There were always golden nuggets. Now, maybe if you didn’t do any of the work already it wouldn;’t help you very much, but for those of us who actually had been paying attention, it was helpful, and there were some gifts .
D… I think I’m now more aware of the “hinting” that goes on… I learned a few things lately!
Actually, it’s more than “hinting”… it’s called “cheating”… and it occurred in our very own backyard. If you haven’t heard about THE leak regarding the reading comprehension and written expression tests, read this post:
http://ladamedragon.com/blog/?p=2755
Have a great evening!