Robert Taylor - Week 7

 The use of writing as the medium for communication and as a model for good writing in an asynchronous tutoring environment seems to be one of its key advantages. Even online synchronous tutoring has this advantage over in-person tutoring work, as Remington suggests. I’ve often thought about this idea in general as an English teacher. There is a certain amount of pressure to have one’s writing live up to the professionalism of teaching, particularly as an English teacher. I always force myself to read and revise emails before I send them to students because I see my own writing as a model for how I want my students to write. This modeling, whether the students realize it or not, is an important part of the learning process.

Another advantage I see in asynchronous tutoring, as mentioned in the Bedford chapter, deals with the record that is left of the conversation between the tutor and student. The synchronous writing center we use has this advantage over in-person tutoring as well. It’s great that students have the opportunity to return to the conversation about their writing to review. Receiving real-time, verbal feedback can be overwhelming for some students, especially ESL students, yet with synchronous and asynchronous tutoring, there is a way to refer back to the conversation that was had and the feedback that was given.

With the pandemic, there is obviously not an option for in-person tutoring, but I can see many students preferring online tutoring, whether synchronous or asynchronous, because of their learning styles and academic needs. The mantra that there is no one-size-fits-all approach to teaching and learning is just as true when applied to writing centers.


Comments

  1. Sean TylerOctober 12, 2020 at 8:07 AM

    I agree with you that modeling is an important part of the teaching process. I find that as someone who learns well visually, I also like being able to see the feedback so I know exactly what the type of sentence or citation looks like. I think for students who work with visual materials having a record of the session and their feedback can be very helpful.

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