Sean Tyler: Week 7

    One of the issues I have found with asynchronous tutoring is time. I find it easy to lose track of time working on one section and needing to correct myself, widen my lens, and go over the entire paper. It’s also easy to over comment and over correct. I find myself marking every error I see and having to go back and combine comments to point out patterns of problems, or deleting comments on small errors entirely. When I am working with a student face to face I won't stop them to point out every error because it would feel disruptive or even rude; when it's just me and the computer screen I have to actively stifle my inner proofreader.

    Modeling the correct form of a sentence is very easy with asynchronous tutoring. With a word processor at my disposal I can easily demonstrate where citations should go and how they should be formatted. It’s much easier to demonstrate with actual italics at my disposal.  I think that written explanations for grammar and syntax issues are also helpful. Students might forget a verbal example but with asynchronous tutoring they can refer back to the example as many times as they need. I lean best visually, so I love written feed back. I don't always memorize formulas or rules but I often remember how the correct technique looks. I think being able to see a sentence or a concept in written form helps students mimic the technique and recognize the correct form.

 
    I also think the convenience of online tutoring is a huge boon. Lots of students who would never have the time for in-person tutoring, returning students with children, athletes who travel, and students who work business hours, can all take advantage of tutoring services. In my previous writing center we had returning students working on major assignments use our asynchronous services because they could send a paper in after hours when their children were taken care of or they were home from work. I don't think many of these students would have been able to use our services if they didn't have an option that allowed them to work on their own schedule.

Comments

  1. RbtaylorOctober 13, 2020 at 11:48 AM

    I also find myself unaware of the clock during asynchronous forms of giving feedback, and I've found that this even happens with synchronous online learning as well. I only meet with students for half-hour increments, and it rarely feels like enough time to work through an entire paper (because it isn't). I find myself frantic at times trying to prioritize the best approach to giving feedback with the limited time remaining to work with the student. One thing I do like about this is that it forces me to prioritize the most important revision pathways for the student. I think it has made me a better tutor because a lot times I will ask the student to remind me of their takeaways and/or revision priorities before we end the session.

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  2. Lucie BerjoanOctober 13, 2020 at 1:14 PM

    Totally agree with you on all accounts here. I think asynchronous (and even just online synchronous) tutoring has so many pros, I honestly can't really imagine doing it in person! I feel like the accessibility and potential to work on tutoring at any given time, for both the tutor and the student, are huge. Additionally, it means that the student (and tutor!) can wait until they're in a headspace to really focus on the revisions or work, which isn't always the case with appointments.

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