Tutoring Services: Brick, Mortar & Beyond

With such drastic advances in the past thirty years technology has become the crutch for our everyday lives. Technology assists us in communication, transportation, and even education. The Internet has made accessing information much easier than it was just twenty years ago.
Today many students use the Internet to research topics in the curriculum and professors even utilize the Internet to create curriculum, sourcing news articles, journals, and even books directly from the web. The Internet is not only used to source information but its also a place to source additional educational tools. Today there are many educational tools just a mouse click away on the world wide web.

In recent years the demand for educational assistance outside of the classroom has skyrocketed. This is not only a direct result of America’s degrading public education system but also a consequence of the overall growth and desire for higher education across the United States. Experiencing exponential growth more Americans each year have decided to continue their education past high school and parents are planning ahead for their children to achieve at a higher level. One way parents and students prepare for a higher level of performance is utilizing tutoring services outside of the classroom. Tutoring has existed for centuries and has sustained it’s long-lasting reputation as an effective way to educate. Though it has a lengthy history tutoring has maintained a similar style and practice since it’s birth. Tutoring practices haven’t changed, just as the fundamentals of math and physics, haven’t changed, but the tools used to communicate and perform tutoring services have advanced dramatically. Today tutoring is not only available in the traditional brick and mortar version. Currently tutoring services are utilizing the Internet and other computer technologies to provide more effective results and by doing so reach a larger audience than ever before.

If you are looking for a tutoring service in you area you could find one in the yellow pages directory, this may be exactly what you need to succeed. Usually these tutoring companies have years of experience in providing educational services to their local communities and have established a relationship with school districts in your area. The traditional tutoring business not only has experience but usually has a positive history and lengthy testimonials of success with students. One tutoring service that was originally established through the brick and mortar approach is Imperial Tutoring of Illinois. Imperial Tutoring is accredited by the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools (NCA). Edward E. Gordan established Imperial Tutoring and in his book, Tutor Quest Finding Effective Education for Children and Adults, he states, “One of the hallmarks of effective tutoring is tailored assistance. We provide children and adults with tutoring that was specifically customized to the student’s needs, which ensured a high level of quality control.” Imperial Tutoring currently provides school districts with their trademarked Individualized Instructional Program (IIP) tutoring curricula.

Though the traditional route might be sufficient for some, maybe those studying subjects like math or English, they may not be effective for all. Advances in communication technology has made the world a much smaller place. This gives everyone an opportunity to source information across the globe in a matter of seconds using asynchronous and synchronous forms of communication. New and innovative tutoring services are aware of this opportunity and have integrated communication technology into their operations. The Internet is not the only tool tutors use to spread knowledge across the globe, Email, voice-over IP, and video conferencing are the wave of the future in tutoring communications. These advances have a positive effect on the tutor and the student. Sometimes the tutor a student needs is not located in their area or tutor-student schedules may not coincide, this is where communication technologies present an advantage. If the tutor the student needs is not near him or her this is not a problem, tutor and student can utilize email, voice-over IP, or video conferencing to communicate over a great distance. Online tutors are a great way to get the services you need over a great distance without the transportation cost. One new company that is taking the lead in online tutoring is TutorVista. TutorVista is working with clients to provide online tutoring through web-based programs that help the tutor and student interact directly over the web. Established in November of 2005 by Ganesh TutorVista is an “education services space that aims to bring twenty first century technology to education space by combining content, scientific pedagogy and on-line teaching.”

Other tutoring companies utilize the Internet as well to make it easier to find the tutor in your area. There may be many tutors near the student that specialize in the subject needed in but finding the tutor is a struggle. Some companies utilize the web as a hub for tutoring services by establishing a network for those who are interested in tutoring or need a tutor. In doing so finding a tutor near the user is within one click of the mouse. Companies providing this service utilize Web 2.0 theory and vertical search engine technology to facilitate communication between the student and tutor. This service actually provides both brick and mortar tutoring companies and online tutoring companies a way to breach the gap between tutoring services and client. The largest tutoring company (in number of tutors listed), Tutorz, has created such a tutoring network. Tutorz was established in 2006 by CEO Dirk Wagner and has rapidly grown, today Tutorz lists over 10,000 tutors nationwide. Tutorz, the first company to apply the vertical search engine model to tutoring, “hopes to facilitate the communication between students and tutors nationwide.”

Tutoring companies are established to focus on many different techniques and styles and take on many different forms. All of these tutoring services are effective and productive but the key is finding the one that best fits your needs. Try to change the way you think about finding a tutor, there are many options out there.