Online Tutoring & Learning for Technology-Related Business Courses

The Business and Information Systems Department at the Bronx Community College (BCC)/The City University of New York (CUNY), offered online tutoring service for technology-related courses utilizing asynchronous (the Announcements, the Discussion Forum, and Journals in Blackboard, and Email) and synchronous tools using an interactive whiteboard and instant message capabilities in real time (Blackboard Collaborate Ultra). The paper summarizes the procedures and findings in online tutoring/learning in the Fall semester of 2018 and recommendations for the future. Many studies show that the ideal solution for online learning is a blended learning model with asynchronous (the Announcements, the Discussion Forum, and Journals in Blackboard, and Email) and synchronous interaction using an interactive whiteboard and instant message capabilities in real time (Blackboard Collaborate Ultra).

Blackboard Collaborate Ultra is now browser-based, which ensures ease in entering a session with the synchronous virtual classroom tool. It also has features such as text and voice chat, PowerPoint slideshow delivery, and desktop sharing.It was the first-time for most students using Blackboard Collaborate as a resource for tutoring which was difficult for them to adopt since they are used to in-person tutoring. In addition to it, it was too much for one tutor, who is new in online tutoring, to deal with 7 courses with 20 sections this semester. As the semester goes on, the tutor got busier and his schedules got harder to coordinate.

Overall, finding success in this environment of online tutoring can sometimes be challenges. This is because of lack of physical contact to see how students react to what they are tutored on. This makes it difficult for the tutor to gauge if students understood what they thought.