1. Tutor.com Case study Giantommaso D’Astolto NEST project Alta ScuolaPolitecnica VII cycle
2. What is it? Americanon-line platform for tutoring The range of of offered services is broader than competitors, it also involves sections dedicated to military, schools, governors, libraries and community colleges The aim is to provide services without time/space constraints
3. Homepage The homepage shows the multifaceted aspect of the service, which, as mentioned, is dedicated to a broad range of users The advertising at the top of the page shows a reimbursement policy, for those who do not get better grades after the experience Great importance is given to recommendations from media and feedback from past users
4. How does it work? Students can contact tutors, whenever they need to The lesson is run with the aid of interactive tools and can last as long as needed by the students The aim of the teacher is to give an idea of how to tackle a similar problem in the future, not to give a simple solution to an exercise Once the lecture is over, the student can watch it again in his/her “locker” where a recorded video is stored together with the rest of the material
5. IT tools Videoplayer audioplayer and file sharing for uploaded lectures Videoconferences and chats for simultaneous interaction Interactive whiteboards With equation editor, graphs, 3D drawing, screen sharing, calculators Shared web browser for simultaneous interaction
6. Strengths/1 Wide range of subjects, it is supposed to cover the needs of students starting from 4th grade to the first years of University
7. Strengths/2 The service is available 24/7and there is no need to arrange an appointment The user can use the service whenever he/she needs to, even if it means doing two hours before the exam
8. Strengths/3 There is a database for connecting to your favourite tutors, so if they are available you can contact them first if they are available
9. Weaknesses The price per hour is higher than the observed competitor, maybe because of the expenses of hiring a tutor staff There is little use of feedback, teachers are evaluated on the basis of random quality controls on previous sessions
10. Business model Funds are raised from private investors and venture capital firms, the org has on-going partnerships with education institutions Users are supposed to pay a fee according to the profile they want to buy (it depends on the amount of time they plan to use per month) Tutors have different backgrounds (professors, university students, professionals… ) and they are paid as independent contractors (with bonus linked to their performance)
11. Conclusions and take-aways I is a great model for distance tutoring, especially because of 24/7 availability All the subjects are covered, good use of advertising (the reimbursement policy creates a feeling of trust) For an implementation on a smaller scale we should analyse the cost structure and give more importance to the role of feedback
