Dive Brief:

• Some schools are turning to online tutoring services in order to provide support for students outside of regular school hours.
• Peter West, the director of learning at an Australian school, told eSchool News that the program in use there, yourtutor, helps students pursue deeper learning when teachers aren’t available.
• The external company has access to students’ names, grade levels, and the course they are seeking tutoring for, instantly providing suitable tutors for each student logged on.

Dive Insight:

West says that students consistently use the service and have given positive feedback. It also lessens pressures on teachers to make themselves available once school is out. The tutoring service is aligned with the school’s online learning environment so that it interfaces seamlessly with what students are doing in class.

Innovations in Internet media consumption are partly to blame for the shifts in student’s expectations, according to West. He calls them “the Netflix generation” due to their expectation of more flexibility in when they can access learning resources, similar to what they do with their reading, tv viewing, and music listening.

But administrators looking to implement similar programs should also tread carefully and ensure that privacy and quality concerns are adequately addressed, as with other technology rollouts.