Adobe Connect Community

Summary

In the Fall of 2007, our Learning Center and the Faculty Center embarked on a project that would bring online writing tutoring using Adobe Connect as a service to our students. Because of staffing issues, the initial roll out was only offered to graduate students. This was done purposely to help not only the tutor become familiar with in using the technology, but we felt graduate students would be the best audience in the beginning. It was a very slow start. We had a few takers, maybe four or five for the Fall 2007 semester. The Spring 2008 semester we saw an increase of students using the online writing tutoring resource. We also opened the service to upperclassman. One issue we encountered was that the students felt they could just submit their paper and have a tutor do the corrections. This was not the purpose of the program. Once we refined our procedures, students had a better understanding of what online tutoring really meant. The Summer and Fall of 2008 we saw an even better response to the program.

Success Stories

Some examples I can give you follow. We had a student over Thanksgiving break whose flight was canceled in Chicago. This student called the Learning Center the Monday after Thanksgiving and set up an appointment for that day to have her paper reviewed. Kathy Brode, our writing specialist, and the student in Chicago were able to have an Adobe Connect session to review the paper. It worked like a charm.

We had a student whose residence is in a rural area. This was the week before finals in the Fall 2008 semester. We had some inclement weather, and the student could not make it into the Learning Center for her scheduled appointment to review her final paper. An Adobe Connect session was set up, and the student was able to have her paper critiqued.

We had a student over the Summer 2008 semester who was taking an online course here at Penn State Harrisburg. This student was home in Austin, Texas for the summer. She was able to have her papers reviewed by one of our writing specialist using Adobe Connect.

How we do it

There is a process we follow in order to make sure the experience is a success for the student as well as the tutor. Not everyone is a candidate for the online writing tutoring service. This link, http://php.scripts.psu.edu/dept/iit/hbg/LearningCenter/owl/OWLForm.htm

is the first step in scheduling an online tutoring session. It is a basic form requesting information from the student on what is to be reviewed. You will find three documents attached explaining the process and the rules for online tutoring. When we set up a meeting room for online tutoring, we have one of the writing specialists as a host and the student as a presenter. This way, both can synchronously interact with the document. Adobe Connect has proven to be a great tool in providing tutoring service that students may have otherwise not taken advantage of.

Our next project we are rolling out for Fall 2009 is online math tutoring. We are still in the testing and experimental stages of this project.

I hope this brief synopsis provides some insight into how we use Adobe Connect for online writing tutoring. If you have any questions, feel free to contact myself or Kathy Brode, kbb3@psu.edu, Writing and Learning Support Specialist, for more information.