Synchronous Online Tutoring

Back to Online Tutoring Mini-Course

Synchronous online tutoring requires that both the tutor (participant in this case) and the student (or a group of students) are online at the same time. Synchronous or live tutoring can provide help at the moment the learner becomes conscious of a problem and logs in. Here are some examples of synchronous activities which a tutor/participant may use:

Chat (text only): Multiple users may log in and interact allowing students to ask questions and to share resources and insights. Sessions can also be saved for later review.
Voice (telephone or voice-over IP): Conference calls between tutor/participant & student ad/or fellow students to review a document or a presentation, for example.
Video conferencing: All participants may have their webcams running. A video conference can involve a live feed from a classroom or elsewhere. Alternatively, the conference might transmit a presentation of slides and graphics, with a question and answer session at the end.
Web conferencing: Accesses a wider variety of media elements than does video conferencing. Web conferences tend to be more interactive with more opportunities to respond to questions
Internet radio/podcasts: Stream the audio over the Internet. Ideally, the audio file would be archived for students to access and review later as well.
Virtual worlds: Educational "islands" in virtual worlds (like Second Life) allow tutors/participants & students to meet "live" and to interact. It's possible to speak with each other through headsets and VoIP.

Supplemental reading on the use of synchronous video and audio for the purpose of online tutoring can be found by here: Online Tutoring – distributed interactive learning arena with synchronous video and audio

Return to: Unit 1 - Synchronous vs. Asynchronous