GRANADA HILLS, Calif. December 9, 2016 – Final exams begin next week and Granada Hills Charter (GHC) students have a new resource. All 4,650 students at GHC can access live tutoring support 24-hours a day, seven days a week through Tutor.com and it’s free of charge! GHC students can log in from their computer, mobile phone or tablet and receive tutoring in almost all classroom subjects including Advanced Placement and college entrance exams such as ACT, SAT, and PSAT. Launched on Monday, the first day saw students participating in nearly 500 tutoring sessions averaging over 20 minutes each.
This service is in addition to GHC’s extensive tutoring and support system that includes before and after school tutoring on campus and tutors in selected classrooms. On average, 400 students per day meet with tutors on campus but many students have schedules that prevent them from attending traditional tutoring sessions.
“Being able to access a real-life tutor any time of day sounds like a dream come true for many high school students,” says Gina Corpus, GHC Intervention Coordinator, “Many students are busy after school because of athletic or other activities like volunteering or work. Sometimes students need a break in the day and don’t want to be tutored immediately after class.”
GHC partnered with Tutor.com because it has one of the largest selections of qualified tutors and the user interface incorporates interactive elements like screen sharing and essay drop-off functions. The service also provides a dashboard that collects and reports on student data including what subjects and topics each user accesses and how many times a user logs in and for how long. Ms. Corpus is the Intervention Coordinator and academic counselor monitoring the dashboard. If a student is logging into the same subject or topic repeatedly, she can alert the GHC teacher that this student might need individualized support or additional resources.
“More and more, students are turning to technology. This meets them where they are – they can get help at home, after hours, on the bus – anywhere,” says David Bensinger, GHC Administrative Director of Instruction. “To us, the more students who access this service, the better. This makes our tutoring program more equitable for all students.”
All GHC students have a school-assigned laptop computer that they use at home, including during the winter and summer breaks. If students are not able to access the internet at home, GHC provides Wi-Fi service through a cell provider, also free of charge.
Victoria Navarro, GHC 12th grader, is eager to embrace this new resource. “Personally, I find it easier to understand several subjects by having someone explain the material to me one-on-one, which is exactly what Tutor.com does. Often times, I get stuck on a question without having anyone to ask for assistance. The service is extremely helpful because the tutors are able to help me – which is great with finals coming up.”