New options for online tutoring and speech therapy are among the latest eLearning solutions introduced during recent ed-tech trade shows.
For example, the Florida Virtual School [1] (FLVS)—a pioneer in online instruction—announced new online tutoring and professional development offerings at the Florida Educational Technology Conference in January.
FLVS is now offering online tutoring [2] for math and science for any student, not just those taking an FLVS course. FLVS online tutoring is available whenever students need it, the school says: any time, any place, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. All students need to participate is a computer, smart phone, or other mobile device and access to the internet.
FLVS online tutors are all college-educated instructors with a bachelor’s, master’s or doctorate degree in their area of expertise. The live, online tutoring sessions are conducted one-on-one with students. Tutors are available to help students with basic scientific concepts in biology, chemistry, and physics, as well as math concepts from basic through college levels.
The online tutoring is tracked by the minute, so students only pay for the time they use. Students may prepay for a plan or purchase tutoring by the hour at $27.99 per hour. In addition, the tutoring sessions are recorded and archived, allowing students to revisit previous sessions at no additional cost from their personalized video archive.
To help teachers and administrators, FLVS Professional Development courses are now available as well. Courses address literacy, Response to Intervention (RTI), student motivation, school leadership, and online teaching and learning. Certification is available for successful completion of the courses, the school says.
At the Texas Computer Education Association conference in February, the San Francisco-based company PresenceLearning [3] demonstrated its live online speech therapy services, also known as “telepractice,” for K-12 students. Schools and parents have anytime, anywhere access to a network of highly qualified speech language pathologists who work directly with students one on one via web-based video conferencing using a suite of online tools and evidence-based therapeutic activities.
A growing body of research, starting with a study by the Mayo Clinic in 1997, shows that telepractice is just as effective as face-to-face therapy, PresenceLearning says. The company’s services are especially useful for schools in rural areas, where connecting students with qualified speech therapists can be a challenge. (For more about online speech therapy, see here [4].)