For non-traditional students, tutors can be hard to find at the times they’re needed most. Students juggle homework between work shifts and kids’ daycare schedules. They do reading over lunch breaks and on subways. They’re often working late at night when tutoring centers are closed.
But McGraw-Hill, an education publishing company, and TutorMe, an online tutoring service, are partnering to tackle the problem with a new semester-long pilot program this fall.
McGraw-Hill already offers personalized online courses, supplemental materials and digital textbooks. But the company will now give students access to TutorMe tutors as they work through course material on McGraw-Hill Connect and McGraw-Hill ALEKS, two of its learning platforms.
Students can reach tutors any time of day or night, and the program will ensure that every student can take advantage of an hour of free tutoring.
“This partnership will really allow us to help all learners be more successful in academics,” said TutorMe CEO and Co-Founder Myles Hunter. “We’re pleased to offer a service that makes McGraw-Hill’s textbooks more personalized and effective and will help with understanding the content available on the exact subject at the exact time the student needs help. It works for any student from any background, giving them needed support busy professors might not be able to provide.”
TutorMe tutors specialize in more than 300 subjects and now have been trained to specifically work with McGraw-Hill content. The service allows students to match online with tutors trained in the particular area they’re studying. Tutors can communicate with them through live audio and video chats, virtual whiteboards and screen-sharing.
“You’re working with an expert in whatever subject you’re working in,” Hunter said. “Sometimes a video on YouTube doesn’t suffice, and you really want to take a step back and work with someone one-on-one so they’re able to really help you with your particular needs and the problems you’re having in terms of understanding.”
