LiveWorld Transcripts

Tutor.com presents

Mark Dunk
Online Tutor

September 27, 2000

Mark Dunk tutors online at Tutor.com, and shares experiences and answers questions that parents, tutors, and learners have about learning in a live person-to-person environment over the Internet and its benefits to a person’s education. Mark will be sharing his skills and giving tips to beginning online tutors.

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Tutor.com: Welcome to the first tutor.com chat event! You will have the opportunity to ask an expert questions about tutoring and learning over the internet, and hear about some of his experiences. Joining us tonight is Mark Dunk from Pearland, TX. Welcome!

Mark Dunk: Thank you and I appreciate the opportunity to be here!

Sigmagirl: Can you give us a brief history of your association with tutor.com?

Mark Dunk: Sure! I started my tutoring business about the same time Tutor.com was found in 1999. I was looking for different ways to market my business, and I stumbled across Tutor.com on the Internet. At about the same time, I had an idea that I wanted to do some sort of chat online tutoring, and I was happy to see that Tutor.com was already working on that so I wouldn't have to mess with all the programming and upkeep. I participated in beta-testing of Tutor.com's original online classrooms, and I have been tutoring online ever since.

Angelfish: What got you interested in online tutoring?

Mark Dunk: The most attractive thing to me about online tutoring is the fact that it opens up my business to virtually the whole world. I am no longer limited by geography or by who can find my office and get to it.

Fiftyfree: What do you like and dislike about tutoring online?

Mark Dunk: There are a lot of really good things about tutoring online. The biggest is the fact that you can tutor any time and from anyplace in any country in the world. There is no traveling involved. What I find it is really fun for students, they think its 'cool'. And it provides an alternative for people who can't meet me during my normal business hours. Another positive thing (that is also a negative from a tutor's point of view) is that the student gets to pay by the minute rather than by the hour. Some tutors might find online tutoring intimidating at first, and you have to develop some new skills that you don't have to use when you are doing live tutoring. One of the things that I miss in online tutoring is that I can't see the students facial expressions, and to me that is very important in terms of seeing if they actually understand what we are talking about. Online tutoring might seem a little impersonal at first, but the addition of voice capability has gone a long way to remedy that issue.

Jillybean: What type of computer programs and equipment do I need to use the Tutor.com classroom?

Mark Dunk: That’s the really nice part because the classroom works on both PC and Macintosh formats. There is a Shock Wave plugin that you have to install (Of course, it's free from the macromedia site on the web). You need at least a 56k modem, and it works with any type of Internet browser 4.0 or higher. The screen setting should be set at a minimum of 800 x 600. With the recent addition of the voice technology, all you need is a basic microphone and computer speakers to utilize that. Personally, I use a microphone combination headset so I don't bother people around me. In August there was another new tool introduced that allows you to print the information in the classroom, and there is another small program that you have to load in order to do that.

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