Some interesting websites have come out recently which allow people to collaborate in real time over the internet.

This obviously has some potential for online tutoring, but are they really ready?

Online tutoring has been “just around the corner” for a long time now, but the technology always seemed to get in the way:

• Writing math formulas and diagrams was always much faster by hand than over a computer screen
• Internet connections can get dropped or have delays
• Some solutions required custom software to be installed or for the user to be tech savvy in other ways

Here are some potential solutions I’ve seen come out recently.  These are all “web based” solutions which in my opinion is the only way this type of software will be successful.  By making it web based it eliminates the need for users to install any software, to both be on a certain type of operating system (Windows, Mac, etc), or to configure internet connection ports – problems which plague many screen sharing apps.  It also allows you to use any computer with an internet connection, so you can work at home, school, or wherever is convenient.

Adding an online tutoring option to CollegeStudentTutors.com is something I’d love to do given the right solution.

1. Thinkature.com

This nifty little app looks like it came out a few years ago.  It has a clean and simple interface and it’s free.  The only problem is that developmet on this app appears to have stopped.  After creating a new account I couldn’t get a new meeting set up (it just said “loading” forever).  There are a number of posts on their forum from users suggesting that the project and site have been abandoned by the original creators.

It’s a shame because this app has great potential.  Thinkature owners: if you are reading this and don’t have time to pursue the project, do the world a favor and release it as open source code!  Please let the world take the next step with this excellent project you’ve started.

2. Twiddla.com

Of all the sites I’ve tested so far, this one seems to have the most potential.  It has a ton of neat features, is easy to use, and even has support for some math formulas that would make it ideal for online tutoring.

While it appears to still be under active development (unlike Thinkature) I unfortunately still ran into some reliability issues.  I consistently got a message in the chat window about the network connection being broken and the voice chat feature didn’t appear to work at all.  While you could potentially get around the voice chat problem with a separate Skype connection or regular phone call, it further complicates the process and makes it less likely to work for a non-tech savvy user.

I do like how they made it drop dead simple to start a new online session (no account required) and of course it’s free.  It really is amazing that this product is released for free at all, given that it surely required thousands of man hours to produce.  I can also greatly sympathize with the issues I saw, since they are among the most difficult problems in computer science to solve (synchronization, latency, etc).  Twiddla is truely a grand effort that is dangerously close to becoming the perfect solution.  If the reliability can be improved I could see this becoming a staple of online tutoring.

3. Google Docs

Google’s growing online office suite offers some real time collaboration tools which may work.  Their Excel knockoff “Spreadsheets” offers the most promising solution for math or business type tutoring.

As you can see, two (or more) people can edit a spreadsheet at the same time.  Each user has a different color cell border so you can see what the other person is doing.  While one person is editing a particular cell, it is greyed out so you don’t both try to edit it at the same time.  This article has a great overview of the Google Docs online collaboration tools.

Their documents tool (similar to Microsoft Word) also has some potential for online tutoring of writing, essays, etc.  Unfortunately it’s not very easy to see exactly what the other person is editing in real time, which limits it’s usefulness.

Conclusion

Overall I haven’t found the perfect tool (yet) for online tutoring.  Cisco has a commercial app called WebEx which I’d like to review but their demo is down.  Tutor.com also apears to use their own desktop-based proprietary software, but I don’t have any way to test it out or use it.  As stated before, I don’t think a desktop solution is the way to go.

Currently, the technology available still feels like its getting in the way more than it is facilitating the process of online tutoring.

What other online collaboration tools did I miss?  Would you like to see more online tutoring offered in the future?  Let me know in the comments below.

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