Her chatting is typing online instant messages back and forth with high schoolers, helping them learn geometry and biology. Sometimes they draw out problems and solutions on an electronic white board together.
Ng started online tutoring in February, after going on maternity leave. She had tutored students in-person before, and saw online tutoring as a way to keep up her skills without having to leave home.
Her offline tutoring would cover a lot of bases, Ng says. But online tutoring has turned out to be quite different.
"I feel the sessions are more along the lines of students who are stuck in a particular spot or have a very specific question," she said. "I don't do as much studying for quizzes with them, or reviewing, say, a whole chapter in a book."
A mini-industry has arisen around the idea of online tutoring. It aims to take a chunk out of the overall K-12 tutoring and test preparation market, which consulting firm Eduventures predicts will bring in $28 billion in the 2008-09 school year. To read the rest of this article click here.
