Help by Hangouts: An Online Tutoring Model for Postsecondary Students
Rebecca Murray & Lisa Elliot
Rochester Institute of Technology/National Technical Institute for the Deaf
Postsecondary Disability Training Institute, Philadelphia, PA
June 9, 2016

What Will I Learn?
- Deaf and Hard of Hearing Virtual Academic Community overview
- Online tutoring overview
- Lessons learned from the DHHVAC
- Role of the coordinator
- Software choices and alternatives
- Q&A

Who Are You?
[Image of Rebecca Murray]
[Image of Lisa Elliot]

What Is the DHHVAC?
- Deaf STEM Community Alliance
- Only Alliance specifically for D/HH students
- Supported by the National Science Foundation, HRD #1127955
- Multi-year project (Sept 2011-Aug 2017)
- Now in our 5th year

DHHVAC Model 
Barriers & Strategies
- Student preparation
— Remote tutoring
— Remote mentoring
— Using G+ Hangouts
- Socialization
— Remote mentoring
— Peer-to-peer interaction
— Using G+ private community and Facebook secret groups
- Accessible media
— Accessible STEM information using Website, G+ private community, Facebook secret group, and G+ Public page

Campus Partners
- Cornell University
- Camden County College
- RIT/NTID
— RIT is the lead institution for this project, with Camden County College and Cornell University as partners.

Challenges Addressed by the Alliance
- Need to add more STEM graduates
- Broaden participation of underrepresented groups in STEM, especially those with disabilities, and, in particular, those who are deaf or hard-of-hearing
- Create more cohesive cyber learning resources for students, faculty, and support service providers

Goal and Objectives
- Goal:
— Create a model virtual academic community to increase the graduation rates of postsecondary D/HH STEM majors in the long term
- Iterative and incremental (Cockburn, 2008)
— Iterative – testing what works and revising what doesn’t
— Incremental – building model in stages instead of all at once

Goal and Objectives
- Objectives:
1) Document and disseminate a description of the process of creating a model VAC for replication
2) Increase the GPAs and retention rates of D/HH students in STEM majors

What Do Deaf and Hard of Hearing Students Need in Tutoring?
[Graphic: Two photos side by side; left-hand photo shows young woman working on a laptop in a dark-red room next to a whiteboard. On the right side, an older man sits on a couch with a laptop open on his lap; he appears to be talking to the woman in the other photo via Google Hangouts.]

Tutoring Models
- Model 1: Same vicinity: Professional tutors & students
- Model 2: Different vicinities: Grad students tutors and students
- Model 3: Different vicinities: Adjunct tutors and students
- Model 4: Same vicinity: Undergrad student tutors & students

What are the Characteristics of a Good Tutor?
[Graphic: A circle labeled "Tutor" is surrounded by other circles labeled "Willing to learn technology," "Communication skills," "Interest," "Teaching skills," and "Content knowledge." There are arrows leading from the "Tutor" circle outwards to the other circles.]

What Happens during Tutoring?
[Graphic: An apparent screenshot from a video shows a laptop displaying a video chat on the right-hand side; on the left, white text on a black background reads: "Remote tutoring activities began at RIT in Spring 2012, and other activities will be ramping up and branching out when the new school year begins in Fall, 2012."]

What are the Benefits and Challenges?
- Benefits:
- Work from any location
- Extended tutoring hours & availability
- Professional development
- Scholarship
- Access to qualified tutors
- Challenges:
- Institutional policies
- Incentives & budget
- Recruitment
- Participation

What Would My Role Be?
[Graphic: A human-shaped figure, in red and standing on a bulls-eye symbol with arms upraised, stands surrounded in a circle by similarly human-shaped figures in blue; bi-directional arrows connect each blue figure to the red figure in the center.]

How Do You Recruit?
- Tutors:
- Reach out on campus
- Approval of department chair
- Hire students
- Hire adjuncts
- Students:
- Tutor/instructor recruitment
- Direct student contact
- Recruitment at exhibits
- Recruitment through other projects
- On campus advertisement

What about Software?
[Graphic: Logos of Google Hangouts, Facebook, Adobe Software, Skype, Conceptboard, Oovoo, and Gmail]

How Else Could I Use this Technology?
- Remote intake appointments
- Chat message reminders directly to phone
- Meet with students when you attend conferences
- Make a library of virtual presenters

Any Questions?
[Graphic: A highway "yield" sign with a question mark in the center instead of standard "Yield" text.]

Contact Us!
Rebecca Murray, 
Virtual Academic Community Manager
rlmasc@rit.edu

Lisa Elliot, 
Principal Investigator
lisa.elliot@rit.edu

Thank you for attending our presentation!