Tutor Site Has Cash Problem to Solve: Fresno Co. Library Needs Funds for Web-Based Program.
By Farin MontaNez, The Fresno Bee, Calif.
Mar. 19–The Fresno County Public Library is scrambling to find money for its Internet-based Live Homework Help program, a tutoring site used by about 250 Fresno County students in grades 4 to 12 monthly.
The California State Library in past years has provided a grant to the Fresno County libraries to fully fund the $132,872 program, which is provided through Tutor.com.
However, the Fresno County Library will have to pay half the cost of the service next school year, said Kelley Worman, young adult services coordinator for the Fresno County Public Library.
“We’re dedicated to providing the service, but if we don’t have the money for it, then it’s gone,” Worman said. “We really would like to find new ways to get the word out and get even more students to use the program, so we can justify the cost.”
Live Homework Help is available daily from 1 p.m. to 10 p.m. for assistance in math, science and English. Spanish-language tutoring is available for math and science.
The site is overwhelmingly used for help in math. In February, more than 70% of the users asked for help in algebra I and II, trigonometry and calculus.
Home-schooled Clovis student Rebekah Sauls, 16, used Live Homework Help for a biology assignment and complex calculus problems. She said she finds the site helpful because she can chat with a real person instead of a machine that would just scan for keywords in her questions.
Rebekah also likes the anonymity — the tutors know nothing about the students who ask for help.
“High school students feel more at home on the Internet,” Rebekah said. “I’m able to be open about questions that I have and I’m not afraid to look stupid. You can’t see the [tutor] so you feel free to ask questions.”
Students also benefit from getting answers quickly from their tutors, rather than browsing the Internet for hours and possibly getting distracted while conducting their own searches, she said.
“It gives me more time in the evenings because I can finish my homework quickly,” Rebekah said. “And I wouldn’t ever feel like I was getting stuck because I know I would always have [a tutor] to help me out.”
The site employs more than 1,000 trained tutors who are at least attending college or already have a degree.
Rachel Wilson, a 17-year-old senior in home studies through J.E. Young Academic Center in Fresno, has used Live Homework Help for the past four years for algebra I and II, computer literacy and science.
“I was way behind in math when I started in the ninth grade,” Rachel said. “But it caught me up in one year. I used to have a D, and it went up to an A minus.”
She uses the computers at the Sunnyside library branch because her home computer isn’t connected to the Internet. Rachel said using the site just once a week has made her a better student.
“I’m graduating a year early,” Rachel said. “If it wasn’t for [Live] Homework Help, I probably wouldn’t be.”
The reporter can be reached at fmontanez@fresnobee.com or(559) 441-6308.
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Copyright (c) 2007, The Fresno Bee, Calif.
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