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New York School District Tries Digital Tutoring Service

Wilson Central School District has a three-year contract with Paper, a 24-hour chatroom accessible from the district's website that can walk students through problems and review their essays.

 Flat vector illustration of a student sitting behind their desk at home studying online with a work table, school backpack, books globe, etc.
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(TNS) — The Wilson Central School District has started using a new digital tutoring service — Paper — which functions like a chatroom that students can access from the school's website, and from where help is available 24 hours a day.

The service has specialists in a variety of subjects, and they can also review essays. Amy Seeley, district AIS and curriculum administrator, also stated that tutors with Paper work through problems using the Socratic method.

"Instead of giving our students the answers, they will walk through the problem just like an actual teacher sitting in front of you," said Seeley. "They will walk through the process of asking; what does a student know already, where are they in the problem, and what they think they should do next."

The service, however, only offers tutoring through text-based communication. While in-person communication isn't entirely necessary for tutoring, some who aren't used to that might struggle with it at first. In-person tutors will still be available through the school for those who prefer getting help that way.

Administrators at Wilson decided to purchase a three-year contract with Paper using residual funds that they had left over from the American Rescue Plan. Assuming it manages to get a good reception from students and teachers in the long term, the district may plan to renew the service in three years.

Administrators can also monitor Paper's usage, Seeley, said, which should help determine if Paper is making a positive impact on students — and teachers.

"The teachers themselves can see the questions that students are asking," Seeley explained. "If they see that students are asking the same questions over and over, then that teacher can do a bit of reflection and think about going over the topic again."

While it's usage is still early, Seeley feels that the reactions one week after Paper's launch indicate that the service is making progress in helping students. She even stated that it's scored positively in survey's from district parents.

"On average we have about 25 students accessing it per day," she said. "That's just in the last week, and we just introduced it last week. I think that's pretty good."

©2022 the Lockport Union-Sun & Journal (Lockport, N.Y.). Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
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