Free Paper on Effectiveness of Online Writing Tutoring Programs

Abstract

Learning is a wide discipline that calls for informed activities and programs to ensure optimal performance. Mastery and the capacity to grasp relevant concepts is key. In writing skills, online platforms tend to make it easier for learners to access the relevant materials and personnel within a credible time. It is vital to note the essence of employing informed learning skills online to ensure the acquisition of the right set of skills. Advantages of online tutoring programs supersede the disadvantages owing to the prolificacy in contributing to learning. Disadvantages such as overdependence on online learning platforms and jeopardized social and other soft skills can be addressed through the skilled and informed formulation of the curriculum and learning programs in entirety. Detailed findings of the study are extrapolated, compiled, and presented herein.

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Order now

Keywords: online tutoring programs, writing skills improvements through online learning

Effectiveness of Online Writing Tutoring Programs in Improving Students' Writing Skills

Chapter I: Introduction

Background of the Study

Writing, as a discipline, is in dire need of well-informed training. The learners are inevitably reliant on the mode of teaching and the methods of information relaying as they prolifically contribute to mastery. Developments and innovations characterize contemporary society. Some include the use of internet platforms for communication and information storage. Such that, the whole point of instituting artificial intelligence (AI) is to pave the way for effortless survival mechanisms that befit the needs and requirements of the human society (Martinez & Olsen, 2015). Online platforms grant learners amazing opportunities for equitably accessing quality education and better learning experiences. Their contribution to writing skills among the students calls for a further in-depth knowledge generation to inform recommendations for an optimized learning system.

Research Objectives

The essence of using a set of well-defined objectives is to align every activity of the study to the relevant needs that must be addressed through valid empirical findings. The following objectives were used to guarantee legitimate research on the way online tutoring programs improve the writing skills in students.

• To determine the impact of online tutoring programs on writing among students;
• To find out how the extant online tutoring programs contribute to aspects of learning writing skills among the actively participating students.

Chapter II: Literature Review

Advantages of Online Tutoring Programs for Writing Skills

According to Bourelle, Bourelle, and Rankins-Robertson (2015), a majority of the online tutoring programs are run conveniently over the internet with an increased probability of finding competent instructors and tutors. The convenience in online tutoring emanates from the capacity to communicate at the comfort of the users (instructor and learners) (Bourelle et al., 2015). Technical advancements through innovations regarding video conferencing and online streaming have made online learning session quite appealing to the needs and requirements of the learners (Martinez & Olsen, 2015). These learners thus access an extrapolated opportunity through AI programs such as natural language processing systems (Tolosa, Ordonez, & Guevara, 2017).

A high level of accessibility and convenience grants the learners the capacity to learn when possible and undertake thorough revisions to polish the knowledge they accumulate regarding writing skills. Further, online tutoring programs offer students a wide range of exercises that sharpen the writing skills acquired. Online tests and essay assignments call for reading and writing in light of the particular examples that are used in teaching by the instructors (Rusu, Copaci, & Soos, 2015). Further, these processes expose the learners to a wide range of knowledge and skills, especially in applied communication via the written English. Grammatical and sentence construction errors such as diction can be easily perfected from the exposure to the wide range of learning materials in written prose or point forms (Bourelle et al., 2015).

Supportive online platforms such as YouTube are quite supportive for students that are interested in perfecting their writing skills. This claim is built on the premise that YouTube is among the all-equipped platforms with a wide range of videos from almost all disciplines (Scott, Ribeiro, Burns, Danyluk, & Bodnaresko, 2017). Paiz (2018) asserts that such videos grant learners better opportunities of furnishing the writing skills they have been taught in class and other video-timed online platforms that conduct learning. As a result, learners are assured of credible practices in writing to become better at communicating via written English, for instance (Scott et al., 2017).

Disadvantages of Online Tutoring Programs

The main disadvantage of relying on online tutoring programs for writing skills among students is to develop a high level of overdependence on artificial intelligence for executing the basic skills needed in life. For example, social and other soft skills become poorly developed due to overreliance on internet-based platforms for learning and practicing (Paiz, 2018). Notably, Chappell, Arnold, Nunnery, and Grant (2015) infer that it becomes difficult for learners to develop critical capacities in solving real-life issues, especially in writing. However, the disadvantage of relying on online tutoring programs for students in writing classes is almost negligible and addressable through strategic planning for the learning sessions (Chappell et al., 2015).

Chapter III: Research Methodology

Research Design

The study assumes a qualitative design whereby secondary data were collected and manipulated accordingly. Qualitative data were prioritized through the use of text data sets from selected books, peer-reviewed articles, organizational reports, and government documents (Ngulube, 2015). Qualitative data analysis (QDA) techniques were thus employed to ensure the appropriate interpretation of the findings and implications of the data collected. The selected QDA methods include critical thinking, logical reasoning, and correlative mapping.

Sampling and Sample Size

Purposive sampling technique was employed in sourcing the relevant materials and samples to discern solutions to the unanswered questions of the research (Etikan, Musa, & Alkassim, 2016). A total of five secondary learning materials were selected and used for the study. They were considered adequate and sufficient for addressing the pending issues in writing skills (Etikan et al., 2016).

Validity and Rigor of the Study

The information compiled for the study was accredited by aligning to the set of research objectives that were used to guide the various practices of study. The relevance of the data and information compiled for the study makes sense when it comes to restricting the various progressive study activities to the needs and requirements of the study (Etikan et al., 2016).

Chapter IV: Findings of the Study

From the analysis of selected sources of secondary data, it is clear that online tutoring programs make learning of writing skills better due to convenience and ease of access to learning materials. Also, the internet paves the way for global interaction in minutes (Chappell et al., 2015). Therefore, it is essential to master the tactics of informed communication to meet the needs and requirements of the students through improved learning (Paiz, 2018). When the tutors and instructors are skilled and learned, it becomes easier for them to relay information and knowledge to the students who are in dire need of credible learning to master and excel in written works.

Chapter V: Conclusion and Recommendation

As much as the online tutoring programs provide credible learning platforms to students in various disciplines including writing, it is important to seek an informed intervention to the disadvantages that are associated with online learning (Chappell et al., 2015). The core disadvantage is overdependence, and it can be addressed through physical inclusion initiatives that focus on balancing with other soft skills such as socialization and problem-solving in the real-life context (Chappell et al., 2015).

In conclusion, the extant online tutoring programs are credible when it comes to the betterment of writing skills and their learning among students. The level of convenience in interacting and learning via online platforms make these online tutoring programs valid and applicable to real-life cases (Paiz, 2018). Informed curriculum designing can help align these online tutoring programs with the learning outcomes and needs of the students.

References

Bourelle, T., Bourelle, A., & Rankins-Robertson, S. (2015). Teaching with instructional assistants: Enhancing student learning in online classes. Computers and Composition, 37, 90-103. Retrieved from: https://daneshyari.com/article/preview/347705.pdf

Chappell, S., Arnold, P., Nunnery, J., & Grant, M. (2015). An Examination of an Online Tutoring Program's Impact on Low-Achieving Middle School Students' Mathematics Achievement. Online Learning, 19(5), 37-53. Retrieved from: https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1085790.pdf

Etikan, I., Musa, S. A., & Alkassim, R. S. (2016). Comparison of convenience sampling and purposive sampling. American journal of theoretical and applied statistics, 5(1), 1-4. Retrieved from: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Sumanta_Deb2/post/Purposive_Sampling_and_Convenience_Sampling_are_these_two_types_of_Sampling_different_Please_Explain/attachment/59d64fc179197b80779a8d1c/AS:499559933505536@1496115777990/download/Comparison_of_Convenience_Sampling_and_Purposive_S.pdf

Martinez, D., & Olsen, L. (2015). Online writing labs. Foundational practices of online writing instruction, 183-210. Retrieved from: http://uilis.unsyiah.ac.id/oer/files/original/cd4504c30ba79174ce3ce69df1d110f2.pdf#page=202

Ngulube, P. (2015). Qualitative data analysis and interpretation: the systematic search for meaning. Addressing research challenges: making headway for developing researchers, 131-156. Retrieved from: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Patrick_Ngulube/publication/278961843_Qualitative_Data_Analysis_and_Interpretation_Systematic_Search_for_Meaning/links/5587e2c108aeb0cdade0e8df.pdf

Paiz, J. M. (2018). Expanding the Writing Center: A Theoretical and Practical Toolkit for Starting an Online Writing Lab. TESL-EJ, 21(4), n4. Retrieved from: https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1172553.pdf

Rusu, A. S., Copaci, I. A., & Soos, A. (2015). The impact of service-learning on improving students' teacher training: Testing the efficiency of a tutoring program in increasing future teachers' civic attitudes, skills, and self-efficacy. Procedia-...