I came across this website called AnswerU while surfing for some answers to my class assignment. The basic idea behind the website is simple - when someone posts a question to be answered, the question is not sent to the whole mailing list or user list. Instead it is sent to students whose profile matches the profile of the person who asked the question (e.g the campus, the location, the major, etc). This way the questions get answered more quickly and the answers are more relative. This got me thinking on how much useful this might be in a college level tutoring setting. Our Math Lab can have tutors fill out a list of subjects they are most comfortable with. Then students whose questions match the profile of tutors will get their questions forwarded to a particular set of tutors. Then anyone in that pool can answer the question. This will save time and create a more friendly and responsive online learning environment.
This technique can also be applied to schools where peers can help each other in assignments or topics covered in class while the teachers can monitor the postings. The teachers can rank the responses and so can the other peers.
AnswerU
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2 comments:
This is a great concept. Other websites that I have seen where you post a question often comes back with lots of irrelevant answers and often takes awhile to get a response. This site has real potential for peer interaction in the middle school or upper school environment. Students can share questions and give each other feedback, which definitely promotes interaction. It might also be a good idea to help students transition from one grade or one school to another. I think this would be a great idea for middle school students to be able to ask high school students questions about high school. I think at my school it would definitely be a good format to enhance students’ transitions from middle school to upper school. Thanks for sharing this site it is an interesting web 2.0 idea.
I'll admit, I didn't (at first) quite grasp the benefits of this system. After reading through their "about" page, the concept really begins to make sense. I frequent an FSU message board, and people often come there to ask questions about the school, housing, majors, classes, etc. We answer the question as best we can, but sometimes none of us know anything about what they're asking. I can see where you're going with the application for your MathLab, but I really think this is much better suited for a more completely online system. That said, if part of MathLab tutors' jobs was to peruse the questions at, say, 11pm, when the mathlab is closed, that could provide a much needed service to students-- access to tutors when the tutoring lab is closed.
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