De Anza College has partnered with SMARTHINKING, a source for online tutoring and academic support, to offer free online tutoring services to its students.

SMARTHINKING provides students with the ability to interact with live tutors at anytime, from anywhere.

Students may receive assistance through several services including tutoring in real-time for core courses such as math, economics, accounting and statistics.

Writing support for all subjects is also offered to students through an online writing lab.

SMARTHINKING “e-structors” are trained in providing the online academic assistance the students seek.

The e-structors have prior experience in tutoring and teaching in their given field, and they participate in an online training program and practicum.

By offering online tutoring through SMARTHINKING, De Anza College is making convenient and easy-to-use academic assistance available to students despite the time of day or their location.

The service can be especially helpful to those students who might not ordinarily be able to take advantage of traditional face-to-face tutoring or on-campus resources.

According to De Anza College’s Tutorial Center Coordinator, Diana Alves de Lima, “We wanted to provide Distance Learning students with the same services we provide for on-campus students.

This service can also benefit on-campus students who would rather be tutored at home because they have busy schedules or children. This service also expands the number of tutoring hours we can provide, given our limited budget.”

Currently at De Anza College, students can use the on-campus learning assistance resources for limited hours.

Administrators felt that with students becoming more accustomed to 24/7 service in other aspects of their lives, they should also be able to access academic support to suit their own schedules.

SMARTHINKING is not designed to replace traditional college assistance programs or traditional college courses. Its purpose is to serve as a supplement, in most cases, to existing campus tutoring programs and provide students with another tool for success.

However, SMARTHINKING has been successfully tested and highly rated by its users.

To sign up for online tutoring, or for more information, contact Alves de Lima at [email protected].

The De Anza College Tutorial Center

contributed to this article.