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ASYNCHRONOUS ONLINE WRITING TUTOR (AOT) HANDBOOK
ALWAYS REMEMBER OUR MOTTO: Give a man a fish, and he eats for a day. Teach him to fish, and he eats for the rest of his life.
The Writing Center Writing Center Director: Donna Evans (541) 962-3465 / devans@eou.edu Online Writing Lab Coordinator: Susan Whitelock (541) 662-3853/swhitelo@eou.edu
TABLE OF CONTENTS ABOUT THE OWL HIRING & PAYROLL How to Become an Online Tutor
ASYNCHRONOUS ONLINE TUTORING (AOT) POLICIES AND PROCEDURES How Tutors Receive Online Drafts Letters Translated to Numbers RESPONDING TO DRAFTS To Begin Writing Guides ADDENDUM Online Writing Lab Tutor Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) Sheet OWL Training LEARNING RESOURCE CENTER/WRITING Center STAFF
ABOUT THE http://www.eou.edu/writelab/
The on-campus Writing Center and the Online Writing Lab (OWL) Asynchronous Online Tutoring (AOT) and Synchrounous Online Tutoring (SOT) are staffed by EOU students who are trained as peer writing tutors. Our writing tutors have satisfactorily completed WR 220 Methods of Tutoring (offered on-campus Fall, Winter, and Spring, and online in Spring). Ansynchronous Online Tutoring (AOT) is a process by which online students submit a draft via an online form on the OWL, and a peer tutor will respond in written email format to that submission within a 72 hour window (in other words, the student and tutor are not in a real-time online dialogue). Synchronous Online Tutoring (SOT) is a process of real-time online dialogue between a tutor and a writer. In SOT, students make appointments online in available time slots. SOT-Writing scheduling has a self-limiting capacity because it is determined by tutor availability. Refer to a separated Synchronous Online Tutoring (SOT) Handbook. For Asynchronous Online Tutoring (AOT), EOU has chosen to create a format that allows tutors to be very thorough in their responses while at the same time not trying serve as editors. In our practice, tutors work very hard to set priorities for an online response, finding a focus for a response, and providing tools that student can use in future essays (thus trying to make better writers, not just better papers, as Stephen North urges us to do). Yet we also agree with Shamoon and Burns about the importance of modeling and providing examples, sometimes being directive in our tutoring. We recognize that good writing tutor practice is a balance of directive and non-directive tutoring.
HIRING & PAYROLL HOW TO BECOME AN ONLINE TUTOR To become an online writing tutor for the Eastern Oregon University Online Writing Lab (OWL), one must earn at least a B in WR 220 Methods of Tutoring. This course is offered on-campus Fall,Winter, and Spring terms, and is offered online through the Division of Distance Education every Spring term. WR 220 is designed to teach writing and learning theories, and to promote effective dialogue between tutors and students about writing. WR 220 students engage is observations, practice, and reflection on these theories and techniques as practiced in the Writing Center's face-to-face and online tutoring. The course meets the standards for the lower-division University Writing Requirement (UWR). NEW TUTORS & HUMAN RESOURCES Human Resources If you already work on campus, then you all ready have completed the necessary forms, and thus are in the system for us to process your paycheck. You do not need to complete new forms. You do, however, need to be certain that the Human Resources office does have a current address for you. So if any of your contact information changes, you must contact Human Resources to update your information. If you have not yet completed the forms necessary for working on campus, you must complete payroll forms for the Eastern Oregon University Human Resources office. The process includes showing some form of identification. If you live near campus, you can easily complete this process by visiting their office. If you are an online student-at-a distance , you should contact the Human Resources office to request that they mail you the necessary forms. Because you are not able to show some identification in person to prove that you are you. Therefore you will need to have a form notarized. You will find that many in your community offer this service free-of-charge. After completing these forms, mail them to this address: Kathryn Shorts Kathryn Shorts, the Learning Resource Center Administrative Program Assistant, will be your contact for all questions concerning payroll: Kathryn Shorts
On-Campus AOT OWL tutors Tutors should record their hours on a pink form (instead of the yellow "Writing Tutorial Attendance" form used in face-to-face sessions). As some of you may be will be working from home, you may take the pink sheet with you. Be sure to submit your payroll roster to the Administrative Program Assistant (at the main desk) on the 13th of each month. Off-Campus AOT OWL tutors Keep a roster of your hours in a word document at home. The roster should include Tutor's name: For each online session: Student's Name: On the 13th of each month, send this roster by email to Kathryn Shorts
at Important: An EOU student cannot work more than 20 hours per week for EOU.
ASYNCHRONOUS ONLINE TUTOR (AOT) POLICIES AND PROCEDURES
Students register on and submit drafts through the OWL's "Submit a Draft Online" feature. Students need register only once per school year. Students must put something in each field in order to submit a draft. A submitted draft then goes to the <writelab@eou.edu> email address. The OWL manager checks each morning and afternoon to check if drafts have been submitted. Any draft received after noon on Thursday is considered a Monday submission. The OWL manager then forwards the draft to an owl tutor's email. The decision about which tutor will receive which draft will be based on the number of drafts a tutor has already been sent (we will try to evenly distribute the load) and the tutor's course experience and/or major which is considered if there is a clear effective match of tutor with the topic or course based. This is why we ask tutors keep an updated transcript on file with the OWL manager. Because the draft is sent to you from the writelab@eou.edu email address, never click on return to send a response to a student. Always click on forward. Copy and paste into the To: field the student's email address that he/she has provided on the form.
Included in the email and above the draft that you will receive is the information that students have provided about their drafts. This information will appear without the questions. Keep your copy of the "Submit a Draft Online" page available when you read the pre-draft information that students submit so that you can connect the answers to the questions (eventually you will become familiar with the form and will be able to read the draft without referring to the submission form). LETTERS TRANSLATED TO NUMBERS Sometimes certain punctuation in a student draft is translated into numbers in the submission process. This makes the draft a bit difficult to read, but a tutor needs to work around it. When you return a draft to a student with this problem, let them know that this translation sometimes happens and that the student just needs to try to work around it as well. COMMUNICATING WITH THE OWL MANAGER Tutors must keep the OWL manager informed if they can receive more drafts or need to receive less. Also, if a tutor knows that he/she will not be available (ill, out of town, work overload), it is important to send an email to writelab@eou.edu to keep the manager updated. At the beginning of each term, the OWL manager will send out an email to all previous OWL tutors to ask if they are available to receive drafts that term. Please reply to this email promptly. ONLINE SESSION LENGTH Although face-to-face sessions are usually 30 minutes long, we expect that online tutoring will take from 45 minutes to an hour (and sometimes more if the tutor is new or if the draft is problematic). If at first, responding takes a bit longer, do not be concerned. As you tutor more, you will develop your skills and take less time. Keep in mind that you are not expected online, just as you are not expected face-to-face, to respond to everything in the draft. Just as in a face-to-face session, a tutor needs to set priorities and find a focus for the session. Also, while an on-campus students can visit the on-campus Writing Center more than once in a week, this process is slowed down online and there may only be time for one submission, perhaps two, before a paper is due. Thus online sessions are equal to about two face-to-face sessions. TURN AROUND TIME On the "Submit a Draft Online" pages, the students are informed that they must allow 72 hours for a response. This should allow enough time for the Owl Manager to receive, log, and forward a draft, and then for a tutor to respond. The 72 hour clock starts ticking when the student sends the draft, so in reality, considering the time it takes for the Owl Manager to open the file and send the draft to a tutor, this gives tutors 48 hours to respond. If something should hold up your response, email the student that a response is forthcoming and copy that email to writelab@eou.edu. DRAFT PAGE LIMIT Students are informed on the "Submit a Draft Online" pages that they can submit only 6 pages at a time. We cannot handle 20 page documents online. They need to select a key part or send it in parts. DRAFT RESPONSE LIMIT Students can submit only 3 drafts per assignment. We do not want to send the message that it is the tutor's job to respond until the essay is "fixed." TO RETURN A RESPONSE Copy and paste the response above the student draft into an email and send it to the writer's email address. You can hit forward to do this or create a new email. Copy and paste the student's email address from the submission form to avoid mistakes in re-typing. Also, copy your response to the OWL email address at writelab@eou.edu (in the CC of you email). This is the only way the OWL manager will know if a draft has received a response. This also allows us to create an archive for future training. EMAIL SUBJECT LINE When returning a response, check to make sure that the subject line is the student's last name and the title of the draft. This is the only way we will be able to find drafts in the archive.
The OWL includes a form for sending a revision after a student has submitted an initial draft. This form asks the students to fill in fewer fields and provides a box in which a student can request the tutor with whom he/she has been working. DO NOT ACCEPT DRAFTS THAT HAVE NOT BEEN SUBMITTED THROUTH THE OWL. It is critical that all drafts go through the OWL since this is the only way we can keep track of who and how many are using the OWL. Our funding depends on these statistics. If a student does send a draft directly to your email, email that student requesting that he/she resubmit through the OWL using the appropriate form. ATTACHMENTS Never accept attachments. Attachments make a computer vulnerable to viruses. You will not receive any attachment through the OWL because I do not accept them. If I receive them I email the student to submit the draft according to the instructions on the "Submit a Draft Online" form on the OWL. However, a student might try to circumvent the OWL and send a draft directly to you. If so, follow the procedures described in "REVISIONS" above.
TO BEGIN Copy and paste the student's submission (answers on form & draft) into a new word document. In this way you can use spell check and grammar check. Also, you can copy and paste parts of a student's draft into your response. REQUIRED FORMAT It is critical that you do not follow a "correct as you go" process when responding. As with a face-to-face session, you must establish a focus and move from higher level/global to lower level/local concerns. An effective format will help you do this. Thus, all OWL tutors must use the same format as describe below. A good response is composed of four components (Greetings, Global Comments, Local Comments, In Closing) that you must label in your response. The Format is outlined below. See OWL Training for models.
Greetings! Introduce yourself to the writer and include praise (specific and concrete). It is important to try to establish rapport with the student online, lacking other cues such as eye contact, voice, and body language. Use a letter writing style and humor when possible. EXAMPLE "Hi! My name is Joan and I am a Liberal Studies minor working on a minor in psychology. I liked reading your essay because it made me think of why I like watching reality tv shows. I confess I love watching television, although Reality Shows have never been my favorite. I do confess I like American Idol, and sometimes I tune in to The Bachelor just to see what's up (I hate to confess this!) There is no denying that Reality TV is popular, so you've chosen a good topic. Your essay got me to thinking about why I like some of the shows. I like the fact you state about television vs. bathrooms. Amazing. I also like in P4 (paragraph 4) when you give specific examples of suspense, because since I don't watch those particular shows, the examples help me understand your point. I also like the example of surprises-the wait for the bachelor's decision about who will get the ring. Again, this example helps me get your point." Finally, let the student know that you are going to divide your comments into global and local comments, explaining a bit what you mean by these categories. Global Comments: Address the global or macro issues of thesis, organization, and/or development as they apply to the draft. Consider subdividing this section (e.g. thesis, developing with detail, transitions) if you cover more than one point. Try to give student examples and concrete tools. See Writing Guides to which you can refer students, providing them tools to use on this paper at hand and subsequent papers. Do not over-tutor and overload the student. Here is where you set priorities for the session, finding a focus. Do not feel you have to cover everything. Select the one or two major issues that the writer needs to look at. Local Comments: Address the sentence level by pointing out specific examples of error patterns and showing the writer how to correct the examples. You can or copy and paste examples from the student's text and model corrections. Do not point out every error. Just focus on major error patterns. Be sure not to sound like a handbook, just giving a rule-students get enough of that! Interpret the rule by explaining and giving examples.
EXAMPLE: "I enjoyed reading this essay because I learned a lot about Mexico. The opening is a great hook to get me interested in the essay. You might revise your title to match your focus. The overall structure of you essay is good, and the part about the beach incident is especially effective because of the detail. Try to add this kind of detail in the other parts. Also, in any handbook (I use Hacker's A Writer's Reference), look up the section on comma splices to help you see and correct this kind of error, and I have shown in 3 examples. Be sure to use your spell check tool, but remember that the computer will not catch homonyms (ex. there, their, they're). A great strategy for proofreading is to read your essay aloud to yourself."
Use an informal letter-writing style-- parenthesis for aside comments, fragments, dashes, and exclamation points. Use humor when appropriate. Try not to overwhelm the tutor with too much information or technical words. Translate the technical words into concepts-- Ineffective: "Your essay lacks coherence." Effective: "It is hard to follow the connections between your paragraphs. You might want to try to create a sentence at the beginning of each paragraph that helps the reader know the purpose of that paragraph and where the essay is going (connecting, if you can, back to your main point). FONT Use fonts that are common and readable. For example: Times PROOFREAD Since you will be using an informal letter-writing style, grammar check may not be very useful. Do use spell check. VOICE AND TONE "Voice" is probably the key to effective online tutoring. Be constantly aware of the "black words on white pages." Realize that the printed words are all you have to communicate meaning and intent. You cannot use intonation, eye contact, facial expressions, or body language of any kind. Words can often offend. Short, incomplete phrases become curt, abrupt, and cold. Try to achieve a friendly tone. Ask questions. Interject humor and parenthetical comments ("I hoped that sounded humorous-it was meant to"). Use contractions, conversational strategies, and personal anecdote to humanize the response. UNFAMILIAR SUBJECTS We cannot expect to be experts in all fields or to read minds when
it comes to professor's assignments. If the subject matter is highly
specialized, remind the writer that you are unfamiliar with that discipline
or topic, so that you can only comment on general writing issues. WRITING GUIDES In the "Writing Tutor Corner" and in "Resources for Writers" you will find Writing Guides that you can send to students along with your response or to which you can refer students by sending them the url. Become familiar with these Writing Guides so that you can integrate them into your tutor practice. Also become familar with and adapt the "Best Practices Checklist" for on-campus tutoring: Writing Tutor Best Practices Checklist HANDBOOK Recommend a good handbook such as Diane Hacker's A Writer's Reference. Some professors have their own preferences. Most terms in handbooks are similar, so you can use the terms of your handbook, and ask the students to look the terms up in the index of their handbooks. But again, be sure to me the mediator between the handbook information and the student's draft. Help the student see how the rule connects to his/her writing. [Add info about online handbook resources here] APPLY WRITING CENTER PRINCIPLES The same principles (adapted below from Irene Clark's Writing in the Center) which guide us in the face-to-face Writing Center apply online: · Tutors should encourage students with words of praise and note improvement whenever possible. · Discussion should first focus on global/macro areas of a text, in particular the concepts of purpose, thesis, and audience, before addressing surface/micro problems. · Interchanges between tutors and students should focus on only a few aspects of the text at a time. Neither tutors nor students should expect that the text will be "perfect" after only one or two visits to the Writing Center. BLUE SLIPS (Tutorial Report Forms) On the "Submit a Draft Online" form is a box students can check to request that a tutor complete a Blue Slip and send it to them by email. Be sure to watch for this request. You can find the Blue Slip form in the "Writing Tutor Corner." If the student asks you to send the completed form to the professor, tell the student that it is our policy to send the form only to the student. The student can then forward the form to the professor.
ADDENDUM Online Writing Lab Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) Sheet Writing Assignments Information
LEARNING RESOURCE CENTER/WRITING CENTER STAFF
Donna Evans, Writing Center Director LH 234A Email: devans@eou.edu Phone: 962-3465 Susan Whitelock, Online Writing Lab Coordinator Pat Arnson, Disability Services Coordinator Kathryn Shorts, Administrative Program Assistant LH 234BEmail: kshorts@eou.edu Student Desk (Computer Lab Assistant) Phone: 962-3834
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