Educating the digital generation

The Lawrence School District has used the online-based iTutor educational program for the past two school years to accommodate students who are homebound for a variety of reasons, to earn credits for classes previously failed or not taken, and tutoring and test preparation.

Lawrence Superintendent Gary Schall said the program is used in “special circumstances” and in accordance with the district’s collective bargaining agreement with the Lawrence Teachers Association. Those circumstances include helping students graduate on time, when their schedule is full and the courses are not available in PM school or summer school, and exam review outside of school hours.

“Our first choice is always to have one of our district teachers provide the necessary coursework and remediation,” Schall said. “It is used when there is no other option for meeting a student’s specific instructional needs and has proven to be highly effective and flexible during after-school hours.”

Based in Jericho, iTutor was launched in February of 2013 by Harry Aurora, a businessman whose family produced three generations of educators. “This generation was born into the digital generation and research has shown that they are more focused and not distracted by their surroundings when getting instruction this way,” Aurora said.

The typical cost is $49 for individual sessions and $99 for groups of up to 3 students, said Denise Weiss-Marder, iTutor’s senior education director, who added the company, provides the services to Nassau BOCES, and the program is eligible for state reimbursement.Weiss-Marder said that when the company first introduced its online service they found that school administrators said there was a need for a better way of providing homebound instruction as its difficult to find teachers with flexible hours to tutor students and parents saying they were unable to supervise a home visit because of work.