The tutoring app Nimbus has been implemented for use by NAIT, and NAIT Students’ Association (NAITSA) and is making the process of tutoring more attractive to students.
Alessandra Medeiros, the Service Hub Coordinator for NAITSA, hopes the new program will alleviate the stress that students may feel in finding a tutor, especially during peak seasons, such as during finals.
“Before we had a tutor registry, but it was just a registry. Just the names of other tutors and students, so it was on the student to make a phone call, check schedules, make arrangements for payment, and a location,” said Medeiros. “It took a lot of effort to get a tutor.”
The app makes it easy for tutors to make themselves known on campus. It is not only NAIT students who are allowed to tutor, as alumni and external qualified people are permitted to tutor as well.
“[Tutors] can be NAIT students who just took that class within 3 years, or they can be what we call ‘external general tutors’. If there is someone who wants to tutor and they have a PhD, who are we to say they can’t tutor?” said Medeiros.
Nimbus makes it fairly straightforward to find a tutor or become a tutor. The app has a very modern, simple interface and contains a tutorial upon first launch. As a student, you simply log into the app through the NAIT portal, using your NAIT email and password, and you are immediately able to search for tutors in your class of choice.
For tutors, the process is also simple, but with a few extra steps.
“To become a tutor you upload your transcript, agree to the terms of use, code of ethics… to make sure you’re only tutoring them, not doing their work or breaching academic integrity,” said Medeiros. “Any class they wish to tutor for, they need a 75 per cent or better in that class.”
The tutor then sets what time they are available. Students can go on the app, see the class they teach and how much they charge, put in their credit card info, and schedule a time and place to meet.
“They can do the session online, and with COVID we strongly suggest that. But if they choose to meet in person we hope they follow the Alberta Health guidelines,” said Medeiros.
The tutor also gets 100 per cent of the pay. NAITSA, NAIT and Nimbus don’t take a cut. For students trying to find a tutor, they can infer a tutor’s quality based on a few things, such as reviews. They can also see how many sessions a tutor has done.
“We assume a tutor who has more sessions would know more, or would be more used to tutoring,” said Medeiros. Tutoring can have a number of benefits for a student who chooses to help their peers gain knowledge. “When you tutor, you learn twice. That’s something you’re going to do for your life, and it is a way to remember what you learned and be a professional. Many times we get a student saying, ‘I’m looking for a job but I don’t have anything on my resume’. Well, you can put tutoring on your resume,” said Medeiros.
Nimbus is currently available on all mobile platforms and is free to use and download. You can apply to be a tutor at naitsa.ca/tutor, or follow the steps discussed in the app.
