Since the beginning of the fall 2020-21 term, many students have been learning remotely. One of the challenges faced is learning from a screen, which can cause burnout.
NAIT has teamed up with Nimbus to provide learning tools and tutoring services to help students.
Nimbus is a tutoring service app that launched in the fall of 2020. It helps connect students with tutors virtually. Nimbus allows students to pick a tutor who has expertise in a particular course. Students are encouraged to sign up through the Nimbus app to arrange an online session with their tutor.
NAITSA has arranged the arrival of Nimbus to NAIT and has helped many students since. The app’s success has grown since its launch in the fall term, said Wendy Marusin, manager of student learning success at NAIT.
“It has picked up at mid to end of the first semester. NAITSA has done a great job in promoting it. Their website has great visibility,” said Marusin.
NAIT looks forward to students utilizing Nimbus once the campus is open for students.
Promoting on-campus will create greater visibility, it also allows for students and alumni to apply as tutors and gain experience on their resume, said Alessandra Medeiros, VP academic for NAITSA.
“We’ll be able to do some in-person advertising. There might be some students who don’t follow us on social media. Once we are in person, it will be much easier to recruit tutors because that is one of the limitations we do have,” said Medeiros.
Megan Brodeur, service hub Manager for NAIT, said they’re hoping to hire more tutors in the upcoming fall term and bring awareness to Nimbus services.
“We have four hundred students registered and ninety tutors. Going into the fall for our second year, we hope that there’s name recognition, promotion and hope it will be on campus. So we would be able to do some info booths to gain more awareness. Overall, the feedback that we have has been really good,” said Brodeur.
Becoming a tutor is based not only on credentials and how long a student is in their study but also on completing an accredited course. Students who have passed a course with 75% or higher can go over the steps of becoming a Nimbus tutor through their site. Students will start tutoring on the course they passed the following semester after completing Nimbus training.
“So after you’ve taken that course, gotten your mark, and passed with flying colours, you can immediately apply to teach those courses,” said Brodeur.
Marusin encourages students to take advantage of Nimbus and recommends using their app to filter through rates and look for a suitable tutor.
“It’s open and accessible for all students. I know that there is a cost, but there is a range of rates, and they’re quite reasonable,” said Marusin.
To find a tutor through Nimbus or to apply, check here.
