11 Nov 08 - Students Benefit from BCU

Local students will continue to have free access to the successful online 'yourtutor' service thanks to the generosity of BCU.

The credit union has offered to sponsor the licence cost of the service, which gives free online tutoring help to students in Years 4-12, for the next three years.

"This service, which was launched locally by the Library Service last year, has proved to be a very valuable study aid to students in the area and I'd like to thank BCU for generously offering to partner with the libraries to sponsor this excellent resource," said Deputy Mayor Councillor Bill Palmer.

Over a million Australian school kids receive tutoring support each year, but the cost is often too high for many parents.

"Council's Library Service signed up to 'yourtutor' so that local students were able to receive extra help with their schoolwork - but at no cost. It can be accessed at any of Council's libraries or externally through the library website - all it requires is a library membership number - so students across the local government area all have equal access," said Cr Palmer.  

BCU will also be offering a link to the service via its website in addition to the portal on the Library website.

'yourtutor' creates an online classroom where students are connected to qualified, expert tutors for one-to-one help with homework, assignments, exam preparation and study questions. English, Maths and Science subjects are included and the service is available from 4pm-8pm, Monday to Friday from either library or home computers.

Tutors are certified teachers, professional tutors, post graduates and advanced undergraduates from Australian universities. They can review specific homework and assignment questions with students online, using features like controlled chat, an interactive white board and shared web browsing. The provider, Tutoring Australasia, screens its tutors and all exchanges between students and tutors are monitored.