1. Welcome to our online tutor training!

Objectives: In this unit you will

1. Learn about navigating this blog
2. Obtain contact information for your online mentor
3. Study the online course objectives and compare them to your expectations of this course
4. Consider your responsibilities as a volunteer tutor

Estimated time for completing this section: 1 hour

Before you continue, do you have the information you need to get started?

If you are reading this text, you are committed to learning how to tutor an adult. Before you go any further, have you completed a volunteer orientation or information session with your volunteer organization? If not, we recommend that you do so now.

You may:

1) Call your organization and sign up for the next session, or

2) Take an online orientation. For instructions, click here.

Click here to download a PDF checklist that will help you keep track of your progress through this workshop. You may save the document in your files. It will not save in this blog.

2. How to navigate this blog

Before you begin, you will need to take the Is Online Learning For You? questionnaire. Click on the bold, green words. If you are satisfied that online learning is for you, please continue. If you think that taking an online course will be too difficult, please contact your local literacy organization and sign up for an onsite training.

As you progress through this course, you will find most of the answers to your questions about navigating through this course in this Blogger Help link. We'll place this link on the right under "Important Links," so that you can find it at any time.

Here are some quick tips for navigating this course

• Always click on the colored bold words. They are live links and lead to other websites and pages.


• You can either scroll down from page to page using your mouse or the scroll bar to the right (place your cursor on the bar - see circle), or click in the archived links under "Units" in the side bar.

• You can also toggle between pages by using the arrows in your tool bar. These arrows will help you navigate between pages. See the illustration below, where the arrows are encircled.
  

• Live links that do not have "Optional" written in front of them are required. Sometimes a link will say, look here for an example. Such a link is required and you will be expected to click on it. (Note: the above link leads to Thinkfinity: You may have to install the current version of Adobe flash player to view it.)
  

• Optional links describe a topic further. Although they are not required, they are still worth visiting.
  

• Click on "comments" at the lower left corner of a post to write your own comments for discussion, or to read others' comments. This is the only way your trainer or mentor will know if you've completed a section. You will be able to see the number of comments that sit in a page.

If you are unable to proceed, please contact your trainer or mentor at your local program, or call

The Virginia Adult Learning Resource Center
www.valrc.org
800-237-0178.
Ask for Victoire Sanborn, the Literacy Support Director.
Email her at vjsanbor@vcu.edu

We'll gladly guide you through the process!

3. The time it takes to complete this course

How quickly you go through this course is up to you. Including this introductory session, it should take about fourteen hours, the standard for certified literacy programs in the United States.

You may take this complete 14-hour tutor training straight through, working alone or with other online learners in your organization and completing the tasks assigned for each unit as a group. You can also use this course to review a single workshop section. In addition, you may find that after you begin tutoring, you may want or need to know more about given topics. In that case, we've provided you with several options.

Optional Work and Extension Activities

Optional links are embedded throughout the text of this course, inviting you to delve deeper into a topic. You are not required to navigate through these optional pages. It is up to you to click on them or not. As with required links, the words are in green and bold.

Additional activities can be found under Extension Activities links located on the right side of your screen. These activities offer additional insights, or lesson plans and information that relate directly to the topic you are studying. You are invited to use these extension activities any time, even after you have completed this online training.

4. Required Activity

Now, look at the four units in this online course. You can do this by clicking on the links below. Remember to toggle back and forth using your back arrow.


Unit One: The Adult Learner

Unit Two: Teaching Reading to Adults

Unit Three: Teaching Writing to Adults

Unit Four: Tools for Tutoring Adults

In which unit do you expect your key questions to be addressed? Which areas in each unit do you know nothing about? In which areas will you feel confident as a volunteer tutor?

• Compare the sequence of the workshop to the key questions that you’ve jotted down. Where in the workshop will they be covered? Write down any topics that are missing or concerns you have in the comment section.


• Next, please focus on the estimated time it will take to complete this workshop – 14 hours. Do you think realistically that you will be able to complete this course? List some obstacles you think you might encounter, and use this list for your next assignment.

Required Assignment

Figure out how you might overcome your obstacles to your completing this online training. List what you think you will need in order to keep up your motivation to continue, no matter how hectic your personal life might become. Click on "comments" and post your thoughts. Then read what others have to say.

Optional viewing: Watch this 6 minute video about Illiteracy in America, a portion of which was filmed by ABC News.

5. Summary

Congratulations! You have just completed the introduction to this online training! Navigating through this section has made you familiar with using Blogger. If you found navigation easy, then you will have no problems taking the rest of this course. If you encountered many difficulties, please contact your technical mentor for help.

Now that you have considered this training and considered some of the obstacles of taking this online course, let’s get started! The next unit will help you to understand your student as a learner and your strengths as a tutor.

Please click here to continue.