The role of technology in the tutoring business is not to supplant the tutor, but rather to support and automate the business of tutoring. Let's take a look at a modern tutoring company both in-center or in-home. Here is the typical work flow.
Take a parent's phone call. New clients are usually the result of a recommendation from a current or past client. Because the tutor / student relationship is built on trust, recommendations are by far the most common way to gain new business. Parents and students know this so they seek out recommendations from trusted friends. The first challenge for an education center is capturing the parent and student information and recording the parent's concerns and objectives. The intake must gathering key data about the student, including current and past performance, challenges and motivation.
Schedule the student. Most tutoring companies are staffed by tutors with unique availabilities, varied qualifications, and schedules that change daily. This leads to a scheduling headache at best if not a scheduling nightmare.
Communicate information to the tutor. If the parent is going to pay hefty hourly fees, they want to make sure that the tutor has the information needed to work with their child. Making all information necessary to properly tutor a student available to the tutor is critical.
Record the results of tutoring sessions. What happened during the session in detail. Is the student progressing? Does the tutor need assistance? Are there ares the student needs to work on.
Communicate progress to the parent. Tutors and students have ample time to communicate. However, parents are not always available to talk between sessions. Many times students drive themselves to sessions, or the parent charged with managing the student's education is not always present.
Capture ongoing conversations with parents. What was said two weeks ago? A month ago? Are there multiple administrators in a center communicating to the parent and and those messages consistent? What has been agreed upon? What message resonated with the parent?
Handle billing. Does the parent prepay? If so, then the center has to document how many sessions were purchases and when the credits run out. At that point the center has to get the parent to pay for more. Does the parent post pay? Then the center must create invoices and statements. Figuring out what is owed can be complicated.
Handle payroll. How much does each tutor earn? How many hours did each work? Does payroll match up with the sessions paid by the parent?
Get stuff done. Who is going to follow up with a parent that needs a call back? A parent wants to discuss summer programs in two months. Who is going to call them?
There are endless ways to drop the ball in operating a tutoring center. It's enough to make one's head spin. Keeping the plates spinning was certainly not what motivated educators and entrepreneurs to start their business. Yet, that is precisely what most owners are faced with. Technology can help them pursue their passion for education and make more money doing it!
Most tutor management issues are information management which can be addressed using a variety of software applications and services. There are several choices when choosing technology to automate the business of tutoring. A solution can be assembled using separate software and online services. Centers can use a commercial online service designed for tutor management and test preparation centers. They can also design and build their own online system.
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Monday, January 23, 2012
GPS Auto Tracker Technology
If you are a fleet manager for a corporation or a small business that that has delivery or service vehicles on the road each day then GPS Auto tracker technology applied correctly will save you money every day. Ever wonder why one vehicle has almost twice the miles and maintenance costs of the average vehicle in your fleet? How about a particular delivery route whose driver takes longer and has more employee overtime than then it probably should. In each case these situations are costing you money in terms of fuel efficiency, overtime and maintenance costs. So how can I better manage my transportation costs?
The answer to your questions may come from using GPS auto tracker technology. Basically there are two types of GPS tracking technology on the market today. One is commonly known as passive or logger and it has been around the longest. Passive tracking units are placed in or on a vehicle and as the vehicle travels on its route the information is logged on the unit. It basically works just like the GPS navigation systems that are so popular with the public these days. However unlike your cars navigation system GPS tracking units, Logger GPS devices record the information on to a data base. To access the information the unit must be retrieved from the vehicle and downloaded to a computer for viewing. Logging units are relatively inexpensive and are available in very small sizes that are easy to hide. They do a very good job of telling you exactly where your vehicles have been, their speed and stopped time. The problems is that the information is not in real time and you have to assign someone to collect the units and download the data then return the units to their assigned vehicles. On the positive side you have total control and access to your tracking information.
Real time GPS tracker technology is a great alternative to logging systems. Just as the name implies the information provided is relative" live" and can be view as the vehicles travel on their routes. If you are a fleet manager this has far reaching advantages. Real time GPS units use existing cell phone technology to upload the data from the vehicles tracking device to a GPS auto tracking service provider. The provider then sends the current information to your office to be viewed on a computer. Depending on the plan you have subscribed to uploaded data is updated at different time intervals. Basically the more frequent the information the more costly the service. Businesses with delivery services that also do pickups frequently ask for tracking information to be updated every 5 minutes while fleet managers that manage cross country transport only need tracking information every 30 minutes.
The answer to your questions may come from using GPS auto tracker technology. Basically there are two types of GPS tracking technology on the market today. One is commonly known as passive or logger and it has been around the longest. Passive tracking units are placed in or on a vehicle and as the vehicle travels on its route the information is logged on the unit. It basically works just like the GPS navigation systems that are so popular with the public these days. However unlike your cars navigation system GPS tracking units, Logger GPS devices record the information on to a data base. To access the information the unit must be retrieved from the vehicle and downloaded to a computer for viewing. Logging units are relatively inexpensive and are available in very small sizes that are easy to hide. They do a very good job of telling you exactly where your vehicles have been, their speed and stopped time. The problems is that the information is not in real time and you have to assign someone to collect the units and download the data then return the units to their assigned vehicles. On the positive side you have total control and access to your tracking information.
Real time GPS tracker technology is a great alternative to logging systems. Just as the name implies the information provided is relative" live" and can be view as the vehicles travel on their routes. If you are a fleet manager this has far reaching advantages. Real time GPS units use existing cell phone technology to upload the data from the vehicles tracking device to a GPS auto tracking service provider. The provider then sends the current information to your office to be viewed on a computer. Depending on the plan you have subscribed to uploaded data is updated at different time intervals. Basically the more frequent the information the more costly the service. Businesses with delivery services that also do pickups frequently ask for tracking information to be updated every 5 minutes while fleet managers that manage cross country transport only need tracking information every 30 minutes.
Sunday, January 22, 2012
VDF And IPTV
IPTV represents Internet Protocol television and is a way of providing an Audio or Video signal across a digital IP network. BBC have been early investors in this technological innovation with the advent of their iPlayer.
Prior to now IPTV technology was financially unrealistic for the majority of business but, as with many other areas of technology, fees have come down and very affordable packages are now being offered by some of the major suppliers.
The amazing advantages of IPTV are now capitalised on in a good many, varied industries such as: education, health care, hospitality and corporate business. Its ability to effortlessly deliver a range of services digitally to screens, PCs laptops or TV's has significant overall appeal. Whether you have settled your hotel room bill making use of the Tv Set, looked at a digital signage screen at an airport terminal or train station or viewed a programme on the BBC's iPlayer, you have experienced the advantages of IPTV technology.
So as you can see from the above, these technological innovations might appear to be a whole heap of geeky mumbo jumbo but they are practical, day-to-day technologies, with masses to offer many sectors. They are here to stay and no doubt will progress even further with time.
Prior to now IPTV technology was financially unrealistic for the majority of business but, as with many other areas of technology, fees have come down and very affordable packages are now being offered by some of the major suppliers.
The amazing advantages of IPTV are now capitalised on in a good many, varied industries such as: education, health care, hospitality and corporate business. Its ability to effortlessly deliver a range of services digitally to screens, PCs laptops or TV's has significant overall appeal. Whether you have settled your hotel room bill making use of the Tv Set, looked at a digital signage screen at an airport terminal or train station or viewed a programme on the BBC's iPlayer, you have experienced the advantages of IPTV technology.
So as you can see from the above, these technological innovations might appear to be a whole heap of geeky mumbo jumbo but they are practical, day-to-day technologies, with masses to offer many sectors. They are here to stay and no doubt will progress even further with time.
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