TopTutor.com provides live, online tutors for K-12 students

Internet Strategies for Education Markets: The Heller Report, Jan, 2000

A second company hooking up students to live, human tutors will launch this month.

TopTutors.com (Pacific Palisades, CA) will begin by offering math and reading tutoring for grades two through six. Between now and the spring of 2000, says Amanda Barber, chief marketing officer, the company will focus on building a critical mass of tutors, adding math and reading services for grades seven through twelve, and adding three or four new topic areas. Barber says that TopTutors.com plans a major consumer marketing effort from April to June.

The tutoring company is headed by Barton Listick, creator of Knowledge Adventure's JumpStart series. It is funded by idealab! Capital Partners.

Tutoring sessions use proprietary, Internet-based software that provides a whiteboard that doubles as a web-browser. An audio system created by the company and called a "computer phone" allows the tutor and child to talk with each other. Just for fun, the tutor cartoon figure on the whiteboard frame moves its mouth when the tutor is talking. Children can choose from twelve animated avatars, and the chosen figure will move its mouth when the child is talking. New clients receive a headset for voice communications, but students could also use the microphones and speakers on their PC. All sessions are recorded for parents or students who want to listen to them again. Sessions are one hour, but Barber says the dynamics of the Internet may call for shorter time periods. The company recommends a schedule of two tutoring sessions per week.

Tutoring sessions make use of many educational resources available on the web for free. Barber says the company is actively pursuing content partnerships with other web-based resources. These could potentially be items resold in the TopTutor.com store, a collection of resources parents might subscribe to or items made available for free in exchange for exposure to the teacher audience tutoring for the company.

A prize gallery will help retain customers. Tutors can give students up to five star points per tutoring session, and these can be redeemed for merchandise ranging from 15 to 100 points. Prizes can be donated to charity as well. Barber wants the service to host one of the best prize galleries on the Internet, with up to date items such as Pokemon toys. The prize system also opens up some interesting possibilities for partnerships where points can be used on other sites with similar reward systems. Just as an example, AllowanceNet (see ISEM, Nov., 1999) allows users to earn points in this fashion, and the sites could cross-promote their services with joint prize galleries. (That's a theoretical ISEM illustration, and the two companies have not spoken with each other).

Working Teachers Sought as Tutors

TopTutor.com uses only credentialed teachers, and they are seeking them via educational trade shows, direct mail to schools and educational web sites. Barber says that principals have been especially receptive to the moonlighting proposition for their employees, probably because this supplemental income hones teaching skills and allows teachers to learn how to integrate the Internet.

Tutors receive a four-week training course for which they pay $300 (the first 1000 tutors to sign up get the training for free). The training will give them a certificate, and Barber hopes to eventually offer continuing education units for the course. For additional training, tutors will then work with students who are part of a program to provide free tutoring to low-income schools via sponsorships and grants. Compensation for tutors during this period has not yet been defined. After this training, tutors can work with customers. They are entered into a database defining their expertise, and parents can rate them.

Tutors are paid $24 per hour, and parents pay $35 per hour. Those figures could change. Barber has commissioned a study to better understand what parents expect to pay for tutoring. While TopTutor.com expects tutoring fees to be the primary revenue source, Barber says they will pursue multiple revenue channels. As mentioned, they will create an e-commerce store in the spring, and tutors can recommend appropriate products. The store will focus on learning materials, but could expand to other children's products. The company might also license their technology to other portals or international tutoring services, says Barber.

After establishing a strong K-12 service, Barber anticipates expansion to adult markets, primarily serving remedial and ESL needs for corporate training. International expansion would likely focus on ESL and other foreign language learning. The technology would permit, for example, a French tutor to be based in Paris.