Sanjay, an 8th grader has been struggling in math at his private school in Florida. His mother hired a personal tutor for her son to improve his grades and persuaded the school authorities to let him continue to be in class. But even with such an expensive option, there was no substantial improvement. She then learnt about ClickandClimb through an online search and contacted the company to teach both her children. After a period of 5 months with ClickandClimb, her children have posted success.  Her son has moved from a grade D to A+ and daughter from D to B+.

ClickandClimb, an online tutoring website is founded by Aish Agrawal. Aish is an Industrial Engineer by degree and has been working in the software Industry for several years now. He is supported in this venture by Dr. Neela Bakore and Mr. Vijay Bakore who are the Academic Directors at ClickandClimb and spearhead the India operations. About 5 years ago,  Dr. Neela Bakore was hired by Elizabeth Board of School in NJ and that is when Neela and Vijay came to the US.  During their stay here, Mr. Vijay Bakore also became a certified teacher. After spending about 3 years in NJ, they both decided to move back to India and settle down. They are now working with ClickandClimb to provide Customized, High Quality, Live, One-one-One Online tutoring to children in grades 3-12 here in the US.

Lokvani talked to Aish about how it all started.

•    Give us a background on your company. Who are the people behind it and why did you focus on tutoring in Math?

Personal tutoring in the US is very expensive and can cost families anywhere from $30-$80 per hour for an experienced and professional tutor. At some coaching centers, even after paying that high a price, the student ends up in a group study and does not get the undivided attention of the tutor. Parents have to adjust their schedule as per the tutor and spend time and gas in driving their child to the coaching centers.
 
Growing up in India, we had access to highly qualified English speaking tutors at a fraction of the cost.Our Academic Directors are certified by the Department of Education, State of New Jersey and have taught in the Elizabeth board of school before they moved back to India. They understand the US culture, students and their curriculum, the teaching style of the teachers here, the school system, and the differences between Indian and US style of teaching. They use this knowledge and experience to guide the teachers who already have unsurpassed content knowledge.

We started with Math as more and more students struggle with math everyday and there is an abundance of math teachers in India. We are however not limiting ourselves to math and are in the process of rolling out other subjects also. Beginning April, we will also be offering SAT prep courses targeting the SAT exam in June.

•    How does the process work? How long does a session last?

All you need is a PC with a high speed Internet connection and a headset for voice communication. After parents register, they then receive an email with their login information and details on how to access our electronic whiteboard, which is like a shared computer screen. Our Academic Director then gets in touch with the parents to get some feedback on the student. Parents download the required software right from our website for the voice communication and get ready for the sessions. A session typically lasts for an hour but depending on the teachers availability we can customize the length of the session in case the student has an upcoming test or quiz at school and wants to study for longer.

Here is what you get along with the tutoring sessions:
•    Consultation with the Academic Director
•    Lesson Plans – lists what topic the tutor will cover during each session
•    Worksheets – for extra practice
•    Progress Report – so you can track the student’s performance
•    Homework Help
•    Customized and focused learning for upcoming test or quiz at school

•    Give us a sample question and answer session?

At the time of the session, the student and teacher log on to the website and go to the Whiteboard. Using headsets they talk to each other in real time. They both use something called a Writing tablet to write on the whiteboard. Using a Writing Tablet is just like using a notebook and pencil (IMAGE- Tablet.JPG). This way we replicate a classroom like environment with teacher and student on the other sides of the world. 

Based on the topic listed in the lesson plan, the teacher starts explaining the topic to the student giving examples that the student can relate to and asking questions to ensure that the student is grasping things well. The teacher uses the same text book as used by student.

•    How do kids relate to online tutoring as a learning tool?

In today’s times, the kids spend a lot of time on the computer playing games, chatting with their friends etc. and hence are comfortable sitting in front of their computer screen and attending tutoring sessions. Kids even find it exciting to use the whiteboard which is like using Microsoft Paint. It does take a session or two for kids to get comfortable using the writing tablet. Kids really enjoy these sessions especially because they are live and interactive and not a recorded playback session.

•    At what hours and days is this tutoring offered?

We schedule sessions as per the convenience and availability of students. We are available 24hrs Mon – Fri and are working on expanding our services over the weekend also. Home-schooling families prefer morning and afternoon hours (local time) and students that attend public or private school, prefer after school hours (4pm – 9pm).

•    How does your online tutoring compare with other similar tutoring help?

All our teachers are our full time trained employees and not fly by hourly teachers. No other service provides the level of personalized and customized tutoring. Our Academic Directors and Teachers go above and beyond to understand the strengths and weaknesses of each student and customize the study material accordingly.

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