One of the recurring themes is that we should avoid dichotomizing online and f2f tutoring. Online tutoring can't be seen as the solution to problems with f2f model, and neither should f2f tutoring be seen as the standard to which online tutoring should be held. Online tutoring is going to provide tutors and students with different capabilities, and the f2f model may not be able to explain just what is happening in certain situations. Mitch mentioned that asynchronous tutoring demands that he be more precise in his responses because his response is a written one that he has time to organize; in a f2f conference he is coming up with ideas quickly and may say things that are not thought out (something I do, too). But even though I trying not to dichotomize online and f2f tutoring, I am remembering how people have said that asynchronous tutoring allows them to do things that just aren't possible in f2f tutoring. Matt, for example, said that he can work with a student on a long piece of writing because he can read it and write his response when he's ready. (However, this began a discussion about whether you can spend too much time with one student's paper in the asynchronous format.) Another writing center director, Kirsten, said that the strengths of online tutoring shouldn't necessarily be transferred to f2f sessions. Even though her students often prefer that the tutors have read their essay before they show up for the synchronous tutoring session, Kirsten does not want to have f2f tutors read students' essays before the session. (But, then again, why not have tutors do this?)
It's inevitable, perhaps, that as we foray into tutoring in online environments that we look back at our f2f tutoring and wonder whether we can apply our new ideas to our work in brick-and-mortar writing centers... Maybe if we don't dichotomize these two approaches, we can at least admit that each approach may appeal to different kinds of learners (and tutors, too!).
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