Gilroy
– Students have been using computers to extend the school day
and increase the opportunity to learn, reaching out to online
tutors in search of free homework help.
Gilroy – Students have been using computers to extend the school day and increase the opportunity to learn, reaching out to online tutors in search of free homework help.
Thanks to Brainfuse, a service provided through the Gilroy Public Library, students have been connecting after school with volunteer teachers across the nation to receive support on a range of assignments, from making revisions on an essay to working though the conversion of a fraction to a decimal.
The educational service matches students along grade lines and according to subject with teachers who are also sitting at a computer. Teachers can then speak to the student using a headset and utilize a virtual whiteboard to write, draw pictures or otherwise illustrate lessons.
Brandy Velasquez, a third-grade student at Glen View Elementary School in Gilroy, first used Brainfuse in February, the month it debuted in Santa Clara County libraries. She has since used it three more times, connecting to a tutor when she runs into problems with her homework.
The last time she called in, Velasquez was doing a “divided by problem,” where the numerator is smaller than the denominator and must be converted to a decimal. She logged in to her account and was speaking to a teacher named Jennifer within minutes.
“She drew a lot of pictures on the chart,” said Velasquez.
The illustrations helped and Velasquez logged off after 10 minutes to complete the rest of her homework, which contained similar problems, without any more help.
In the future when Velasquez logs in, Brainfuse will try to match her back up with Jennifer.
Velasquez’s sister Irene Gonzalez – a seventh-grade Ascencion Solorsano Middle School student – also uses Brainfuse, logging on about once a month for help in math.
Like her younger sister, Gonzalez seeks help online because her parents are not available to help.
“They’re always at work,” she said.
This is not uncommon, said Lani Yoshimura, the head librarian at Gilroy Public Library.
“Sometimes the parent may or may not have a skill in a particular area or may not have time or may not even be there,” she said.
The homework help service has also broadened its accessibility by allowing users to log on from home computers and providing Spanish-speaking tutors.
This multifaceted resource has been a welcome addition to the library, Yoshimura said. While the library would like to help students with face-to-face tutoring, it does not have the budget or resources to do so.
“If we had to provide a homework center, I’m not sure we’d have the space to help all the kids,” she said.
