Public Libraries Launch Free Online Homework Help

HomeworkLouisiana Powered By Tutor.com

Port Allen, LA - The State Library of Louisiana today launched the free educational service HomeworkLouisiana, an online tool that connects Louisiana K-12 students, adults preparing for the GED and college students to a live tutor online for one on one help with homework. It also offers studying and test preparation in all core academic subjects including math, science, social studies and English. The West Baton Rouge Parish Library in Port Allen hosted the event.

The State Library is able to offer this resource as part of the Louisiana Libraries: Connecting People to Their Potential project, which is funded through an $8.8 million Broadband USA grant from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The State Library provides this service to every Louisiana public library, thereby making it available to all Louisiana citizens.

Tutors are available Sunday through Thursday 2 p.m. - 10 p.m. The network is comprised of more than 1,800 tutors who are certified teachers, professors, graduate school students, university students and professionals who are experts in their field. Each tutor passes a third party security background check.

The SkillsCenter is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. HomeworkLouisiana can be accessed from a Louisiana public library or from a home computer by going to www.homeworkla.org. Students travelling out of the state must have a Louisiana public library card to access the service.

State Librarian Rebecca Hamilton said, “Last year, Louisiana public libraries saw well over 6.5 million uses of their computers by individuals. Research shows us that this is 57% of our citizens. Clearly, our public libraries are vital as access points to information. Without full access to the tremendous amount of information available through the Internet, a person cannot be a full participant in today’s world. This is particularly important for our students, whatever their age. This is why HomeworkLouisiana is particularly important for our students. We know that it is critical that students receive the very best learning opportunities available, and Homework Louisiana is one more valuable tool that students now have.”

Students who use HomeworkLouisiana’s online tutoring and homework services report they are able to better complete homework assignments, build their confidence in their academic abilities and improve their grades.

“The State Library, one of five agencies that fall under the Department of Culture, Recreation & Tourism, is a strong advocate for literacy in all its forms. One of the driving forces of the DCRT is to provide informational and educational resources to our citizens so that they might grow and prosper, contributing to our state’s economic and intellectual well being,” said Pam Breaux, Secretary of DCRT. “I am very proud of the State Librarian and her staff, who worked long and hard on winning the $8.8 million grant that made this possible. For Louisiana students, bound to be the future workforce and backbone of our Louisiana economy, this is a tremendous coup. We very much hope that the use of HomeworkLouisiana as well as our other grant funded programs, becomes commonplace in Louisiana society,” she finished.

The HomeworkLouisiana Online Classroom has been optimized to enhance a one-on-one learning session. It includes real-time chat, an interactive whiteboard, math tools that include drag and drop shapes and commonly used equations, graphing paper and much more. A student and tutor can also share files or browse educational resources on the Web.

ProofPoint™ Real-Time Writing Center enables students to upload documents to receive a live review, edits and writing strategy assistance. SkillsCenter™ Resource Library includes thousands of vetted resources for independent study such as tutorials, videos and study guides that map to the subjects.

Tutor.com is the world’s largest online tutoring service. The Tutor.com network of more than 1,800 professional tutors have delivered more than 5 million one-to-one tutoring sessions in a proprietary online classroom optimized for learning, since 2001. Tutor.com powers tutoring and homework help programs for school districts including East Baton Rouge; the Department of Defense; the states of Alabama, Alaska, Kansas, Louisiana and Rhode Island; and, thousands of public libraries and schools. For more information, visit www.tutor.com.

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