Online Tutoring Spaces

February 11th, 2021 - 5:23pm
From The President's Desk

 

College of Marin (COM) offers two online tutoring spaces for reading and writing in any subject: the Reading and Writing Lab and the Online Writing Center. In both labs, students can get help from COM English instructors and instructional specialists with:

  • Writing assignments for all college subjects
  • Brainstorming, essay and paragraph organization, idea development, research, and grammar
  • College entrance essays, UC/CSU applications
  • Scholarship applications
  • Resumes and cover letters

Follow these instructions to access the Canvas RWL/OWC page:

  1. Log in to Canvas from the MyCOM Portal.
  2. Click the Student Support icon located on the main navigation menu OR click on the COM Online Tutoring/Labs link in the course navigation bar in the left-hand column within your course.
  3. Click the Reading/Writing Lab and OWC link.
  4. Click the Enroll in RWL/OWC link.
  5. Click the Enroll in course button.
  6. You will now have the RWL/OWC course in Canvas on your dashboard.
To schedule a 20-minute RWL appointment through Zoom:
  1. On the Canvas RWL/OWC page, click on the “RWL Virtual Appointments” button to schedule an online, real-time tutoring appointment with an instructor. 
  2. Once scheduled, you and the instructor/tutor will receive a link to a Zoom meeting via email.
  3. At the time of the appointment, join the meeting via the Zoom link.
  4. The instructor may ask you to share your screen with your draft or e-mail your draft.
  5. Please cancel the appointment if you are unable to attend.
To request tutoring assistance on the OWC:

The OWC is open 24/7 to help students with writing assignments for all subjects. Students can drop off their rough draft and expect to receive feedback from a tutor within 36 hours.

  1. On the Canvas RWL/OWC page, click on “OWC Tutoring Request.”
  2. Review the OWC Tutoring Student Guidelines.
  3. Click on the Submit OWC Tutoring Request link. You will be directed to a form to complete your request on the College of Marin website (Note: You may be required to re-enter your MyCOM login information)
  4. Complete all required components of the form. 
  5. If submitting a paper, upload a Word document at the end of the form. Be sure to click on “Upload” and then “Submit.”
  6. You will receive an email confirmation of your submission to the OWC service desk. The confirmation will go to your MyCOM email and it will be from the “Service Desk.”
    Brief tutorial: How to access your MyCOM e-mail
Communicating with your Instructional Specialist
  1. An instructional specialist will respond to your request within 36 hours. 
  2. An email from an instructional specialist will be sent to your MyCOM email address (NOT your Canvas mail). Be sure to check your MyCOM email! The email will come from the “Service Desk.”
  3. You can reply to your instructional specialist directly from your MyCOM email.
  4. The instructional specialist will close the ticket once they have responded to your request; if you have another question, please submit a new tutoring request.
Troubleshooting

Important: If you do not receive an e-mail with your OWC feedback within 36 hours, you can find your feedback by logging in to the Service Desk. To do this, log into MyCOM, click on “Service Desk,” and click on “Submit a Ticket.” You will then be able to view any tickets you have submitted. (If you have forwarded your MyCOM e-mail to your personal e-mail address, this may cause non-delivery of some OWC responses, but you can still find the responses by logging in to the Service Desk.)

If you receive an "Access Denied" message when you try to access the OWC, or if you are unable to view your response from the tutor, please try these things:

  • Be sure to use Chrome or Firefox (not Safari) to create a ticket and view responses from the OWC.
  • You must be logged into MyCOM to view your response from the tutor.
  • If you are unable to view the response from the tutor, you should close and then reopen your browser, and then check again. You should also try clearing the cache and cookies in the browser.
  • Try checking your spam or clutter folder in your e-mail, as OWC messages may sometimes be routed there.

You can find all of these instructions on the COM RWL/OWC page in Canvas.

If you are still unable to access the tutor's feedback, or if you have other questions, please e-mail RWL/OWC Coordinator Beth Sheofsky.

We look forward to working with you on the RWL and OWC!