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Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology's Homework Hotline math and science
tutoring program for Indiana's middle school and high school students received a
top Techpoint Mira Award in the “Education Contribution to technology by a
Department Program or Team” category.
Other Mira Winners with Rose-Hulman
Connections
Two other
Mira Award winners have strong
Rose-Hulman connections.
Scale Computing’s innovative
‘clustered’ data storage system
earned the Mira Information
Technology Gazelle award for its
founder and CEO, Jeff Ready, a
1996 Rose-Hulman computer
science graduate. Several Rose-Hulman
alumni serve on the management
team at Scale. “Gazelle” awards
are given to fast-growing
companies in business less than
three years, and several awards
also highlight educators and
institutions that help connect
technology and learning. Scale
Computing has offices in
Indianapolis and San Carlos,
Calif. Visit
the Scale Computing Web site.
Another Mira winner linked to
Rose-Hulman is Precise Path, an
Indianapolis-based company that
won the Innovation of the Year
Award. The company’s chief
operating officer is Jason
Zielke, who received his
undergraduate in mechanical
engineering from Rose-Hulman in
2000 and his master’s in
engineering management in 2002.
A special association is found
in that he was a tutor while at
Rose-Hulman. Precise Path has a
goal of development a wide range
of robots for use in a variety
of outdoor environments,
including golf courses, sports
fields, residential homes,
corporations and public spaces.
Learn more about
Precise Path. |
The Mira Awards honor the state's top technology businesses, business
professionals and educators.
The Homework Hotline captured top in its division over eight other finalists.
The category salutes educational departments, programs or teams that have
utilized technology to achieve goals or expand services to helping others.
For the last decade, the Mira Awards have put a well-deserved spotlight on
Indiana’s technology success stories, recognizing the companies, institutions
and individuals who are leading the state’s high-tech economy, according to a
Techpoint news release.
“Rose-Hulman’s Homework Hotline was thrilled to be recognized with a Techpoint
Mira Award in Education for our increased efforts in reaching digital-age
students through multimedia math and science tutoring,” said Susan Smith,
Homework Hotline director. “Rose-Hulman students who serve as Homework Hotline
tutors have also benefited by being introduced to a new style of tutoring using
technology as the essential modality of assisting students. Additionally, tutors
have made use of their classroom knowledge by developing real-world projects
ranging from an attendance tracker to an equation editor.”
Since its inception in 1991, the Homework Hotline has developed into one of
Indiana's most recognized and respected tutoring programs, enhancing academic
performance, reinforcing classroom concepts, helping students in grades 6-12
improve their problem-solving skills, and promoting interest in math and
science.
Employing more than 100 Rose-Hulman students as tutors, composed of 14 different
mathematics, science and engineering majors, the free service has received more
than 250,000 telephone, email or online chat inquires.
The Homework Hotline's toll-free telephone number is 1-877-ASK-ROSE
(1-877-275-7673). Tutors are available on Sundays through Thursdays, from 7 p.m.
to 10 p.m. EDT, during each school year.
In 2008, reaching the digital-age student became an essential component of the
tutoring program. Online tutoring has emerged from email alone to also include a
real-time program (www.AskRose.org/onlinetutoring) that features a user-friendly
equation editor with mathematical and scientific symbols.
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From left: Susan Smith,
director of the Homework
Hotline, and Kim LaComba,
assistant director
outreach, planning, and
marketing for the Homework
Hotline |
Preliminary mid-year assessment data shows that 71.6 percent of online tutoring
users who completed a survey had never previously called the Homework Hotline.
This shows that the Homework Hotline is reaching a new group of student learners
through the multimedia addition. Of the students surveyed after utilizing the
email tutoring option, 90.3 percent stated they would recommend the Homework
Hotline to others; 81.9 percent surveyed after using the online chat tutoring
option stated they would use the Homework Hotline again and chat would be their
preferred service option.
The 2007-2008 academic year was the most successful for the Homework Hotline, as
tutors answered more than 44,000 calls and more than 2,600 email tutoring
sessions.
Four panels of independent judges narrowed a record number of Mira Award
nominees down to 63 finalists in 11 categories. The winners were announced May
16 at the Mira Gala in Indianapolis.
Other Mira Award finalists in the Education Contribution-Dept/Prog/Team category
were:
- Ball State University's Institute for Digital Fabrication
- Ball State's Digital Corps
- Indiana University's Global Research Network Operations Center (part of
University Information Technology Services)
- IHETS, a consortium of Indiana’s public and private higher education
institutions, state government agencies, public libraries, public broadcast
stations and K-12 schools.
- IU's Pervasive Technology Institute Polar Grid Project Team
- Purdue University's Department of Computer Science K-12 Outreach Program
- Purdue's Surprising Possibilities Imagined and Realized through Information
Technology (SPIRIT) program
“The Mira Awards recognize the achievements of some outstanding performers and
contributors, and it’s also a great way to focus attention on the broader issue
of the important role technology plays in our state’s economy,” said Jim Jay,
president and CEO of TechPoint.
TechPoint is Indiana’s only statewide technology initiative, representing
industry stakeholders including publicly-traded companies, private businesses,
colleges and research universities, and local economic development
organizations. The mission of TechPoint is to accelerate Indiana’s emerging and
vibrant information technology sector by: promoting the successes of IT
companies and professionals; supporting the formation, expansion, and attraction
of IT companies; and advocating appropriate public policy.
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