Smarthinking is a brand new online tutoring program acquired by Palo Alto to help students both on and off campus.

Smarthinking offers tutoring in a variety of subjects, including Math, Anatomy, Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Economics, Finance, Accounting, Statistics, Spanish and Writing.

With today’s jet-powered professors and students holding part-time or even full-time jobs, it is tough to find time to sit down with a tutor or professor to help get through a difficult math problem or writing assignment. This is one of the many reasons why the Alamo Community Colleges have welcomed Smarthinking, an academic support program based out of Washington D.C., this semester.

“It is one of many useful resources here at PAC,” said Instructional Skills Specialist Valerie Hernandez in the campus writing lab. “I really think administration is moving forward with this new tool." The writing lab is located in the Learning Laboratories (LL) building.

Smarthinking is already included in students’ tuition, and it is fully paid for prior to starting the semester here at PAC. “I’d take advantage of the program since it is already paid for,” said Hernandez.

Smarthinking’s Implementation Specialist Marjorie McEntire, Ph. D, had nothing but really great things to say about Palo Alto’s administration pushing the program and understanding its usefulness.

“Your school president, Dr. Guzmán, was really passionate about getting the program up and running, and this really helps in introducing a new program as useful as Smarthinking to students,” McEntire said in a recent phone interview from her office in Utah.

She added that the program usually takes off after the first year of its existence on campus. “Math and English instructors will begin to influence their students to check their work by submitting it to online tutors,” she said.

This program is truly one of a kind. A student has the opportunity to be tutored in a variety of subjects wherever he or she may be. Students can enter a private one-on-one session with a tutor, or simply submit a question for assistance. Another great feature is that this program is offered 24 hours a day.

It works perfectly for those students who are rushing out of class to get to work on time, or for those students needing that extra help to push for that “A” plus.

At the same time, you can’t forget your tutors here on campus. “We’re here to help students better understand what Smarthinking is about,” said Valerie Hernandez. “This is a very powerful tool, but it does take time to understand how it works.”

Being that the program is so new, not many students have tried using it or are even aware of its existence.

The program is not difficult to access. It can be reached after logging into your PALS account. There is a link on the main page that will take you directly to the site.

Some students have never accessed their PALS account, but it is important to know that many instructors use PALS to communicate via e-mail with their students.

Although many students have yet to be introduced to Smarthinking, some have used it and are noticing the benefits of what it has to offer.

“It’s really awesome, and I wish they would advertise it a little more,” said Palo Alto Communications major Stephanie Hernandez. “Smarthinking is perfect for me since I work on the weekends as well which are usually my catch-up days. Because of this, I never have a lot of time to really put all my focus into my homework.”

Stephanie works and is a full-time student at PAC and is always rushed for time. She believes that Smarthinking will help others like her who have to juggle multiple tasks throughout the week.

Multitasking students like Stephanie are beginning to become more common. These students love to accomplish as much as they can in a day, and they are pushing their limits. Some will stop at nothing to make sure their daily tasks are complete, and with tools like Smarthinking keeping pace with these students, their goals are within reach.

You can access Smarthinking by simply logging onto your PALS account. Go to My Courses on your PALS home page and you'll see the link for Smarthinking on the left. Here, you will find very in-depth information on any questions you may have about Smarthinking.