Upswing Helps Colleges Support Students New to Online Classes During COVID-19 Crisis

COVID-19 has suddenly plunged almost every college or university into an online environment, with many students adapting to their first online class experience. But Upswing, an education technology firm, is helping colleges adapt quickly to meet their students’ needs.

Colleges and universities across the country, including 14 historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs), have been partnering with Upswing over the past seven years, launching online advising, tutoring, and 24/7 student engagement services through Upswing’s virtual assistant, Ana.

“It’s important colleges provide as much support as possible to students, especially those new to the online class experience,” says Melvin Hines, co-founder, and CEO of Upswing.

Upswing’s integrated service platform provides students with a virtual assistant, Ana. Using Ana, students can text to schedule a tutoring appointment and receive reminders and follow-up messages that help them organize their studying and tutoring schedules and keep them on the path to success.

“Giving students Ana, a virtual assistant, helps colleges by reminding students of important dates in a very personalized way. Getting frequently asked questions answered through this service helps schools in advising by freeing up their advisors to deal with more complex issues,” says Hines. “We anticipate students will expand the ways they can use Ana to provide them with greater support.”

Hines says many of Upswing’s partners think combining online tutoring with online advising is a way to expand academic services during this challenging time with an easy-to-use platform that allows for real-time support in multiple areas of the student experience.

During the COVID-19 quarantine when college students are at home and can’t have face-to-face meetings with their professors, Upswing is providing students with the ability to have real-time, face-to-face video support, which is especially critical in tutoring situations when students benefit from the opportunity of asking immediate, follow up questions.

Upswing’s online tutoring platform is connecting students with their college’s faculty and tutors so students can schedule tutoring, or use the college’s learning and writing centers remotely around their schedules.

An added benefit is Upswing’s videoconferencing tool that helps students and tutors make a deeper connection remotely from any location, and the online whiteboard allows students and tutors to show their work and share ideas.

Hines says Upswing’s integrated service platform provides students with all the tools they need to receive the best academic support to assure them of the highest likelihood of success during this time of transition.

“Upswing is proud to be working with so many colleges and universities and providing educational support for their online students. As a holistic platform, Upswing’s integrated services address a college’s immediate need for online academic support, including advising and tutoring,” adds Hines. “COVID-19 is a wakeup call for colleges to support online students fully, and we’re happy to be helping colleges make the successful transition to online education as smoothly as possible for their students.”

About Upswing

Upswing is an Austin, Texas-based online student engagement organization focused on removing the barriers to degree equity. Learn more about Upswing at https://upswing.io/