Smarthinking - help with assignments
Online tutoring to support your study
You are not alone in your learning when you study through OUA. We know the pressures you face when studying and offer free access to an on-demand tutoring service called Smarthinking.
The Online Writing Lab team of experienced online tutors provides fast, detailed feedback on your assignment drafts; or you can connect with a tutor online and work through your questions in real time. The service is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
You can also access other Smarthinking services, specialised in disciplines such as Mathematics, Science, Business, Health and IT.
Over 90% of OUA student users have indicated they have found working with a Smarthinking tutor valuable in supplementing their learning and helping them develop their academic skills.
Smarthinking availability
Students can access four hours of free expert tutoring support for each unit undertaken in a wide range of undergraduate, postgraduate, TAFE and preparatory units. This means that you will have the chance to submit to the Online Writing Lab a maximum of six essays per enrolled unit. Live chat with a tutor is timed by the minute, thus allowing maximum flexibility and offering a fantastic opportunity to have personalised questions answered by experts in the field. If you want to use the service beyond your free hours, Smarthinking is available to OUA students at a discounted rate. A pop up will guide you when you have used up your allocated hours. If you want to purchase Smarthinking tutorial time for your own purposes go to: www.smarthinking.com
To check whether your unit has free Smarthinking tutoring support available, simply refer to the unit description on the OUA website. Alternatively, check the list below:
- 2012 Undergraduate Smarthinking units (PDF, 1.5 MB)
- 2012 Postgraduate Smarthinking units (PDF, 1.7 MB)
- 2012 Other Smarthinking units (PDF, 963 KB)
How to make the most of Smarthinking
Help and advice from the Smarthinking online tutors is available 24 hours a day. You can use Smarthinking to:
- Connect with a tutor for live online tutoring available up to 24 hours a day, or book a session with a tutor in advance. Check out the sample online tutoring sessions.
- Submit a draft of your essay to the Online Writing Lab for a detailed critique to help you strengthen your writing skills. Personalised feedback is usually provided within 24 hours. See a sample Smarthinking essay critique.
- Send a question to a tutor for a response within 24 hours. Because Smarthinking is designed to support your learning, the tutor's responses will help you better understand your topic and learn how to use research techniques. View a sample response.
Accessing your Smarthinking
Once you have enrolled into a Smarthinking eligible unit, it is easy to access the service from My OUA during the Study Period or Session.
- Sign in to My OUA
- Go to Manage Your Study and then select Active Units.
- Click on the Smarthinking link beside your eligible units.
Please note that Smarthinking is best supported by Internet Explorer version 7 (IE 7) or higher, Mozilla’s Firefox version 3.0 or higher, and Safari 5.0 or higher.
Smarthinking technology is not currently supported by Google Chrome web browser.
For further enquiries please contact smarthinking@open.edu.au
