Wendy has been a tutor in COL’s online writing courses for over 10 years. At a recent Tutor Professional Development Day Wendy commented:

“Our learners go to great lengths to submit assignments when their access to the Internet is down or they are without electricity. Their dedication to improving their skills despite and even because of the challenging circumstances of their lives, and the stories they share with us make world events real and more personal for tutors.

“Providing tutoring support for these learners requires and encourages us to appreciate the contexts from which they approach the course materials and experience our assignment feedback and communication. We can’t help having at least some understanding of the responsibilities and constraints that influence learners’ responses to the assignment tasks and to our emails about upcoming due dates. COL tutors are aware of learners’ needs and circumstances in much the same way that the Writing courses all ask learners to anticipate and accommodate the needs and expectations of their readers. Our experience as tutors reflects the communication theory embedded in all of COL’s Writing Effectively courses, which emphasize a reader-centred approach to writing.”

– Wendy Plain, COL writing tutor