Administration of the tutorial practice in times of COVID-19: addressing the special needs of university students through online tutoring.

Abstract

Tutoring is a fundamental practice in higher education that is aimed at reducing dropouts and academic lag. The tutor is in charge of providing guidance and support to the tutored in the personal, social, academic and professional areas. During the COVID-19 pandemic, face-to-face tutorials were suspended and there was a need to keep the tutor-tutored bond alive. This is how, starting in the fall of 2020, the Autonomous University of Tamaulipas implemented a remote tutorial service model through software embedded in Microsoft Teams. Although it is early to establish the efficiency and effectiveness of the model, the first results are favorable since the software solution has positively supported the tutorial activity.