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 General
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How does BuddySchool work?
In BuddySchool teachers and students meet to study online. Here's a simple step-by-step description of how they go about doing it:
| |  | Teachers post their listings with information about their field(s) of expertise, pricing, availability and contact information, especially about the Internet communicators they use.
| | | | Students search through listings to find a teacher most suitable for them.
| | | | When they find a teacher, they check his or her schedule and send a "request for lesson" message. In this they specify the date, time, price and other details about the lesson.
| | | | Teachers receive requests for lesson(s) and accept or reject them. They can also change some of the conditions and send the request back to the student for confirmation.
| | | | When the request is accepted, a lesson is officially scheduled. This is indicated in both the teacher's and student's calenders.
| | | | At the scheduled lesson time the teacher and student log into BuddySchool and call each other on Skype, Google Talk or any other Internet communicator of their choice. They carry on with the lesson until BuddySchool indicates that their time is up.
| | | | After the lesson the teacher sends an invoice to the student, requesting payment. The student receives the invoice with instructions on how to pay the teacher.
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| | What happens during a lesson?
The possibilites during the lesson are limitless. Usually the teacher and student would be talking on Internet communicators (Skype, MS Messanger etc.), but they could also be chatting, co-browsing or even meeting face-to-face. BuddySchool makes no restrictions, only keeps track of the time and informs them when it is up.
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| | Why should I use BuddySchool?
BuddySchool has lots of unique feature which help make studying or teaching online easy and fun.
| | | Schedules You don't have to worry about keeping your schedule. BuddySchool will remind you of upcoming lessons. At any time you can check your calendar to see all future and past lessons. Another useful feature is that BuddySchool recognizes time zones, and calculates the schedules accordingly, so you can easily work with anyone in the world.
| | | | Quality All teachers have rankings which ensure that they can provide quality service. Students also have rankings, so their teachers will know they can trust them when it comes to payments.
| | | | Personal space All information about the subjects you study or teach, your teachers and students, past and forthcoming lessons, payments etc. is organized in your account for fast and easy access.
| | | | Payments BuddySchool's system for tracking payments, sending invoices and creating reports makes all your financial arrangements as trouble free as possible.
| | | | Other Features... Explore BuddySchool for yourself and find many more features designed to make your online studying experience easy and fun.
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| | Do I need to install any special software?
BuddySchool helps teachers and students meet, schedule lessons and take care of payments, but during the actual lesson they use IM (Instant Messaging) and Internet telephony (or VoIP: Voice over IP) applications like Skype, MS Messenger or Google Talk. There is no need to install any additional software beyond that.
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| | Can I export my schedule to applications like MS Outlook, Lotus Notes or Google Calendar?
Yes, you can export lesson information or the whole calendar from BuddySchool to a file in iCalendar standard (file extension .ics). Any application which supports iCalendar will be able to import your schedule.
To export a single lesson, click on "Export event" link from the lesson page. To export your whole calendar, click "Export calendar" from your calendar page.
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Rating - Teacher and Student Score |
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What is the Teacher Score?
The Teacher Score is used to evaluate the tutor's reputation in BuddySchool. It is the most important information about the teacher. It tells the students how well others have rated the teacher in the past. The score is shown as a number and a star next to the teacher's name. You can click on them to see all feedback and detailed information about the score.
The points are awarded mostly for performance during lessons. Each time a lesson is finished, the student has the ability to leave feedback about the teacher's performance, which can increase or decrease the Teacher Score.
It can be positive, negative or neutral. Positive feedback increases the Teacher Score by one point and negative reduces it. Neutral feedback has no influence on the score.
Find out how the Teacher Score is calculated »
The Teacher Score is calculated for each teacher profile separately. Let's say Anne has 2 teacher profiles - Math (Teacher Score: 20) and Spanish (Teacher Score: 300). Anne is a very good Spanish teacher, has lots of students who leave positive feedback after each lesson. Her Teacher Score as a Spanish tutor is pretty high. Anne also started teaching Math recently, but she hasn't given many lessons yet and her Teacher Score is low - 20. The Teacher Score from Spanish profile has no influence on the Math profile.
The stars in Teacher Score are awarded for achieving points:
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0 - 9 points
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10 - 24 points
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25 - 50 points
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51 - 99 points
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100 - 199 points
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200 - 500 points
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more than 500 points
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| | How is the Teacher Score calculated?
The Teacher Score is calculated basing primarily on the feedback from students. Each time a lesson is finished, the student has the ability to leave feedback about the teacher's performance. The Teacher Score is increased by +1 point for positive feedback, and decreased by -1 for negative. Neutral feedback has no influence on the score.
A maximum of 3 points can also be gained for "profile quality". The more information the teacher provides about himself, the easier it is for the students to judge if he is the right choice for them. Teachers can earn:
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1 point for uploading a photo.
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1 point for filling out nationality, gender and languages spoken (one point for all three).
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1 point for confirmed email address.
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In some cases the points can be retracted. It can happen if the teacher continuously fails to respond to requests from students.
On the rating details page, you'll also see some other numbers:
Positive feedback - the percentage of positive feedback left by students.
Lessons given - total number of lesson given by the teacher, including the lessons, for which the students did not leave feedback
Students who left positive/negative/neutral - the number of unique students who left their feedback. If the student left more than one positive feedback, it will only be counted once here (but it will be counted as 2 points in the Teacher Score).
Recent feedback ratings - the number of positive, negative and neutral feedback left by the students during the last 12 months.
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| | What is the Student Score?
The Student Score is used to evaluate the student's reputation in BuddySchool. It is shown as a number and a star next to the student's name. Points are calculated basing on the feedback from tutors: +1 point for positive feedback, -1 for negative and 0 for neutral.
Unlike the Teacher Score, the Student Score does not reflect the student's performance during the lesson. Reliability with schedules and payments, timelines and so on are rated so that when the student contacts a new teacher, that teacher can be assured the student had been responsible in his contacts with other teachers before.
Also unlike the Teacher Score, Student Score is calculated as a single value for all student profiles of the user.
The stars in Student Score are awarded for achieving points:
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0 - 9 points
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10 - 24 points
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25 - 50 points
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51 - 99 points
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100 - 199 points
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200 - 500 points
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more than 500 points
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For students |
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How do I start learning?
To start learning with BuddySchool, follow these simple steps:
| | | Pick your user name and create a FREE account with BuddySchool.
| | | | Find a teacher. You can do this by searching for a keyword e.g. "Basic Chinese" or browsing through categories.
| | | | Schedule a lesson. Check the schedule of the teacher you have selected and send him a "request for lesson" message. In it you will specify the date, time, price and conditions for the lesson. If the teacher offers it, you can schedule a short, free, test lesson.
| | | | Wait for the lesson. If the teacher accepts your request, the lesson will be scheduled. BuddySchool will remind you some time before it starts. When the time comes, the teacher will contact you on your favorite Internet communicator You will then start your lesson. Enjoy! :)
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| | How can I find my teacher?
You can do this by searching for a keyword e.g. "Basic Chinese" or browsing through categories. You can even let teachers find you! Create a student profile, specify your requirements and select an option that will make your profile visible to teachers. They will then be able to contact you with their offer.
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| | How do I schedule a lesson with a teacher?
To schedule a lesson with a teacher:
| | | find their listing and go to their profile page.
| | | | check their calendar to see when they are available.
| | | | click on a day or on a "Schedule single lesson" link. If it is your first lesson with this teacher, you can schedule a short free lesson to get to know them better (Note that not all teachers will allow this option). To schedule a test lesson click a "Schedule test lesson" link.
| | | | on the next page specify the time, price, and lesson details and send the request to the teacher. If they accept it, the lesson will be scheduled.
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| | How do I pay for a lesson?
Payments for lessons are carried out between the teacher and student, using the method of their choice (PayPal, Credit Card, Bank transfer etc.). BuddySchool helps to keep track of all payments by a system of invoicing.
To pay for the lesson, wait for your teacher to create an invoice for you. It will be sent to your e-mail along with payment instructions.
Note that teachers may have different payment policies. They can send invoices once a week, or immediately after the lesson. Some may even ask for payment before the lesson, after it is scheduled.
At any time you can see all your due and previous payments by clicking on "Payments" from "Profile and Payments" menu.
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| | Do I have to pay BuddySchool as well as my teacher?
No, BuddySchool does not charge any fees from the students. Not now, not ever!
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| | What if the teacher doesn't show up for the lesson?
If the lesson starts, and your teacher is not present within 5 minutes you will be able to cancel the lesson due to "teacher's absence". The teacher will not be able to claim payment for this lesson.
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For teachers |
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How do I start teaching?
To start teaching at BuddySchool, follow these few simple steps:
| | | Pick your user name and create a FREE account with BuddySchool.
| | | | Log-in and click on "Teach" from the top menu. Follow the instructions and create a teacher profile. Tell students about yourself, your experience, fees, if you want to offer free test lessons etc.
| | | | Continue to the next page and edit your payment preferences. Provide students with detailed instructions on how to pay you. You can also set your invoices policy here.
| | | | The last step is declaring availability on your calendar.
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That's it! You are now a BuddySchool teacher, and can wait for students to contact you. Or even better, contact them yourself!
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| | How can I tell my students when I'm available?
You can declare your availability on the "My Calendar" page from the "My BuddySchool" menu. Students will see the hours you set when they look through your profile. It is possible to set a one-off time period, such as "2006-08-13 from 11:00 am to 2:00 pm", or regular hours, such as "every Monday from 5:00 pm to 10:30 pm".
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| | How do I get paid?
Invoices
Students pay for lessons when they receive invoices from their teachers. Invoices are generated and stored by BuddySchool. There is a number of ways in which you can handle invoices. They can be sent after the lesson is finished (post-paid) or after it is scheduled (pre-paid). They can include a single lesson or a number of lessons, like for example all lessons from last week. They can be sent automatically by BuddySchool or manually by you.
When a teacher creates his first listing, 2 new options become available in his "Profile and Payments" menu: "Earnings" and "Payment settings". The first one links to a page, where teachers can track all their current and previous invoices. Also from there, they can check if they have any chargeable lessons and send invoices manually. The second one links to a page where they can specify which payments methods they accept and provide detailed instructions to their students. On that page they also set their invoice policies, for example "send invoices automatically for each lesson after it is finished" or "send invoices to my students once a week on Sunday, for all lessons from previous week".
Receiving payments
BuddySchool doesn't restrict the teachers to any one particular payment method. On the "Payments settings" page you can specify any method and any rules you like. For example, if you want to receive payments through PayPal, select this option and write detailed instructions to your students. These instructions will only be shown to students along with invoices, when you request payment.
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| | What are BuddySchool's fees?
BuddySchool is totally free to register with and does not charge any fees from teachers nor from students at present.
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| | Can I use teaching materials during the lesson?
Yes, BuddySchool provides a tool for you to create teaching materials which you can use during the lesson.
Lesson plans are documents created from blocks of texts, photos, pictures and even video and audio recordings. After you create the lesson plan, you may assign it to any upcoming lesson. When the lesson starts, you and your student will be able to open the lesson plan and use it as a textbook or a conversation material. For each element of the lesson plan you may also add "teacher's guide" - instructions or reminders for yourself of the activities to be taken at this point of the lesson. These reminders will not be visible to the student during the lesson.
Here's how you create a lesson plan and assign it to the lesson.
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Start off by accessing your teacher profile page, you will see a new link to lesson plans. Click on the link, then click "Create new lesson plan"
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In step one enter the name of the new lesson plan and click "Next"
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In step two create the lesson plan by adding blocks of text, photos, audio and video recordings
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Once you create the lesson plan and when a student schedules a lesson, you may assign the lesson plan to it on the lesson page.
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When the lesson starts both you and the student will be able to open the lesson plan and use it as teaching aids.
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| | How can I find students?
There are 3 keys to becoming a successful tutor in BuddySchool:
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ALWAYS RECORD LESSONS within BuddySchool and BUILD YOUR TEACHER SCORE.
This one is the most important!
Just like in eBay, students look for tried and experienced tutors, with good feedback from other students. Teacher Score is the measure of your reputation and skills.
To make sure you receive feedback after each lesson, ALWAYS ask the student to schedule the lesson in BuddySchool. If the lesson is not recorded in the system, the student can't leave feedback for it.
Also, after each lesson is finished, leave your feedback for the student, they in turn will be more inclined to leave one for you!
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Be active! Log in often, check your email and don't let students wait too long for your reply. If you don't reply before the requested time of the lesson, you will lose that student forever.
BuddySchool will send an email to you each time you receive a message from the student, but to make absolutely sure you never miss a new lesson, you can enter your phone number in your profile, and we will send you SMS each time you receive a new request for lesson. Best part - it's free :-)
Also, please keep in mind, that if you repeatedly fail to respond to requests before the scheduled time, and they are cancelled, you may lose points from your Teacher Score.
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Create a compelling profile. Add your photo and detailed information about yourself and your experience. You can add a few points to your Teacher Score this way!
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Content |
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What is content?
Content is a file that someone offers for sale. It could be a video with skateboard tricks, a tutorial for a programming language or a recording of bird voices. When you buy content, an invoice will be sent to your e-mail with payment instructions from the seller.
If you want to sell your content, go to "My Store" from "My BuddySchool" menu, create a listing with your file and sell it for money!
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| | How can I buy content?
When you find content you like, first check what payment methods are accepted by the seller. If you are OK with them, click the "Buy now" button. BuddySchool will generate an invoice and send it to your e-mail with instructions on how to make the payment. When the seller receives and accepts your payment, you will find your new content on your "My content" page. From there you will be able to download the file you have purchased.
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| | How can I sell content?
If you want to offer your content for sale, go to "My Store" from "My BuddySchool" menu, choose "Add new item" and follow the instructions. Your content will be available to all users of BuddySchool in no time!
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