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How Do Teaching Assistants Work with Your Curriculum?

It’s quickly becoming clear that online learning courses are not just a popular fad, they are here to stay. Virtual teaching assistants have become an integral part of the educational process for Instructional Connection’s partner universities to meet the demand for these courses and ensure the best outcome for students. 

While the specific responsibilities of your assistants vary depending on the institution and department, they all share a common goal: to help the faculty of record succeed in their teaching goals.

In this article, we’ll explore how virtual teaching assistants contribute and work with your curriculum and how they help the faculty of record succeed.

What Is a Virtual Teaching Assistant?

Virtual teaching assistants, also known as academic coaches, are experienced and highly qualified practitioners in their field of study. They have earned at least a graduate degree or higher from an accredited university. In some cases, they may also have years of experience working as a professor or teaching assistant at the collegiate level.

These individuals generally possess strong instructional, leadership, and educational backgrounds that contribute greatly to the overall student learning experience.

With the rise of distance learning, many teaching assistants can now work remotely at colleges that offer online learning programs. This setup enables many professors to get the support they need without being physically present in the same location.

What Are The Responsibilities & Contributions of Teaching Assistants?

The specific duties of your virtual teaching assistant will vary depending on the institution and department they are working within. However, there are some common responsibilities that our teaching assistants typically have. 

  • Monitor student participation and reach out to inactive or at-risk students.
  • Assist or direct students to appropriate support with technology or other items as needed.
  • Provide answers to content or policy questions following input from the faculty of record.
  • Provide assistance with logistical or personal issues pertaining to the course or assignments as outlined by the faculty of record prior to the course start.
  • Respond to emails and inquiries within 24 hours, including weekends (excluding major holidays).
  • Grade assignments with appropriate feedback within 72 hours of the due date according to Faculty criteria.
  • Participant in asynchronous discussions according to faculty of record criteria.
  • Monitor discussion threads; document, remove, and then notify faculty and student of inappropriate comments or posts.
  • Participate in weekly team meetings with the Faculty and/or Coordinating Coach via conference call or videoconference.

A main responsibility of our virtual teaching assistants is to monitor student progress. This includes tracking attendance, grades, and participation in class discussions.

Virtual teaching assistants enable faculty of record to focus on delivering their course curriculums and outcomes. Teaching assistants also allow many institutions to scale their courses to meet student enrollment demands.

Other Special Responsibilities 

Virtual teaching assistants generally focus on enhancing student retention and success, but they also have other specific responsibilities.

Virtual teaching assistants can also serve as a point of primary interaction with their respective professors. Depending on the number of students and virtual teaching assistants in a course, one may be asked to be the coordinator.

This coordinating teaching assistant may take on special responsibilities such as:

  • Coordinating multiple assistants’ work
  • Assisting in clarifying a specific professor’s course policies
  • Checking inter-rater reliability in rubric grading
  • Reviewing student performance in assessments and discussions

These coordinating teaching assistants may serve as “working managers” who directly interact with academic leadership and faculty members.

Your Virtual Teaching Assistant

As technology advances, more and more teaching assistants take on virtual assistant roles to support faculty members and their curricula. These individuals provide support to professors and students alike.

Their benefits are numerous, but perhaps the most important is that they enable faculty members to focus only on delivering their curriculum. This allows students to receive a high-quality education regardless of their location.

Instructional Connections assists academic institutions to improve their online education courses by providing competent virtual assistants for numerous degree fields. If you’re interested in learning more about our virtual teaching assistants, we encourage you to contact us. Our team of experts is standing by and ready to answer any questions you may have!

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Ensuring Effective Communication & Collaboration with Virtual TAs

In 2021, 75% of schools were planning to operate online. Beyond schools, however, even corporate learning is being held in virtual classrooms, with a 98% adoption among businesses. Both educators and corporate entities have begun preparations for virtual learning, from purchasing equipment to training teachers for distance learning.

“Instructional Connections is an integrated service provider of high-quality instructional support services to colleges and universities that offer online courses and degree programs. So we can continue providing this high standard of service, communication and collaboration remain at the heart of all our processes.”

Communication and collaboration between Academic Coaches (also known as Virtual TAs) between the university’s faculty and our Academic Coaches are crucial to maintaining a high quality of performance. It is also important in ensuring the clarity of discussions. Our Academic Coaches are tasked by the university’s faculty of record for the online course with helping students make connections through learning, which makes communication a central pillar of our services and our process. This communication and collaboration are things our Academic Coaches must establish.

Many Methods Can Strengthen Collaboration Between Academic Coaches, Faculty, & Students – such as:

Minimizing Silos or Isolation

Virtual teaching creates a bridge that connects individuals despite their physical distance from each other. Therefore, Academic Coaches (also known as Virtual Teaching Assistants or Instructional Associates) and the faculty of record should make every effort to minimize developing silos or a student becoming isolated.

For example, utilizing learning methods that require communication and conversation among students helps them forge connections with each another. Collaborative efforts between Academic Coaches and the faculty can also improve how the whole unit works as a team. These prevent them from working in isolation or only with one or two individuals. Additionally, they can reach out to their faculty and their Academic Coaches, strengthening communication between all members regardless of their department or assignment.

Open Lines of Communication

Our Student Support guidelines state that Academic Coaches should answer inquiries and emails within 24 hours. Even if the Academic Coach does not know the answer, they need to confirm receipt or respond that the matter will be researched, indicating that the student is being acknowledged and the matter will be addressed accordingly.

Receiving Feedback

Being open and receptive to feedback from faculty and supervisors gives everyone room to grow and enhance their performance. Feedback can be positive and critical, and both help Academic Coaches foster a culture of transparency and communication. It may touch upon areas that need improvement, and thus the Academic Coach can improve their approach to support the student on behalf of the faculty.  

With the students, there is a two-way method: grading and feedback, or answering student questions, is a helpful way to communicate with students about their work. For example, the Academic Coach can add details about areas that need focus and areas they did well in (in accordance with the faculty’s assignment rubrics and directions).

Communication Creates Connections

Academic Coaches have the crucial task of aiding faculty to bring students further during their learning experience. Therefore, they have to maintain communication to be aware of every step of the progress. This makes them better prepared and better adapted to each student’s needs. 

Instructional Connections brings Academic Coaches and faculty together to develop and maintain a learning experience that heightens every student’s academic background, leading them towards success.

Contact us today to find out more about our Academic Coaching Model or learn more about our services.

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Research

Effective Practices in Using Coaches in Large Online Courses

Tracia Forman and Jessica Sanchez, UTRGV

Presentation given at the Texas Digital Learning Annual Association Conference 2022, Galveston, TX

Increased online enrollment has results in the use of supplementary instructional support to enhance effective course delivery.  Use of an instructional team approach plays an invaluable role in student success.

UTRGV-TxDLA-Presentation-3.23.22[78]

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Research

Academic Coaches And Student Success In Higher Education: A Quantitative Study.

Academic Coaches and Student Success in Higher Education.

Published in the Journal for Distance Education. May 31, 2023.

Nicole C. LetchworthSummer Koltonski & L. Kathleen Sheriff (2023) Academic Coaches and Student Success in Higher Education, American Journal of Distance Education, DOI: 10.1080/08923647.2023.2210491

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/08923647.2023.2210491 

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Our Virtual Teaching Assistant Model | Choosing Success

Our Academic Coaching Model adds a human touch to your distance learning environment, encouraging students to learn and persist with the demands of online and distance coursework. Students view their Virtual Teaching Assistants as a peer and respect the fact that their Coach has experience in the same field they desire to join.

Learn more about our Virtual Teaching Assistant Model below.

Step 1: Communication, Communication, Communication

The first thing our virtual teaching assistant model always includes is learning about our university partners’ needs. We understand that what each college or university needs is relative to their specific instructional support level, courses, and goals. We strive to understand all missions that each school desires through initial in-depth meetings, and we continue that communication throughout our relationship.

Each faculty member of record that teaches an online course provides clear expectations to their approved and assigned Virtual TA. Every area of support from a Teaching Assistant can be decided by the faculty and may vary from course to course depending on the faculty’s expectations.

This level of flexibility allows faculty to be in complete control of online program management. Many faculty members love the support they receive from their Virtual Teaching Assistants, and most faculty continually think of new and better methods to help educate students in distance learning programs.

Step 2: Our Recruitment Process for Virtual Teaching Assistants

We recruit, screen, pre-qualify and present Academic Coach candidates to our university partners. Rest assured that each potential candidate has been vetted and is available in our pool for approval by university partners.

Each institution identifies the academic credentials or experience required for its program and courses. Based on this information, Instructional Connections employs a variety of recruitment strategies, reviewing each applicant thoroughly for a match to the qualifications for each program. We then invite every Virtual TA potential match applicant to participate in our pre-employment screening process.

During our pre-employment screening process, the Academic Coach applicant commits to a 4-6 hour online pre-employment screening session. This covers topics like the roles and expectations of a virtual teaching assistant, basic principles, and best practices of effective distance learning, and working with a variety of Learning Management Systems.

After our advanced screening process, we perform a standard criminal background check on all potential candidates. Once a candidate successfully passes these steps, they are contracted and added to our pool of Virtual TAs ready and available for an assignment at one of our partner universities.

Step 3: Assignment of Your Virtual Teaching Assistant

Next, we work with programs and faculty to assign approved Virtual Teaching Assistant, or Academic Coaches to your courses and programs. We understand and listen to university, college, and even course-specific needs for distance learning. We understand the hurdles and benefits of online programs and distance learning.

Your Virtual TA is meant to aid the faculty member of record, or professor, that is teaching the online course. A Virtual Teaching Assistant can grade assignments, monitor and facilitate discussion boards, reply to emails, post announcements, and assist in additional day-to-day needs.

This gives your faculty the time to focus on student success, engagement, and course delivery. Plus, our Virtual TAs are flexible – your faculty member simply needs to provide them with instructions on their needs and expectations for the course, and our Teaching Assistants will deliver.

Step 4: Organizing & Training Your Virtual TAs

After the approval of a candidate and the assignment to a course, your Virtual TA will then need to meet with the faculty of record for the course prior to the course going live and throughout the course cycle in order to maintain communication and understand expectations. We independently contract, manage, and pay our Virtual TAs, handling all organization of staff matters. This eliminates the need for universities to add additional human resources and payroll overhead or hassles.

Step 5: Continued Support Throughout the Semester

Additionally, Instructional Connections provides continual support to each distance learning course where our Virtual TAs are requested and used. We are there throughout the course term for our university partners – from start to finish.

Our Virtual Teaching Assistant Model Works

Virtual Teaching Assistants focus on enhancing student success and retention in distance learning and online programs. In many graduate programs, we’ve seen retention as high as 80%!

Contact Instructional Connections today to learn more about our Virtual Teaching Assistants.

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How Virtual Teaching Assistants Can Help Your Distance Learning

The pandemic sparked an online learning boom out of necessity, but it addressed and highlighted the benefits of virtual teaching and distance learning. In some countries, distance learning is even touted as a solution to gain more interest in specific subjects, such as STEM.

Instructional Connections has always been at the front of online learning with our virtual teaching assistants for our University partners. But as virtual and online learning is changing and advancing rapidly, creating a more popular learning system that goes beyond a simple online platform, our virtual teaching assistants can assist even more in this changing climate.

Here are just a few ways our virtual teaching assistants can help in an online learning environment:

Email Communication with Students

Our virtual teaching assistants will answer emails within 24 hours, even if it’s simply to say, “I will research that.” or “I will get further information from the Professor.”

Many courses span holidays, and our 24-hour expectation is applied with common sense, as some course-related correspondence may be briefly delayed on high holidays such as Christmas day or Yom Kippur, while Thanksgiving holiday (which is a traditionally high-volume day in distance learning) correspondence will still be answered promptly.

Our virtual teaching assistants may scale back some aspects of their course assistance on the day of a national holiday, but will still check their emails at least once for time-sensitive questions. If they will be unavailable for 24 hours, they will always let the professor know in advance, though this is a rare occurrence.

Answering Course Content Questions

Your virtual teaching assistant can answer content questions from students as their specialty or professional experience will match with course content or subjects.

Additionally, in a weekly meeting between your virtual teaching assistant and the faculty of record, answers can be approved in advance or additional material provided to help the flow of information be expedited while keeping accuracy. On the same weekly calls, grading expectations for upcoming assignments can be discussed to ensure that the grading standards are met.

Answering Technology Questions

Your virtual teaching assistant will quickly become familiar with the LMS to be able to guide your students through common technology issues. Your virtual teaching assistant will thoroughly read online manuals and resources available for your LMS.

Further, your virtual teaching assistant will easily assist students in submitting documents, locating online readings, and other routine technology needs. They will provide the first level of technical support, saving hours and frustration for the faculty of record and the student.

Reporting Technology Glitches or Student Problems According to University Guidelines

Your virtual teaching assistant will report any glitches or issues seen over a course duration. All glitches are recorded and addressed, whether strictly technical or a typo in the information provided. Problems within the LMS used are rare but can be calmly responded to as the class or student waits for a repair.

Errors are also reported in order to check on the same issue in other sections or future courses. Your virtual teaching assistant contributes to the goal of continuous improvement of all courses – which means their input, the faculty of record, and student input is valued.

Additionally, if a problem emerges with a student or from a student, your virtual teaching assistant can turn to their chain of command and the faculty of record. A timely acknowledgment will be provided to the student, even while further guidance is oncoming from the supervisor or faculty of record.

Grading & Assignment Feedback

Your virtual teaching assistants are also able to respond and grade student submissions within 72 hours so that students may benefit from feedback before their next assignment is due.

Our virtual teaching assistants begin grading early submissions as soon as they arrive, which ensures grades are promptly returned. All teaching assistants also familiarize themselves with rubrics ahead of time to assure more accurate grading.

Grading is assigned by the faculty of record. This means that grading is not simply following a rubric, but also through additional directions provided by faculty. This includes completing inter-rater reliability activities with the faculty to ensure that all grading with be consistent with the faculty’s expectations.

Our Virtual Teaching Assistants Are Here for Universities & the Future of Higher Education Distance Learning

Instructional Connections believes in bolstering the advancement of virtual learning through communication, knowledge, and teamwork. Our company provides University students with talented virtual teaching assistants who can adapt to educational needs and employ different resources to foster better distance learning results and success.

Contact us today to learn about our virtual teaching assistant services, and discover more about the high level of teaching assistance we offer our University partners.

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The Responsibilities of Teaching Assistants

Online learning is not a new concept; in fact, educational institutions have long been offering online classes, with 17.6 percent of higher education students exclusively taking distance learning courses and a further 19.7 percent were taking some of their courses online before the pandemic in 2019.

But when educational institutions had to pivot in 2020, virtually every student, not just in the U.S. but in the world, were enrolled in online instead of face-to-face classes.

With this sudden change and the complications, one group of people has been invaluable to keeping everything flowing smoothly—teaching assistants.

The Role Of Teaching Assistants

Teaching assistants, teacher’s aides, or simply TAs provide support for teachers in a class. Their duties vary widely, from administrative support for professors to academic support for students.

But in recent years, the roles of teaching assistants have increased, making them pivotal in keeping schools operating. We outline the important responsibilities teaching assistants have taken up recently below.

1. Teaching Assistants Have Offered Targeted Support For Students

Professors already have a challenging job. They couldn’t have possibly monitored and provided support to individual students all by themselves, given the limited interaction they get to have.

In this regard, teaching assistants have provided the support students need. Teaching assistants have provided instructional support to the faculty – such as grading assignments per the rubrics and directions of the faculty, monitoring discussion threads, and answering emails.

2. Teaching Assistants Monitored Students On Discussion Boards

As mentioned above, it’s difficult for instructors to monitor all these. Teaching assistants have been responsible for monitoring interactions and answering students’ questions in these spaces.

4. Teaching Assistants Ensured Online Assignments Are Graded Properly

One of teaching assistants’ core tasks even before the pandemic was to help instructors grade assignments. Within an online course, assignments are within the LMS course modules and the assignments are submitted through the LMS. 

This helped keep things running smoothly and allowed instructors to test students’ understanding of the subject, which is essential in a remote learning setting.

Enjoy The Benefits Of Professional Teaching Assistants

With all that said, it’s clear how valuable teaching assistants are, whether classes are held online, in-person, or in some hybrid environment.

Make sure you can provide quality teaching through your online education programs with the help of teaching assistants from Instructional Connections. Our team of online academic coaches offers unparalleled support for instructors and their students.

Learn more about our services today.

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How to Maximize Your Virtual TAs for Distance Learning

Just like everything else, teaching has been seriously affected over the past couple of years. Classes were mostly done online, and we’re just starting to go back to the traditional setting—but on a limited scale. Learning institutions are left with a new set of challenges to conquer.

One of the ways you can manage your online classroom better is by involving a virtual Teaching Assistant (TA). Doing so will lessen the stress of your teaching duties. Here are some tips on how you can make the most of a virtual TA for distance learning.

Class Preparation

Before the semester or quarter starts, get on the same page with your TA. Take the time to sit down virtually and discuss everything you need to discuss. This may include the following:

  • Setting goals
  • Delegating responsibilities
  • Establishing your working relationship
  • Discussing and learning digital tools and platforms that will be used
  • Setting class standards, deadlines, and rules

It would also be wise to meet now and then throughout the semester, as well as debrief after the course ends. During these sessions, share feedback in both directions and review the goals you set at the beginning.

Class Management

Handling a class pre-pandemic was already difficult, but it can become even more complicated when everything is online. Some professors, understandably, had a hard time learning video calling platforms, like Zoom and Google Meet, and many still do not fully understand how to utilize the features to their highest levels.

This is just one area in which a virtual teaching assistant can be very helpful. They can help with moderating classes by handling things like:

  • Discussion threads
  • Online grading and submission questions
  • Replying to emails or in-platform messages, regardless of which platform your University uses

Communicating with Students

Focus on lesson planning and other teaching duties by having your virtual TA in charge of announcements, email communication, and discussion thread moderation. Making sure your students are up to date may seem like a small detail, but leaving the responsibility to your virtual TA will make things significantly easier for you and smoother for everyone in the class.

Instead of sending individual emails and messages yourself, have your virtual TA do a group chat or a message board, as well as take over individual questions and email submissions.

Class Discussions

Often, there are times when the class discussion board is stagnant. Keep discussion boards active and engaging by adding your virtual TA’s trained voice into the discourse. They can add value to the conversation by:

  •  Asking questions to expand on the lesson
  • Sharing opinions, resources, and anecdotes
  • Challenging opinions
  • Encouraging civil discourse

At the same time, teaching assistants can evaluate and grade student work, which will be helpful if you have a large class or require a quick turnaround time. Find your professional and reliable virtual TA with the help of Instructional Connections.

We assign teaching assistants based on your instructional needs so they can support you correctly throughout the semester in exactly the way you require.

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How Online Academic Coaches Help Nursing Students

According to the AACN (American Association of Colleges of Nursing), nursing is among the occupations experiencing the most job growth in the U.S, yet it is still predicted that there will be a shortage of registered nurses.

One of the ways this can be addressed is through online academic coaching specific to nursing programs!

Benefits of Online Academic Coaching for Nursing Students

An online academic coach understands the needs of colleges or universities and their students. They are highly qualified and experienced professionals. In addition, they have experience with online learning and know-how to enhance student success in distance learning and online programs.

Differences Between Academic Coaches and Mentors

Currently, one of the ways a nurse can gain experience and knowledge is through mentorship. A mentorship is when a more experienced nurse mentors another and acts as a teacher or supervisor to help the less experienced nurse achieve their goals.

Coaching seems similar, however, our online academic coaching model takes a more facilitative approach and promotes autonomy within students while they are in online courses for their degree.

A study was done on a coaching training course that was delivered to 148 healthcare professionals. Evaluations from the attendees suggested that coaching would create more learning opportunities and prompt students to become independent learners – two things that are greatly needed for online education and distance learning.

The Nursing Shortage

It is projected that there will be more registered nurse jobs available than any other job in the U.S. by 2022. Despite the rapidly growing number of registered nurses, there is a nursing shortage due to the aging population, the chronic conditions that come with age, and high turnover rates.

Causes

Advancements in medical science and quality of life have helped Americans live longer. However, this does not mean that they are healthier during old age. The baby boomer generation is entering old age, meaning they will need more health services as they age. And older persons are typically diagnosed with more than one comorbidity.

The workforce is also aging, and a third could be at retirement age in the next decade or so. This includes nurse faculty, meaning fewer nurses will train new ones, leading to enrollment limitations and fewer nurses generated by schools.

The difficulty of the profession also contributes to turnovers. Nurses work in an inherently stressful environment compounded by the threat of physical and emotional hurdles.

The Effect on Patient Care

An inadequate number of nurses will have a negative impact on patient care. It will lead to more uneven patient-to-nurse ratios, more fatigue and stress for nurses, higher chances of medication errors, lower patient care quality, and higher patient mortality rates.

How Online Academic Coaches Can Help

One study looks into how the shortage of nursing faculty and the increase of students is being addressed by using academic coaches in online programs.

Online academic coaches would be able to help nursing schools by providing the needed manpower for assisting students. They work to be assets for both the faculty and the students by managing discussion threads, assisting with grading, and various other tasks. This frees up nurse faculty to focus on engagement and teaching.

Help Your Staff and Your Students Succeed

Instructional Connections has been providing high-quality online academic coach support services to colleges and universities offering online courses since 2010. Improve your student success in online programs with our virtual teaching assistant services.
Call us at +1 888-221-2418 or submit an inquiry.
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The Role of a Virtual Teaching Assistant in Online Learning

More and more people are finally taking notice of online learning’s many benefits, with some finally accepting that many students perform better in this learning environment. However, there’s no denying how hard the shift to online learning is for some students and teachers.

This is an excellent opportunity for virtual teaching assistants to showcase how much their profession can contribute to this new way of learning in university and college courses.

But what exactly is a virtual teaching assistant’s role in online learning? This article discusses some of the essential roles virtual teaching assistants play in the online learning environment. 

Dealing with Online Course Documents

Online documentations have become a crucial part of online teaching. Whether that’s reports, assessments, records, and learning materials, all of these have moved into the digital space. Despite the shift to digital copies, these documents are still just as important as ever.

For virtual teaching assistants, one of their roles is to familiarize themselves with all the different types of digital files needed for their online learning course. These could be documents, spreadsheets, presentations, or PDF files.

Teaching assistants must know how online documentation works to help teachers troubleshoot issues, store documents to the Cloud, and do other tasks related to digital paperwork. They also maintain all compliance with federal and state laws regarding confidentiality and the security of protected information.

Fostering Student-to-Student Discussion & Interaction

One of the first possible casualties of online learning is student-to-student interaction. During an online course, most students are limited to interacting with the teacher only. Meanwhile, the teacher may be preoccupied with creating and delivering lessons.

Virtual teaching assistants are in the perfect position to lessen the teacher’s tasks and foster student discussion and interaction. Teaching assistants may help the teacher conduct student-to-student dialogue during the course.

Teaching assistants may help the teacher provide instructions for when, where, and how students can participate in virtual discussions.

It could be done by dedicating time from lesson delivery to activities like group discussions or turning a classroom session into an open forum. These activities may prove too much for teachers; teaching assistants can help in these activities.

Maintaining Clear Lines of Communication

Communication is an integral part of classroom education, even more so in the digital space. Students may have questions, clarifications, and feedback, but these can often be neglected due to a teacher’s hectic schedule.

Virtual teaching assistants can help maintain student-teacher communication by acting as the person in the middle. Teaching assistants can answer students’ questions, take note of feedback, report at-risk students or other issues for the teacher to address.

Teaching assistants can also monitor online class forums and message boards for any messages or posts. They can be the go-to person for students requiring clarification regarding projects and activities, which frees the teacher from extra tasks while providing students with someone they can reach out to.

Virtual teaching assistants are essential in modern education, especially since the world is quickly becoming digital. It’s more important than ever for teachers and educational institutions to invest in the many benefits teaching assistants can provide

.Instructional Connections is a leading provider of high-quality instructional support services to colleges and universities. If you’re interested in our virtual teaching assistants, contact us today, and our team will answer all your inquiries!