Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Virtual Nerd-TOS Review

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As a member of the TOS Homeschool Review Crew I received access to a new website called Virtual Nerd.  I was a little taken aback by the name until I saw exactly what the website was, you see; I wasn't a virtual nerd in High School, I was the real deal.  I tutored in High School, tutoring both math and science classes, these were my strengths and my love.  20 years later, I'm not convinced I have what it takes anymore; tutoring is hard work.

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 Virtual Nerd picks up where my brainpower left off, it is an interesting variety of whiteboard technology with engaging tutors that walk you through a huge amount of info.  I've not had to get tutors for my children yet, but I know that they can be very expensive.  In comparison, I think that for short term help, Virtual Nerd is very affordable, they have a variety of plans that let you choose what price point would work best for your needs and family.

**2 Hour Free trial
**24 Hours ($5)
**1 week ($19)
**1 Month ($49) recurring
**3 Months ($129)

Compared to private tutoring you can clearly see that Virtual Nerd is a very good alternative, the 2 hour free trial will certainly give you time to look around and try for yourself.

 Here's a peek at what you would see if you give Virtual Nerd a try.
Virtual Nerd

You can choose what subject you want to search, right now you can choose between: Pre-Algebra, Algebra 1, Algebra 2 and Intro to Physics.  They are planning on adding Chemistry, Calculus, Geometry and others in the future.

So choose your topic and click, it will open a series of videos that you can watch that will guide you through the steps of that topic.  At the end, it will suggest other topics that will "drill down" to help you get to the root of your problem.  If you don't understand an early concept, you won't be able to move on, so it helps the student to locate the problem area and then walks the student through the process.  Pretty cool, huh??


Koty is working on Geometry, so he wasn't able to utilize Virtual Nerd to its fullest extent but he did play a while on the Algebra 1 topics and really liked the tutors and how the info was presented.

The white board below, gives you a visual of what you would see during a tutorial video.  The tutor works the problem on the main portion of the whiteboard (1), the formulas and diagrams are shown in off to the top right (2), and finally the steps for solving the problem are on the bottom right (3).  You are able to go back and start the video over at what ever step that you didn't quite grasp.  It is really interactive and helpful.


Full Screen 3 Areas

I think that covers almost everything, if you have any other questions that I didn't cover, head on over to our Crew blog to see what other crew members thought about Virtual Nerd.

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{I received a six-week subscription to Virtual Nerd for the purpose of writing this review.  I received no other compensation and was not required to write a positive review}

2 comments:

Dianne - Bunny Trails said...

Good review! I was pretty impressed with their site, too.

Virtual Nerd said...

We are pleased to inform you that because Virtual Nerd (www.VirtualNerd.com) has received such significant interest following your review of our online tutoring service, we are offering a special discount to homeschool parents. Homeschool parents can receive 50% off the 1 and 3 month subscription plans. Just enter the discount code: homeschooldeal when you sign up for service. That is a huge discount, and hurry - the offer is valid until March 31, 2011!