eBay of learning excites Indian and Pakistani teachers

Sufia Tippu
Saturday, 02 September 2006 06:28

IT Industry - Market

An eBay of teaching is being created and a new channel of outsourcing – the educational services outsourcing (ESO) – is set to ring in the cash registers for tutors in India and Pakistan.

With the launch of Tutors Without Limits (TWL), a website that incorporates the new Web 2.0 AJAX technology aiming to create the most advanced learning system for teaching on the Internet, over 100,000 Indian and Pakistan tutors and teachers are expected to set up their own Internet businesses in the next two weeks to teach students in the US.

Called the Lesson Board, this learning system banks heavily on eBay's Skype technology that has matured to the point where speaking to India from the US is now as clear as a local call in the US.

Indian and Pakistan teachers can start up their own tutoring and teaching business in minutes for free which is why TWL is characterized as the "eBay of teaching."

As schools in the US start in September, parents and students will be able to find help at any time of day or night.

Students in the US have been paying $40 an hour on average for tutoring but last year, Indian call centers just started offering tutoring services ranging from $14 to $20 an hour.

With Tutors Without Limits, tutors will be offering their services directly to students at prices they determine. The TWL marketplace will quickly sort services based on quality, content, qualifications, and recommendations.

Says Raghavendra Rao, a math online tutor who teaches a number of kids in California from Bangalore,” This will no doubt be good for us – but there are going to be a number of teething problems that would have to be ironed out. The overseas clients have to be sure that they are getting value for their money and at the same time, tutors in India should not just scramble for this and let down pupils – that would create a very bad impression and would not be good for the e-learning community.”

It is not just American students who will benefit from outsourced teaching services -- UK, Canada, Australia, Japan, and Europe all have a high interest in tutoring. Japan spends more money in education outside the school than they spend on their official school education.

While still in beta stage, Tutors Without Limits founded by Glynn Willett and his son Wade Willett is limited to the US, India, and Pakistan during the initial launch.

Within two months, TWL will be offering services to Canada, Australia, Europe, and Japan.