Outsourcing Online Learning

Well this story is one of those that is more significant than most people realize.  Several schools in England are using (english speaking) online math tutors from India.  There are two disruptive forces at work here.

1. Once you are teaching online, it doesn’t matter where the person on the other end is from.  The computer will (soon) provide realtime translation. At that point, the entire world is a potential provider of learning.

2. This will once and for all remove all doubt as to what the priorities are of the teachers unions.  Everything they have done so far is cloaked in “what is best for the children”.  That’s a crock and everyone knows it.  Unions do what is best for their members. Period.  That’s fine with me by the way, that’s their job. I just don’t like the fake concern for children.  Oh I am sure the union leaders care about children, but it’s not their first priority.

Budget problems will drive schools to outsource larger and larger chunks of education to much cheaper (because non union) overseas teachers.  This will largely gut the teachers unions and they know it.  Does anyone want to make an argument that someone from India doesn’t know these subjects as well as a teacher in America?

This is the shape of things to come.  If you are in the information business, you better be prepared to offer something that can’t be outsourced.

• British Kids Log On and Learn Math — in Punjab – NYTimes.com – Annotated

  outsourcing math tutoring

  tags: education outsourcing tutoring disruptive nell

  • Once a week, year six pupils at Ashmount Primary School in North London settle in front of their computers, put on their headsets and get ready for their math class. A few minutes later, their teachers come online thousands of kilometers away in the Indian state of Punjab.

     

  • Ashmount is one of three state schools in Britain that decided to outsource part of their teaching to India via the Internet. The service — the first of its kind in Europe — is offered by BrightSpark Education, a London-based company set up last year. BrightSpark employs and trains 100 teachers in India and puts them in touch with pupils in Britain through an interactive online tutoring program.

     

  • The feedback from pupils, the schools and parents is good so far, and BrightSpark said a dozen more schools, a charity and many more parents were interested in signing up for the lessons. The one-on-one sessions not only cost about half of what personal tutors in Britain charge but are also popular with pupils, who enjoy solving equations online, said Rebecca Stacey, an assistant head teacher at Ashmount.

     

  • But the service also faces some opposition from teacher representatives who are fearful that it could threaten their jobs at a time when the government is pushing through far-reaching spending cuts.

     

  • BrightSpark is charging £12 per session and pupil. Tutors are being paid £7 an hour, more than double the minimum wage in Punjab.

     

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