Education outsourcing
Even tutors are outsourced:
U.S. homework outsourced as ‘e-tutoring’ grows | Tech News on ZDNet:
Private tutors are a luxury many American families cannot afford, costing anywhere between $25 and $100 an hour. But California mother Denise Robison found one online for $2.50 an hour–in India.
U.S. homework outsourced as ‘e-tutoring’ grows | Tech News on ZDNet:
A New Delhi tutoring company, Educomp Solutions, estimates the U.S. tutoring market at $8 billion and growing. Online companies, both from the United States and India, are looking to tap millions of dollars available to firms under the U.S. No Child Left Behind Act for remedial tutoring.Teachers unions hope to stop that from happening.
“Tutoring providers must keep in frequent touch with not only parents but classroom teachers and we believe there is greater difficulty in an offshore tutor doing that,” said Nancy Van Meter, a director at the American Federation of Teachers.
So are parents allowed to “tutor” their own children? What about grandparents? Can they use educational software without keeping in frequent touch with the classroom teachers? How about checking out library books, is that something that the teachers need to be involved in?
I’m not for using cheap foreign labor as a replacement for workers in the United States. However, this comes across as not merely self-serving but pathetic.
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Comments
The more I think about it, the more ridiculous Van Meter’s statement seems. I seriously doubt that anyone in the U.S. who is paying to see a tutor in person is going to dump them for an online one. And while the Indian tutors may initially be cheaper than other online tutors, I would think as they establish their reputation, they would be able to raise their prices as well and still be competitive.
And Hiren’s right, this is about more than “cheap” labor. I could see where Indian parents who immigrate to the United States would also be more comfortable with an Indian-based tutor. This could significantly increase the available number of foreign language tutors for English speakers. And I suspect it could be a great resource for college students who need help in more specialized subjects.
Ultimately, I don’t see online tutors putting tutors in the United States out of work.
You can also outsource your homeowrk. There are online sites from which you can hire a tutor and get your homeworks done. I myself was a member of http://www.myhwsolution.com They provide homework help and will also give full solution to your homework. Its a good thing as long as you are learning from it.
It will open up new avenues for Indian Teachers. What if Indian parents want to outsource the homework of their own children.