Teach42

In the continuing saga of The World is Really Really flat, I checked out WizIQ today. Basically it’s a Web2.0 tutoring service. I’ve seen these before, and there are others that were much more impressive from a user interface perspective. But WizIQ caught my eye for a reason that really had nothing to do with the site itself.

When I did a search for math tutors, 9 out of the first 10 people listed were in India. At first I thought that was too bad, because when I think tutoring, I think of an elementary student hunched over the kitchen table as some college kid or teacher attempts to get him to understand difficult algebra concepts. Is that basically what was in your head too?

Then I started thinking about the flat world. Why on earth does my tutor need to be in the same room as me? Heck, combine Skype with some digital whiteboarding and concept mapping and you’ve got a great Web 2.0 recipe for a tutoring session for no cost whatsoever.

Instead of drawing upon the pool of people that can drive to your house, you can draw upon a global pool of educators. Of course time zones can be an issue, but that can always be worked around.

I’ll be the first to admit it, there’s no tutor like a teacher you already know and trust. But if you’re going to the web to try to find a tutor, then why restrict yourself to people close to your geographical location?

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