Tutoring in a flat world
Published by Barry Brahier October 24th, 2005 in Uncategorized, News and Events, Online Learning, Communication, Higher-Ed Blogger, School Technology Leadership Blog, LeadershipThomas Friedman’s book The World is Flat is all about what is happening now that the digital revolution has made it possible to work instantaneously with people on the other side of the world. One of these possibilities is posted at Wired News and describes the link between 12-year-old Princeton in Glenview, IL and his math tutor, Kayampurath Namitha in Cochin, India:
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Princeton sometimes struggles with math;
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Kayampurath helps him twice a week;
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Princeton’s doing better in math;
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He’s happy, his parents are happy; and
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Computers and networks make it happen.
Simple. End of story. Except for the implications. My first thoughts are:
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If education in the US has become “pass the test” and the tests are the way they are now, why not?
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Teacher shortage? What teacher shortage?
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What value-added do classroom teachers provide over Kayampurath who earns about $230/month? I’m not saying there isn’t any, but we better start making this very clear and evidence-based very quickly.
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