Monday, July 02, 2007

TutorVista: Yet another job moves abroad

When I was in high school, I did a bit of tutoring. I was terrible at it, and, since the concept of "results-oriented" had not yet been invented, I have no idea whether the grades of anyone I tutored actually went up.

Mostly what I tutored was Latin and, if I recall correctly, most of what I did was vocabulary drills and someone else's homework for them.

I think that tutoring paid a bit more than babysitting. Actually, it couldn't have paid worse than babysitting. One of my main babysitting gigs was for a family with 7 boys, including infant twins. At $.50 an hour, that worked out to a cool seven cents per kid. I used to make the oldest kid stay up with me out of fear that the twins would wake up at the same time expecting to be fed or diapered.

So tutoring must have paid better.

I have no idea how I got my tutoring jobs. I'm guessing that the nuns figured that because I was a good student, I'd be a good tutor so they recommended me to parents who were nervous that their daughters would flunk Latin. (Two years of Latin were required. I was dogged: I did the full four.) The nuns were wrong. I have no idea how to say it in Latin, since all I remember is "Quo usque tandem abutere, Catalinam" and "Arma virumque cano, but:

A Student ¹ Tutoring Competence

At least not in my case.

I hadn't thought much about the tutoring biz in years but, like almost everything else, it's gotten a lot more corporate - and no doubt a lot more "results oriented."

And it's also being offshored, as I read in a recent Economist article about TutorVista, a Banglore tutoring company that offers "World Class Tutoring, just a click away."

Unlike Maureen Rogers, Latin Tutor Manque, TutorVista is available 24/7, with well-educated Indians, working from home, providing the tutelage in quite a few subjects, as well as prep for all kinds of exams.

"Users" sign up for unlimited access for $100 a month, and for that they get access to "the premier online destination for affordable education - anytime, anywhere ayd in any subject. .. They use our comprehensive and thorough lessons and question bank to master any subject and have access to a live tutor around the clock." The web site claims that they have 1,500 students in the U.S. and the U.K.  currently using the service. (In    article, the number of customers is given as 2,200.)

Tutors - and there are 200 so far and still counting (recruiting) - themselves must have a Master's degree in the field the'll be teaching - which would have left high school me out, right then and there.  Many are former/current teachers, picking up some extra rupees.

You can't quite tell how many rupees that might be, but they do pay shift differentials for non-peak hours. The payment is in Indian currency, whether you live in India or not. And, while it doesn't seem like there would be any nationality requirements - other than a willingness to receive remuneration in rupees, the FAQs give the impression that non-Indians need not apply to be tutors. Not that I was considering it, even though I do now have that Master's degree...

Naturally, you apply online and are interviewed over Skype. Training is also online.

There was some concern voiced in The Economist article about understandability, TutorVista believes they will weed out the thick accents during the Skype interviewers. But there may be some communications problems, if the info on the web site is an indicator:

Once you have the required PC Configuration and clear the online test and the interview, you will be intimated about the commencement of your training programme.

Chop, chop, on that training programme, but I can't see the average U.S. student knowing what the heck someone is talking about when the words "intimated about the commencement of your training programme" are strung together."

Intimated...doesn't that sound like something that happens on a dating service?

Oh, well, if they get over the stilted English and the accent problem, I'd say that TutorVista is going to be a hit. After all, some school districts are already recruiting Indian grads for teaching positions since they'll work for so much less.

One more job going overseas, one more amateur act being professionalized.

Tutor la vista, baby.

18 comments:

Anonymous said...

A very good one that I have come across is www.tutorandmentor.com

This one does an excellent job of matching tutors with students as per their specific and unique needs.

Anonymous said...

I'll check out tutor-and-mentor. In the meantime, please post any information you might have on other tutoring sites, such as Vie-Nova, Tutoring School Trainer, Tutor Easy and Tutor Next. Do you have any comparative data on these?

Unknown said...

Thanks for mentioning Tutor Vista. Have you done a survey of the industry? I’d like to see a comparison of companies like www.schooltrainer.com, teach or tutor.com, tutor easy, etc. Thanks!

Anonymous said...

I have used Networktutors.com. I was nervous since it was the first time I had used such a service but it worked out just fine. Their rates were good too.

Anonymous said...

Hmm.. I too had problem with completing my assignment & taking tuitions due to my tight schedule by one such service which helped me a lot is www.knolwedgeonlineservices.com

Dixie said...

Unless you want to get screwed out of your money for nothing to show for it don't bother with TutorVista. I have yet to get a refund for service that I paid for and could not access. Being based out of the US they have no incentive to do what is right. Don't give these people access to your accounts.

Anonymous said...

I am writing to share and thank Growing Stars for their excellent work with my son John. We appreciate the time they spend preparing him for class and tests, and for the wonderful results John has gotten in Math as a result of this.All the Tutors are patient (and very smart!!) and he enjoys working with them.
John looks forward to his sessions with Growing Stars and believes that he could not have gone through 9th grade Math without their help. Growing Starstaught him much more than his teacher did! This year he is also finding math much easier. The help they give him has given him more confidence to do well in this subject.
My daughter is also enjoying the sessions with her tutor this year. Her tutor has been preparing her for the each topic in advance of her class, which allows her to know the information before it is taught in school by her teacher! This way, she is also much more confident to participate in class. She is also getting better grades, with a 100 on her last quiz!
Thanks Growing Stars for the wonderfull service and i have recommended Growing Stars to many people.

Sincerely
Grace White

Anonymous said...

www.ClickandClimb.com (cute name)is a great. They are VERY personalized and the teachers and academic directors know what they are talking about. Best part is that you can try 2 weeks absolutely free and get first month for only $50.

Anonymous said...

My experience with tutorvista was not all a good experience. None of the 3 different tutors I had were competent enough to work first semester college physics problems let alone actually TUTOR. I WOULD NOT RECOMMEND THEM EVER.

Anonymous said...

I live in Singapore,can anyone tell me about online tutoring agencies here.

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Maureen Rogers said...

Note to the three anonymous commenters whose comments were just removed. If you want to criticize TutorVista, or make constructive comments about outsourcing to India, fine. But no wholesale bashing of a country and all of its people, please

Anonymous said...

I found StudentNest.com for tutoring in math and really liked the technology. My son talks to the tutor and writes or types on the whiteboard screen. The tutor was very knowledgeable, understands children - or at least my son - and encouraging.

In particular, my son has cancer and misses a lot of school. He was discouraged. The StudentNest.com tutor was able to connect with him and make significant progress both in content and improving his attitude.

PurrPrints said...

I know I'm obviously coming to this discussion quite late, but did you ever happen to find out about online tutoring companies that were actually aimed at U.S.-based tutors? I just applied to TutorVista and then started trying to find some research on them and then discovered that they appear to be India-oriented form sites like yours, much to my disappointment. Since you write an employment related blog and have touched on this subject already, I'm crossing my fingers you might know something further on the subject...a long shot, I know :)

Anonymous said...

for personalised tutoring on various subjects try wwwetution4u.com The tutors really knw wt they r talking about and the sessions are custom made for the needs of the kid. my daughter has improved a lot on maths and my son took hindi sessions which were simply great. this is one site u dnt want to miss, they really mean quality

Online Tutoring said...

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