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Thread: Homework Outsourcing

  1. #1
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    Homework Outsourcing

    Hi,



    Source:TOI


    KOCHI: A few minutes before 7 on a recent morning, Greeshma Salin swivelled her chair to face the computer, slipped on her headset and said in faintly accented English, “Hello, Daniela.” Seconds later, she got the response, “Hello, Greeshma.”

    The two chatted excitedly before Salin said, “We’ll work on pronouns today.” Then she typed in, “Daniela thinks that Daniela should give Daniela’s horse Scarlett to Daniela’s sister.” Then, she asked: “Is this an awkward sentence? How can you make it better?”

    Nothing unusual about this exchange except that Salin, 22, was in Kochi and her student, Daniela Marinaro, 13, was at her home in Malibu, California. Salin is part of a new wave of outsourcing to India: tutoring US students.

    Salin, who grew up speaking Malayalam, has been tutoring Daniela in English grammar, comprehension and writing.

    Using a simulated whiteboard on their computers, connected by the Internet, and a copy of Daniela’s textbook in front of her, she guides the teenager through the intricacies of nouns, adjectives and verbs.

    Daniela, an eighth grader at Malibu Middle School, said, “I get C’s in English and I want to score A’s,” and added that she had given no thought to her tutor being 20,000 miles away, other than the situation feeling “a bit strange in the beginning”.

    She and her sister, Serena, 10, are just 2 of the 350 Americans enrolled in Growing Stars, an online tutoring service based in Fremont, California, but whose 38 teachers are in Kochi. NYT News Service


    There’s a new wave of outsourcing to India - tutoring US students. Teachers at Growing Stars, an online tutoring service, offer tutoring in mathematics and science, and recently in English, to students in grades 3 to 12.

    Five days each week, at 4:30 am in Kochi, the teachers log on to their computers just as students in US settle down to their books and homework in the early evening.

    Growing Stars is one of at least half-a-dozen companies across India that are helping American children complete their homework and prepare for tests.

    As in other types of outsourcing, the driving factor in “homework outsourcing”, as the practice is known, is the cost. Companies like Growing Stars and Career Launcher India in New Delhi charge American students $20 an hour for personal tutoring, compared with $50 or more charged by their American counterparts.

    Growing Stars pays its teachers a monthly salary of Rs 10,000 ($230), twice what they would earn in entry-level jobs at local schools.

    ~~.......~~

    Still, the cultural divide is real. In Kochi, Leela Bai Nair, 48, a former teacher who has 23 years of experience and is an academic trainer for Growing Stars, said she was “floored at first when 10-year-old American students addressed me as Leela. All my teaching life in India, my students addressed me as Ma’am”.

    NYT service


    Peace

  2. #2
    They call me the Hunted foxyloxley's Avatar
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    Virtual classrooms MAY be the next 'happening' thing ...............

    BUT, playtime would be a REAL biatch

    World champion at hide'n'seek though
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  3. #3
    ********** |ceWriterguy
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    Hrm. I can remember several Term papers I'd love to have outsourced...
    Even a broken watch is correct twice a day.

    Which coder said that nobody could outcode Microsoft in their own OS? Write a bit and make a fortune!

  4. #4
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    Am I the only one that finds it ironic, and somewhat troubling that a a native English speaker is being taught grammer in such language by a woman in India with a native Malayalam tongue? I can understand that this girl is 13, and that it is completely possible for someone to be expert in more than one language. I just find the situation dissapointing considering the nature of those using the service.
    \"Greatness only comes at great risk.\" ~ Personal/Generic

  5. #5
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    Originally posted here by Evil Moo
    Am I the only one that finds it ironic, and somewhat troubling that a a native English speaker is being taught grammer in such language by a woman in India with a native Malayalam tongue? I can understand that this girl is 13, and that it is completely possible for someone to be expert in more than one language. I just find the situation dissapointing considering the nature of those using the service.
    Hey Hey,

    I think that you are the only one finding it ironic.... I'm not sure what's disappointing about it. I actually had to read what you wrote twice in order to understand parts of it, perhaps you could benefit from the service. I've found, working in a college environment, that ESL people usually have a better grasp of the language than we do. While learning the language, they tend to be very strict regarding its use and don't fall into the mistakes and slangs that we commonly use. Another benefit is that living in a country where English is not the first language, she's not introduced to the mannerisms that tend to destroy the language... she has a great advantage when it comes to assisting the students. As long as the student is able to understand the student I think it's a great idea... Not only will it allow for a "high tech" tutoring environment but it will also allow for a bit of cultural exchange, a benefit of this method of learning.

    Peace,
    HT

  6. #6
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    Hi,

    Originally posted here by Evil Moo
    Am I the only one that finds it ironic, and somewhat troubling that a a native English speaker is being taught grammer in such language by a woman in India with a native Malayalam tongue? I can understand that this girl is 13, and that it is completely possible for someone to be expert in more than one language. I just find the situation dissapointing considering the nature of those using the service.

    Yes I think you are the only one ............... The Ones who are Born with English as their Mother Toungue take Grammer For Granted , ........... but for those who's First language is not English Learnig The Grammer of the language is one of the most Important Part of learning that language and generally put more emphisis on it ......... Indians have traditionally been British-trained and still Follow British English .....

    I agree if the Girl Understands the teacher then it's Good for both ........

    Even Assessment and Qualifications Alliance (AQA) exam board ( England ) sends Thousands of exam papers from England to India as part of the marking process ......



    Peace

  7. #7
    AO Decepticon CXGJarrod's Avatar
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    Her parents are cheap... they live in Malibu and cant get a English tutor?
    N00b> STFU i r teh 1337 (english: You must be mistaken, good sir or madam. I believe myself to be quite a good player. On an unrelated matter, I also apparently enjoy math.)

  8. #8
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    Originally posted here by HTRegz
    Hey Hey,

    I think that you are the only one finding it ironic.... I'm not sure what's disappointing about it.
    What I was referring to in my regards to disappointment was that these people are living in an upper class setting (and thus can be expected to be more substantially educated which reasonably leads to a degree of higher vocabulary with less 'slang' usage) yet fail at the basics of their own tongue. Now, don't interpret this as me stating that education or wealth equates intelligence, or disregard the possibility of learning deficiencies, but I still find the idea of someone foreign to a language teaching a native (particularly in such an opportunity laden environment) to that subject troubling. To put my point-of-view in context of a simple analogy, I (a man) might as well teach a female about what it means to be feminine and live as a woman. While possible to a degree, is inherently contradicted and troubling as to why that person would need the aid to begin with. That’s all I was saying.
    \"Greatness only comes at great risk.\" ~ Personal/Generic

  9. #9
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    Originally posted here by Evil Moo
    What I was referring to in my regards to disappointment was that these people are living in an upper class setting (and thus can be expected to be more substantially educated which reasonably leads to a degree of higher vocabulary with less 'slang' usage) yet fail at the basics of their own tongue. Now, don't interpret this as me stating that education or wealth equates intelligence, or disregard the possibility of learning deficiencies, but I still find the idea of someone foreign to a language teaching a native (particularly in such an opportunity laden environment) to that subject troubling. To put my point-of-view in context of a simple analogy, I (a man) might as well teach a female about what it means to be feminine and live as a woman. While possible to a degree, is inherently contradicted and troubling as to why that person would need the aid to begin with. That’s all I was saying.
    Hey Hey,

    How could it not be interpretted that way.... you basically just said that being upper class means you have a better education... That lets me now understand a great deal more about the comments that you post...

    I'm still not sure why you find it troubling, it makes perfect sense to me... The best possible education is all that matters. Who here has gone to college or university and not, at one point or another, had a foreign professor... I'd bet that no one has. I, as I'm sure many of the members of this board who are ESL themselves, find that very insulting as they tend to have a better grasp of the language than most of us.

    As for your comparison... You attack me for being an idiot, yet that analogy is awful.. There's a big difference between learning the points of a language and learning to be a female. Language is factual, set in stone and has a history to back it up. Women are individuals and unique. They think, they show emotions and they react based on life experience. Much of what we learn as people we learn by watching others, but that's the basics... we learn from instincts and experience.. Nothing in your comparison is similar.

    Peace,
    HT

  10. #10
    Well in America private schools have a 98% average college acceptance rate. At least my school did. But at the end of the day, given the same tools everyone’s equal.(if you will) I believe our nations brightest prodigies come out of our public school system.

    You get what you pay for......policies, standards, smaller classrooms, college level teachers etc..... those are the advantages to "paid schooling". Being born not so bright......doesn't matter how much money you have or what school you went to.

    Policies, standards, smaller classrooms....that's the change I want to see in our public school system....forced learning.

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