If I were a teacher I certainly would no longer confine myself to a classroom. With Web 2.0 and social networking tools, anywhere in the world can become a teacher’s classroom. With podcasting and video easily integrated into a blog site, a teacher can market tutoring packages, language lessons or any combination of educational bundles that they so choose.

That lesson has not been lost on an entrepreneur in India.
Steven Hamm of Business Week spotlights a reletaively new outfit,Tutorvista, originating from India and targeting North America and Europe as their customer base.

“The tutors, 500 of them so far, work from their homes in 23 Indian cities. They all have masters degrees or dual bachelors degrees in education and a specialty. The tutors conduct online sessions with their students that include the ability to speak to one another via VOIP and to share an electronic whiteboard. So far, Tutorvista has about 2000 students.”.

With parents used to shelling out as much as $60 plus for hourly lessons, Tutorvista’s one month of unlimited tutoring for $100 sounds like a bargain. Will it work?

“The company faces some stiff challenges. How does a small, little-known Indian company convince people in the US and UK to shell out $100 for tutoring over the Internet? It’s all so new and unproven.”

So far so good. paying their tutors three to four hundred per month and relying still on word of mouth, Tutorvista’s CEO, Ganesh Krishnan,is confident enough to be planning ventures into North Korea and South America with English-as-a-second-language programs.

As long as everybody understands one another, it sounds like it has a good shot of success and is yet another example of effective global networking.