Tutoring Exchange? (1 Viewer)

[Smurk]

Hello

I am wondering... Why isn't there any tutoring exchange website? I think it would be great to be able to offer any kind of tuition to someone and receive tuition from someone else, everything for free, just based on an "exchange" idea. What do you think about that? I am interested in creating such a website, and I really like the idea of collaborative work. I think everyone has something interesting to teach and something else to learn. For example, I would not mind having a saxo lesson and I could teach French. So I know that all saxo players don't want to learn French , but I could give a lesson to someone who wants to learn French and knows Biology, and that person would teach biology to a third person who could teach me saxo. That would be great...
Do you think it could be done? Do you think enough people who be intersted in such a project? (I already tought about the rules and everything)

Thanks for your help!
(sorry for the possible mistakes, as you probably understood English is not my native language )

 

[Trebla]

Hello

I am wondering... Why isn't there any tutoring exchange website? I think it would be great to be able to offer any kind of tuition to someone and receive tuition from someone else, everything for free, just based on an "exchange" idea. What do you think about that? I am interested in creating such a website, and I really like the idea of collaborative work. I think everyone has something interesting to teach and something else to learn. For example, I would not mind having a saxo lesson and I could teach French. So I know that all saxo players don't want to learn French , but I could give a lesson to someone who wants to learn French and knows Biology, and that person would teach biology to a third person who could teach me saxo. That would be great...
Do you think it could be done? Do you think enough people who be intersted in such a project? (I already tought about the rules and everything)

Thanks for your help!
(sorry for the possible mistakes, as you probably understood English is not my native language )

That would work in principle but in terms of HSC tutoring, this isn't quite feasible because you need two parties who happen to match up perfectly in BOTH their needs and offers i.e. person A offers to tutor X and wants be tutored Y while person B offers to tutor Y and wants to be tutored X (both X and Y have to match up between parties so you can't match them if B offered to tutor Y but wants to be tutored Z). The probability of finding such a good match is very slim.

Also, usually those who provide the tutoring have completed the course already and are not currently studying the HSC anymore. E.g. It would be almost impossible to find a person who wants to be tutored in HSC English and will offer tutoring in say HSC Mathematics in return when he or she hasn't even completed the HSC.

 

[Smurk]

Thank you very much for your answer!
What I tried to explain (sorry for the misunderstanding) is that there would NOT be only two parties involved, but three or ten or two hundreds parties...
The person A would tutor Z to person B.
The person B would tutor Y to person C.
The person C would tutor X to person A.
What could be interesting is that it would not be only uni subjects, but it could be anything. And that is why it could work, because that smart guy who is the only one in the uni who could tutor nuclear-printer-economics... he may just want to learn how to change a tyre.
Well, I don't know, I am just wondering... And how to make such exchange system as large as possible, but still an educational project, not to exchange services or other material things.

 

[Trebla]

Thank you very much for your answer!
What I tried to explain (sorry for the misunderstanding) is that there would NOT be only two parties involved, but three or ten or two hundreds parties...
The person A would tutor Z to person B.
The person B would tutor Y to person C.
The person C would tutor X to person A.
What could be interesting is that it would not be only uni subjects, but it could be anything. And that is why it could work, because that smart guy who is the only one in the uni who could tutor nuclear-printer-economics... he may just want to learn how to change a tyre.
Well, I don't know, I am just wondering... And how to make such exchange system as large as possible, but still an educational project, not to exchange services or other material things.

The problem is what happens if person C does not exist; leaving person A fulfilling the need of person B but no one is available to cater for what person A wants...

 

[Smurk]

Of course, there is no guarantee that you will find a tutor for you. I don't consider it is a big problem, it would be just a small temporary problem. Because sooner or later, there will be someone. And by the way, you won't need that special lesson, it is just that you would like it. I see that tutoring exchange more like a free cooperation between people, to allow everyone to discover new things. Yes, if you can find a tutor that you really need, it is better. But instead you may want to discover something completely different. It could allow people to wander around... If you would have paid a tutor once a month for your subject, then with such an exchange system maybe you will have one lesson a week (providing that you teach once a week as well, of course), and once in a while it would be a useful one.

Thank you for your help, Trebla! I am surprised I don't get many answers... Not that I am sure it is a good idea, but I would also use some "no way!" answers. Where should I ask to have more answers?

 

[moniQueexx]

Hey Smurk,

I've had the same idea before actually - I think it would be great! I can speak a little bit of french as well and I wanted to look for someone who could tutor me spanish

Actually- would you be able to tutor me in french? I really need help with my grammar. I'm not sure what I would be able to tutor you in though!

In any case, if you decide to start up that website and need any help with promoting it or anything like that, let me know! cause I'd love to be involved.

You can contact me on xxmoniquee@live.com (I don't really go on Bored of studies much)

Monique

 

[Trebla]

Of course, there is no guarantee that you will find a tutor for you. I don't consider it is a big problem, it would be just a small temporary problem. Because sooner or later, there will be someone. And by the way, you won't need that special lesson, it is just that you would like it. I see that tutoring exchange more like a free cooperation between people, to allow everyone to discover new things. Yes, if you can find a tutor that you really need, it is better. But instead you may want to discover something completely different. It could allow people to wander around... If you would have paid a tutor once a month for your subject, then with such an exchange system maybe you will have one lesson a week (providing that you teach once a week as well, of course), and once in a while it would be a useful one.

Thank you for your help, Trebla! I am surprised I don't get many answers... Not that I am sure it is a good idea, but I would also use some "no way!" answers. Where should I ask to have more answers?

Most people aren't willing to offer services to another person for free especially when there is uncertainty in whether they themselves will eventually get the service that they want. The economics just doesn't add up. If one person isn't compensated (or has uncertainty in being compensated eventually) in return for providing some sort of service there is no incentive to provide it at all.

It's like trading without cash. If person A has apples but wants oranges and person B has oranges but wants pears then there would be no trade because if there was trade person A is better off getting his apples but person B is worse off by giving away something valuable for free. The uncertainty in person B in finding someone who has pears (there is a high possibility that no-one has pairs) would deter person B from trading unless he gets something in return.
This is whole point of using cash in trade, so that such mismatches are resolved. If person A paid cash to person B then trade would take place because person B is compensated for giving away something valuable which he can then use to buy what he wants, so both parties are happy.

This is not a temporary or minor problem. It is in fact the main problem.

 

[Smurk]

Thanks for your answers. And I am sorry I reply so late, but I have been very busy recently.

I understand what you are saying, Trebla... Obviously, such a project would not be interesting for people who are not happy about giving anything. I am more than happy to give French tuitions for free. If I can have a saxo tuition in return, that's great. If not, well... this is part of the game.
Plus, if you are looking for cash or any exchange standard, my tutoring exchange would have one, a very easy one (simple and not disadvantageous for the students who have no money): the time. You spend one hour tutoring, you get one hour credit.

Thanks, Monique, for your support. I am currently not interested in taking any tuition (I was talking about saxo, which is really something that I would like to do if I had time, but I don't have time for that for the moment: I am the mother of two young children and I work full-time in a university). But I am really happy to know that some people are interested in my project. Where are you? I live in Canberra. If you want a French tutor, you will have to find one where you are. I was hoping to get a few contacts around the main Australian cities, so that we could "split" the city geographically. A tutor would need to tell where he is available, and now I can cut Canberra in different areas, so that we can look for a tutor in a special area. But I could not do it for any other city.

Thank you very much, Trebla and Monique. This is really helpful to have that conversation here, it helps me to think more about that tuition exchange thing.