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Comment by johnl | Hacker News Reader

That's what I was thinking. The markets is there but in front of it there is this very big bureaucracy that you have to deal with. So maybe point the app towards something like homework where the educational bureaucracy doesn't have much control.

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I'm giving that a shot, but if teachers don't endorse it that can be a very tough road.

My thought would be to stay away from the teachers. Quiz the kid to see where they need help and then teach away with loads of feedback and reinforcement.

Teachers wield a lot of power. I noticed this when I was teaching, and see it more now that I'm tutoring. I can give a student something that will help him or her to understand something, but if the teacher didn't assign it s/he may or may not take it seriously. They don't even go to the freely accessible web site that the book references unless assigned.

I don't know how the hell I'm going to get them to pay for mine. They will pay for me to tutor them, though, so I know there is a way.

The parents are the ones that pay you so maybe that is where the deal can be made. Make it so the parents can oversee the kid's progress without actually knowing the answers or doing any work. A cheaper tutor.

That's exactly the idea. Although, the funny thing about it is: in person, the parents don't really oversee the progress. I imagine it's because I talk conversationally about how the student is doing, his or her strong points, etc. But nobody really tracks how far along the student is progressing with me. That is all done by the report cards (I tutor independently of any tutor center -like Sylvans- and independently of the school systems).

I believe you are correct, however, in that things will shift when it is "anonymous" and online. Kind of like selling childrens' toys: the kids have to like it, but the parents have to be willing to pay as well.

Sound like you need 2 apps, one: the teacher's assistant app that the kid works with and a second app that monitor's the analytics of the students progress real time so instead of working one on one with the kid you can work with multiple kids with different hours and with different study paces all at the same time. Teachers and parents can review the progress from a overview level and direct accordingly.

Within my current design, it would be a matter of letting someone other than the customer/consumer see the progress. With a parent/child relationship, the parent can simply say, "show me." Putting in a separate parental monitoring capability may be selling point (even if it doesn't get used). Thanks for the idea. I'll ask some of the current parents what they think.

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