Idea for the structure of a tutoring site
Upon visiting the site you would be asked to register as a student or as a tutor. Upon registering as a tutor you would select your areas of expertise and take a few diagnostic tests, perhaps pulled from khan academy and other sites. You would be encouraged to buy a low cost usb writing pad to assist you in your teaching, and you would agree to accept no payment for your first 20 or so tutoring sessions. This is because you would be proving your abilities as a tutor to students who had agreed to do sessions with tutors of unproven ability (this would also serve as the free pricing tier). After each session the student would rate the tutor in several categories, allowing them to build up credibility and desirability among the students. Once they are proven the students who would like a more professional experience can submit reasonable payments before their session through stripe or some other simple payment system. The sessions look like a split screen with a video feed of the other person on one side and a virtual paper display on the other. Tutors can log in and do sessions with available students whenever they want, or students can subscribe to specific tutors at given times if both parties agree. I can see this having a problem with an initial lack of tutors/users and also a library of diagnostic tests would be difficult to build up since this idea isn't limited to standard subjects. I'd love to hear HN's ideas on this, thanks for reading.