Outsource Your Work with a Smile
Michelle Lentz,
Write Technology,
Jul 31, 2008
This is very interesting. Michelle Lentz links to and summarizes New York Times coverage of Serebra Connect, an offshoot of Vancouver-based e-learning company Serebra Learning (formerly FirstClass Systems, with a name change in 2001). Buyers post a task - graphic art, PowerPoint slides, scripting and programming - and sellers, many of them former Serebra students from around the world - bid on the project. The coverage takes a "feel good about it" slant to the program, because the sellers are people working in developing nations around the world. And there is some element to that, I suppose - but let's be clear, when you're outsourcing something for a tenth of what it would cost you otherwise, altruism isn't exactly the dominant motive here. Also notable is the linkage between the training and the marketplace. "It's different from similar sites like Elance or iFreelance.com, he said, because it is linked with classes, which gives students credibility when marketing their skills to potential buyers." It also explains why Serebra might think providing free online courses and exams to developing nations might be a good idea.
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