Some Papers Are Uploaded to Bangalore to Be Graded.

The article discusses the outsourcing of grading for a course in business law and ethics to a grading service, Virtual-TA of the company EduMetry, Inc., which employs graders based in Asia. The professor, Lori Whisenant of the University of Houston, explains that the quantity of writing done by the 1,000 students in the course was overwhelming, and she and her teaching assistants could not provide the detailed feedback necessary. The graders are trained and employed by the service and hold advanced degrees, are able to work quickly, and communicate with the professor online. Critics say the graders have no idea how classroom discussion may influence what a student writes, and that money spent on the service could pay for more teaching assistants.