Podcast: Video tutoring for high-schoolers

Brightstorm.com offers entertaining video instruction classes and SAT preparation for high-schoolers.

Larry Magid

Larry Magid is a technology journalist and an Internet safety advocate. He's been writing and speaking about Internet safety since he wrote Internet safety guide "Child Safety on the Information Highway" in 1994. He is co-director of ConnectSafely.org, founder of SafeKids.com and SafeTeens.com, and a board member of the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children. Larry's technology analysis and commentary can be heard on CBS News and CBS affiliates, and read on CBSNews.com. He also writes a personal-tech column for the San Jose Mercury News. You can e-mail Larry.

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Larry Magid

Jan. 12, 2009 2:22 p.m. PT

When I think way back to my high school days, I can count on one hand the teachers who were inspiring or, at the very least, compelling. But what if teens from anywhere could access some of the best, brightest, and most entertaining teachers to help them brush up on a wide variety of subjects?

That's the idea behind Brightstorm, a Web service that recruits teachers to appear in instructional videos aimed at high school students. Subject matters include geometry, algebra, writing, U.S. history, and, of course, SAT preparation.

From the few courses I sampled, it definitely appears as if teachers are a lot more interesting and energetic than the ones I had to deal with back in the Stone Age.

Larry Magid talks with Brightstorm CEO Jeff Marshall about the company's classes.