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The internet allows people across the world the opportunity to receive education and learn new skills, in ways that were previously impossible. A new, UK-based startup, HowNow, is providing a platform for those who want to learn to connect with those who want to teach, from anywhere in the world.

HowNow facilitates learning through live, interactive video chat. It works like this: experts set up an profile including the topics they teach, their rates, a bio and their availability, which can be exported from an existing Google calendar. Learners can then see their availability, book a lesson and join a live one-to-one or group video class at the click of a link, directly from within their browser. From beginners yoga to learning the tabla or a language, the site offers the opportunity to access an enormous range of skills, lowering the barriers to entry for those keen to teach by removing the need to pay any overheads.

Springwise has recently written about two interesting innovations that facilitate online learning: this Colombian project that allows local cool kids to provide online dance lessons as a way of funding scholarships for postgraduate students, and this VR headset that enables children learn the piano and the drums by engaging their muscle memory on virtual instruments. Will the future of education be virtual?