Teach The People, a Facebook application and fbFund finalist that allows users to create learning communities, has launched to the public. Alongside the public launch, the startup has also annouced its partnerships with The Learning Annex (which offers lessons from celebrities), Destiny Image, and Quinnipiac University’s Professional Athlete Transition Institute which will help initially populate the site with content.

At first glance Teach The People strongly resembles Facebook Groups, but offers a number of enhancements that make the platform more suitable for teaching. Each community instructor can upload documents, media, and online webcasts. The platform also will support premium content, offering an integrated payment system that allows instructors to charge for their online lessons.

Users will make use of a Digg-like voting system to request that their favorite instructors cover topics they’re interested in. And to ensure that the content available on the site will actually be worth paying for, Teach The People is planning to offer a certification process to instructors for around $50. The site will also be implementing a rating system.

Teach The People originally launched at last year’s TechCrunch40 as a standalone site, but is now shifting its focus to its Facebook application. The company was one of 25 winners (out of 600 applicants) to win $25,000 from the fbfund, and is in the running to win an additional $225,000 this December.

The site will face plenty of competition in the online-learning space, with competitors including Grockit and Brightstorm.