We are developing an entirely new software system for schools and are just about ready for the first round of testing the software and at the same time are looking for suggestions for desirable features. Shortly we will be asking for volunteers to help us test the system.
We aren’t prepared to announce all of the features we already have, but we have identified who our competition is and they include some solid players such as Moodle, Sakai, Blackboard, Edline, and others; so you might infer that we hope to be able to do much of what they do better and at less cost. We recognize that Moodle, Sakai and others are free open source projects, yet there is a cost to them nonetheless. Our system is intended to be easy to maintain, easy to use, and if we have succeeded will encourage faculty and students to wholeheartedly embrace the system.
We have several innovative features built into the system that we hope will encourage users to contribute and collaborate on course content, research projects, creative writing tasks, and news stories. It will integrate the many aspects of school life including classes, schedules, homework, reading, books, sports, images, audio, video, testing, grading and more. We plan to allow content to be loaded from our system to electronic devices such as the Amazon Kindle and the iPhone so users can read course work, grade essays, retrieve any of the thousands of free titles from project Guttenberg or download electronic books from Amazon or other e-retailers. The system will be web based and start from any web browser, yet will not use a web interface, instead being a desktop application for a more responsive look and feel as well as less tedious user interaction. From a user standpoint, there is no setup, they simply locate the web site, click on a link, wait for the software to load and go. Returning users avoid the initial delay since the software is already loaded on their system. Should updates to the software be available, they are installed automatically. Unlike many applications, the system will not corrupt a user’s computer by installing incompatible drivers, dlls, or libraries; operating autonomously from other applications.
The system is intended for middle school on up with our initial focus on middle and high schools, although there is nothing in the system to preclude colleges and universities from using it just as they might use Moodle and other systems.
Our pricing has not been set but we expect it to be minimal, and taken in context of a lower learning curve, less reliance on support staff, and less overall hassle, it is our belief that our offering will be attractive and compelling.
If you are interested in offering suggestions, becoming a tester, or just wish to check it out when we release the software during the summer of 2009, please let us know. Also, we are considering releasing some of the unique features of the system as standalone offerings so schools that are already heavily committed to another system might be able to avail themselves of those features.
Reply to this post if you have an interest.
