Handheld Learning Forum

This story appeared in the Independent last week..

http://www.complete-gardens.co.uk/online/online-gardening-news-item.php?id=27 (http://www.complete-gardens.co.uk/online/online-gardening-news-item.php?id=27)

Its about a CD-ROM that enables users to identify plants, work out which plants grow in a garden (based on soil type, aspect etc) and also how to care for their plants....WildKey along with our development partner Adit have given this CD an extra dimension by making a handheld version (wm only at the minute) so you can do your plant id/suitability test out in the garden...we use a 'filtering database' approach that enables users to pick characteriscs to narrow down their selection from 3500 plants to a handful....so if you have a database that you wish to mobilise give us a shout!
Neil

That's a really nice idea - I'd seen it before on your site. You would have thought that the demographic for this sort of product is not going to be into mobiles, but surprisingly, the BBC had some success with WAP site trials at the Chelsea Flower Show for instance.

But sorry, £40 for a casual use PDA application?  :o That's madness, based on my experience.

Wolf.

Hello Wolf
I agree that its not on the cheap side but we have to consider that the CDROM goes for an equivalent amount and sells well....we are also kind of hemmed in by the fact that the application uses 3500 images which have taken many years to gather (which has a resultant cost)...if the product where to be much cheaper it would not financially viable to produce such an application....I guess this links us nicely to the mobile web...as this takes over as the means by which applications are delivered the days of  loading a storage card/obtaining packaging and posting out to the consumer will pass and allow us to reduce prices accordingly....on another note the application has also enabled us to explore how items can be selected from a list of 1000's which cannot be feasibly done with our 'wildkey' approach...in time we hope to create a simple tool that will enable users to create their own 'filtered databases' so look out for WildFilter!
cheers
Neil

Hi Neil,

I take your point about the cost of the images, and the cost of physical packaging, distribution etc. And of course I'm not questioning your business model and your calculations - I appreciate that I'm purely looking at it from the perspective of 'who would pay that sort of money'?

£40 is a price people are prepared to pay for a PC/console game, or maybe a piece of PC software they really need. But looking at Lifestyle PDA application prices on Handango or similar sources, £40 sounds very expensive - $30 was the top figure I saw there. Maybe the PDA software could be bundled with the CD-ROM for a lower 'upgrade' price or something? I just worry that this good idea could fail because of the cost. I'd love you to prove me wrong, but consumers' price expectations are definitely not the same for mobile and desktop.

Best,

Wolf.

Interesting debate this one.

I recently learnt of one authority that set a cap of £5 for a PDA application regardless of type, quality or the thousands of man hours used in its development. Given that the limited number of PDA projects that have actually put devices into the hands of learners and the rarity of grants to support software development this unilateral purchasing strategy is not only myopic but expects developers to work well below minimum wage. The daft "e-learning credits" scheme was ineffective because often it was based only on Becta approved (prescribed?) content based applications rather than the sort of tools one might require in a mobile environment that are geared towards constructed learning rather than delivered learning

Well how sad and boo-hoo, one might think, but unless the software development community is nurtured, devices will continue to be tin and the innovations in learning that many are searching for will be hampered. It seems strange that the operating system royalty for devices based on , for example, Windows Mobile, is rarely questioned yet as Wolf point's out the expectation is that for a small device a small price for applications is expected.

The solution is volume. In the mobile entertainment or business world it's easier to offer a sophisticated game or utility for a fiver because you're going to sell them by the bucket load but in the education sector with it's limited number of pilots there is a Catch 22, i.e. not enough devices to generate investment by developers to create killer apps, not enough killer apps to increase uptake of devices.

Some good points Graham...I was particularly interested in the £5 limit set by LEA's....this ties in nicely with our current educational pricing policy where we typically charge £250- £400 for a 60 user licence (i.e. £4-£6 per user)...as you say this is a matter of volume which make the economics feasible....on the otherhand when you have the odd individual who wants software posted on an sd card the economics are very different (these customers are always the ones who require loads of support)...having said all this we have a growing number of pensioners on our books who are now getting to grips with handhled learning...it can be painful in support terms but we are too passionate about promoting this type of learning to  say no!
cheers
Neil

so this covers development costs, updates, future development and ongoing support?

it's estimated that responding to a single average technical support call (by phone or email) costs the provider £25

 ;)

crumbs...thats where we have been going wrong!!.....no seriously I think the point for us is that there is not much difference in support levels between an individual and a school, thus the ability to reduce prices per head for volume sales....just to throw something else into the mix....the industry seems to be moving into a subscription model which may enable the LEAs to be satisfied on their 'low price per pupil' measure whilst also supplying developers with sustained revenue...hopefuly this coupled with easier delivery of software over the web will makes things more bearable for organisations such as RedHalo and WildKey... as it stands I don't think there are many profitable mobile software developers out there at present?
Neil

That should be "mobile software developers that supply the educational sector", I think.  :-\

Don't forget that if you supply your software via other channels (Handango, Network Portals, iTunes app store, etc), they take a fair whack of the revenue too. As Graham says, volume is what makes it work. Or, the (over-used) 'Long Tail', where you make a business publishing very niche and specific applications at low volume and higher price. But for mobile that doesn't seem to be working yet.

You're right, once you build a web-based product, distribute it over the air and charge a subscription, some of the problems are solved. But in your case, making 3500 images available as a GPRS/3G download is going to hurt on data charges...!

I've never liked the idea of software support, so I've only ever been involved in 'time and materials' bespoke work, which others distribute and support. It's just too painful to be on the other end of a phone line when things go wrong.

Wolf.

Yes...thats right Wolf I did mean educational....must say I am a bit envious on the support side of things....I'd give my right arm not to be sorting out support issues....I guess that as our software is improved/simplified and people become more used to using their phones as educational devices some of the issues will go away...however as it is handheld learning needs a lot of ....handholding
cheers
Neil

to return to an earlier point by Graham....I think you are totally right and feel that the situation is made worse by an 'all gear no idea' mentality amongst many purchasers...my background is not in ICT so I was rather taken aback when to witness the apparant desire to buy hardware without much thought being spent on what to do with it....I would love to know how many people who bought PDAs/EDAs really experimented with what they could do with them as an educational device...I wager that many barely made it out the box before the next eye candy appeared on the scene (e.g. AUSUS eee)...so as well as a plea for there to be a greater willingness to spend a decent amount on software there also needs to be an increased desire to move away from the gear and start expanding the idea.

indeed and to add insult to injury in some cases there is precious little investment in teacher training/support or reliable connectivity which in turn reduces teacher confidence and increases support requests usually to the software vendors because hardware suppliers used to dealing with business customers with devices intended for business haven't a clue. Manage service provision isn't always the solution either because you can end up having restrictions placed over what you want to put on the device, sort of like the plumbers telling the chef how to cook!

whinge, whinge, moan, moan... :'(


 ;)