db primary

[Techie101]

hi all

A few of the schools I support have been sold a VLE called db primary. The techs that have used it hate it with a passion but the LEA are pushing it and schools seem to be buying it.

Has anyone here used it/seen it, what are your thoughts, cheers

[secretlife]

Isn't that the primary incarnation of Digital Brain?

[Techie101]

Yes it is, have you used it.

[booggerboy]

hi all

A few of the schools I support have been sold a VLE called db primary. The techs that have used it hate it with a passion

Wow - that's quite a statement! I feel moved to respond -

Firstly, I am massively biased, as I work for Editure helping schools use DB Primary.
Secondly, I don't want to hijack the thread as I can see that responses will be useful for the OP.

What I'd like to know is why/what/how the techs are doing the passionate hating as stated above. I sit right next to our support team, and there's really not very much hate coming down the phone lines for DB Primary at all.

All I can think of is general tech hatred of offsite hosted software - which is fair enough. As an ex school network technician I sympathise with this hate, but don't think it's enough to start a hate thread about a possibly un-hated product.

BB

[mrstephenw]

After using DB Primary for well over 2 years I can conclude that it's a pile of . . . .

It looks great on the surface and a big thumbs up for the front end side of things but any product that requires a set of instructions is a no go from the start for me,

Under the bonnet, it's very buggy and the support (in my experience) is nearly always passed to the development team.

Unfortunately this is another example of how a need for features has overtaken 'good quality' usability.

Sorry.

[booggerboy]

Thanks Steve,

Yes - the frontend has had a lot of work done on it to keep it as friendly as possibly for staff/children.

Interesting point about needing instructions, as we've really tried to keep it intuitive and straightforward. I can understand how new features like setting tasks to classes might need a bit of explaining before the teacher gets the hang of it, but I'd hope that they were logical enough to have a try at with no prior reading up.

Bug-wise I'd be great to find out where the problem areas are. We do pass on queries from support to dev, especially when they are requests for new features. Our support team have excellent product and technical knowledge and do solve many problems while on the phone (to any member of staff at a DB Primary school, not just a nominated contact).

I'm definitely going to agree with you that the addition of features required and asked for by schools conflicts with usability - this is something we take very seriously and work hard at. The recent re-design of the community admin page is an attempt to simplify things for teachers by reflecting the community layout in the admin screen.

I'm sorry you feel this way about DB Primary, and am disappointed that we didn't meet the knabb's need from a platform.

BB

[Techie101]

Hi Bogger

As you have stated you work for a company called Editure. So, no offense, but it is going to be in your best interest to promote this product, good or bad. And the very fact that you said, and I quote -

"Firstly, I am massively biased, as I work for Editure helping schools use DB Primary."

Suggests to me that it is not as user friendly as you make out, simply because if it was user friendly then why would schools need Editure to help them use it??

Also this is not a hate thread, all I wanted was feedback from any schools that have used this product. As I stated the techs that I have spoken to thus far "hate" it, this is not me hating it but this is what feedback I am getting from other schools.

I have an open mind in regards to this product, but thus far all I am getting is negative feedback. So from that I can only conclude that DB Primary is not really as good as the sales people say it is.

Lets face it, your job is to sell this product good or bad, so of course you are going to be biased, I started this thread to get feedback from "real" everyday users, the techs at the frontlines so to speak, and not some sales rep from a company like Editure, no offense, but it really annoys me when threads are hijacked by companys trying to promote themselves.

[GrumbleDook]

@techie101 Fair point ... but there is a real history of people knocking products before anyone who likes it can step in. This frequently puts others off from saying "hey, it isn't all that bad". Also there is a tendency to whine first and cheer later ... not just here but in all walks of life.

It is good that at least DB are here and open to discussion ... many companies lurk on here and *aren't* open to discuss things until pushed.

As for needing Editure to support it ... of course there is someone who does the training and support ... no matter how user friendly stuff is. Apple stuff is seriously user friendly in my book, but your have Apple regional training centres, apple distinguished educators ...

I do think you are giving BB a bit of a hard time on his replies to be honest ...

Personally, I'm not that keen on DB Primary, but I do know some schools in our area using it very well and it making a big difference to the learning that goes on ... however, I would say that pretty much *any* VLE / Learning Platform, if supported right and is part of the school's core development, can make a big difference.

There is a difference between not liking it for technical / administrative reasons and it not doing the job it is designed for.