RogerCorrigan Posted January 31, 2014 Posted January 31, 2014 (edited) What is the software shown below in the picture? It is going to be released soon? Edited January 31, 2014 by RogerCorrigan
PhilNeal Posted January 31, 2014 Posted January 31, 2014 This was a proof of concept we produced a few years ago. We are releasing an app shortly that has its origins in this project.
GREED Posted January 31, 2014 Posted January 31, 2014 This was a proof of concept we produced a few years ago. We are releasing an app shortly that has its origins in this project. Look forward to seeing it. So this is different to Teacher View you showed off (very skillfully) at BETT?
PhilNeal Posted January 31, 2014 Posted January 31, 2014 No it's the very same app we showed at BETT.
vikpaw Posted February 1, 2014 Posted February 1, 2014 It does look awesome but at the moment it only comes with SLG as a free add-on if I understand correctly. I'd like to see it offered as a stand alone option with reduced pricing.
zag Posted February 3, 2014 Posted February 3, 2014 Yeh I saw it at BETT, it crashed when the guy demonstrated it but it looked like a nice interface He did mention it was bundled with SLG which was confusing. Might check it out if its ever offered seperately, we currently pay 2k+ for groupcall emerge which is a large cost that I would like to see reduced.
robjd Posted February 10, 2014 Posted February 10, 2014 Can you take registers on it and when is it due out? Thank you
Edu-IT Posted February 10, 2014 Posted February 10, 2014 For those who weren't at BETT, what is it exactly?
vikpaw Posted February 11, 2014 Posted February 11, 2014 It's an app for teachers, to take registers, record behaviour/achievement and see student data. A cool thing is if you mark a kid late it fills in how many minutes based on timetable schedule and current time. They are planning an SLT app too to give overview stats for management like numbers on roll, absent staff, cover, overall attendance and such like. Sounds really powerful and begins to auto-use the data that is being harvested on a daily basis and present it easily. I think the teacher app was coming out soon. There's a video on the capita-sims website but it doesn't show real visuals. The app from Groupcall does the same and more and has had an overhaul lately. Plus they also have a parent app too, as do @Schoolcomms. I can't imagine the stand alone price will be too far off the competitors' range. That's assuming it can work without SLG and all it's overhead. 2
Steven_Cleaver Posted February 11, 2014 Posted February 11, 2014 Shame its only on SLG . Although can think of a couple of reservations with this but would depend how it worked.
creese Posted February 11, 2014 Posted February 11, 2014 Apparently the Apps are for SLG.... but after this shock (we all thought it was for SIMS.Net) there may be a rethink if there is enough demand.
zag Posted February 11, 2014 Posted February 11, 2014 Apparently the Apps are for SLG.... but after this shock (we all thought it was for SIMS.Net) there may be a rethink if there is enough demand. An American guy showed me the app at BET which to be fair looked quite good. He mentioned that it was being given away for Free!! (....with SLG) and I literally just laughed at him and said my goodbyes. Only Capita could mess this up so much that they finally make a good decision by giving customers what they want and end up messing it up by tieing it to a £10,000 product! I promptly went over to groupcall and saw their new teacher app interface which looked nice. All it needs is report writing feature and we can ditch the Sims front-end for teachers.
creese Posted February 11, 2014 Posted February 11, 2014 Only Capita could mess this up so much that they finally make a good decision by giving customers what they want and end up messing it up by tieing it to a £10,000 product! It was a big disappointment, I had always understood it was linked to SIMS.Net and told schools so.
vikpaw Posted February 11, 2014 Posted February 11, 2014 An American guy showed me the app at BET which to be fair looked quite good. He mentioned that it was being given away for Free!! (....with SLG) and I literally just laughed at him and said my goodbyes. i was laughing on the inside! It's a shame as it has so much potential, but if it relies on communicating with the SIMS server to be via the SLG infrastructure, it's not going to be easy to make it stand-alone. Groupcall and Schoolcomms et al have their own data transport layer. I can't even imagine what a bare bones SLG would be like. Still a beast. I think Emerge is going to have marksheets in it soon, so would cover basic independent reports and comment aspects - but don't quote me on that.
GREED Posted February 11, 2014 Posted February 11, 2014 (edited) Someone please tell me how SLG is still alive? Actually someone tell me why LAs still think they win a huge deal by spending anything more than 47p for all their schools on SLG and then insist on rolling it out... Edit: My gripe here is that I'd like to see LAs take a more proactive approach to purchasing and recommending solutions, not just x because it does y and costs next to nothing because we are buying in bulk... Edited February 11, 2014 by GREED
Theblacksheep Posted February 11, 2014 Posted February 11, 2014 I have no faith in Capita. Just provide a way to access their own server software via a browser: no mapped drive, no £10,000 add on's, no tie in's with their other terrible products.
GREED Posted February 11, 2014 Posted February 11, 2014 I have no faith in Capita. Just provide a way to access their own server software via a browser: no mapped drive, no £10,000 add on's, no tie in's with their other terrible products. That would be SIMS 8 then
matt40k Posted February 11, 2014 Posted February 11, 2014 @GREED, is a LA gets a number of schools asking for something, and they get it regardless of if the LA provides it or not, it makes sense for the LA to get it then reduce costs and sure optimal TOC. PS: Not agreeing with the whole SLG thing, just why a LA might provide it.
GREED Posted February 11, 2014 Posted February 11, 2014 (edited) Sure if there are 100s of their schools asking for it. As an LA I should be looking to the market to provide the best solution though... and SLG is, I feel, not the best solution. Edited February 11, 2014 by GREED in my opinion!
vikpaw Posted February 11, 2014 Posted February 11, 2014 ...In your opinion. There are many schools out there that have embraced sharepoint, and so it's a nice fit for them. Not saying i like it, but it does work for some.
matt40k Posted February 11, 2014 Posted February 11, 2014 We're currently at that stage where it all boils down to "you can lead a horse to water, but your can't make him drink". Basically schools are "rebelling" against the LA, if an LA states they must, the school will argue it's the wrong choice. This is why most LA have given the schools pretty much full control of their budget and gone, here's our recommendations, pick. Which is basically what the DfE has done with the MIS framework. In Suffolk I think we recommend uniservity, in Cambridgeshire it was SLG and others picked Frog, Moodle. They've come under fire because they were "useless". I've seen some really epic setups on each and I've seen some truly terrible ones as well. The key is the ones that work, the school was 100% behind in and invested the time and money in it - normally hiring a person(s) dedicated to it.
GREED Posted February 11, 2014 Posted February 11, 2014 Riiiiiiiiiiight.... Let me make a few things clear because suddenly everyone has forgotten the way I am... Yes, in my opinion SLG is not very good, it never has been, so the sheer amount of money it costs it should be and do a lot better. Read back through my posts I believe my opinion and outspoken nature is quite consistent. I'll edit the previous post to include that this is my opinion... Yes, I now work for a company that pushes Moodle but at no time have I suggested this is a viable alternative or made a comparison (regardless of the fact that it is ), nor have I pushed my workplace. The point I made about LAs ties in with my dislike for SLG, not LA procurement methods (I'll moan about those elsewhere!). The point that seems to be missed is SLG is very expensive regardless, and that LAs should be looking more openly at the market at who can/does integrate well with SIMS. TASC is an excellent suggestion there is nothing but positive comments here about that. Yes thank you for mentioning the IMLS as there are a multitude of options. The point was there should be guidance to schools on best fit based on research done by the LA, not (as I know for a fact has happened in at least 2 LAs) just get in SLG because it is an easy fix. And finally, lets not assume that this is me using any excuse to bash Capita, as I have said I consistently talk about my dislike for SLG, but this doesn't extent in parallel to the rest of SIMS and associated products. SIMS 8 is going to be extremely interesting from the early work I have seen in NI.
vikpaw Posted February 11, 2014 Posted February 11, 2014 I know. I wasn't trolling, just applying some balance, i have equal if not more hatred than you for SLG, but i also know a lot of people out there who are really getting on with it quite well. footer: You've always been the voice of reason : regardless of who you worked for
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