enjay Posted April 23, 2015 Posted April 23, 2015 We currently have Emerge, but have found it a little clunky and unstable in places (some of which is down to how we access our remotely-hosted SIMS, not the fault of Emerge), so I'm looking at alternatives. Obviously the Capita "own brand" app is appealing, not least because (for us) it is cheaper than Emerge. So, open floor for comments......
JordanT91 Posted April 23, 2015 Posted April 23, 2015 We're in exactly the same boat. We use emerge on iPods so if we switched to the SIMS teacher app we would need to purchase iPads. I'm currently trying to work out if there would be any benefit to doing this as it won't be cheap.
zag Posted April 23, 2015 Posted April 23, 2015 I took one look at the teacher app and their insistence on pairing it with the SLG and moved on! Emerge is great, it would take something special to replace it. 1
enjay Posted April 23, 2015 Author Posted April 23, 2015 I took one look at the teacher app and their insistence on pairing it with the SLG and moved on! There is a new app - you only need SLG if you want to give parents access to the information. Emerge is great, it would take something special to replace it. £900 per year cheaper comes into the "something special" category for me. SIMS Teacher App is priced per pupil whereas Emerge is a site licence - the price difference will be less for your school. The main problem we encounter with Emerge is the frequent and sometimes lengthy database updates which must run before you can use anything. This is particularly problematic for infrequent users, who find it quicker to log in to a PC and use "normal" SIMS than wait for Emerge to update before they can take a register.
browolf Posted April 23, 2015 Posted April 23, 2015 Just signed up for the teacher app, already have SLG. Unfortunately fell at the first hurdle trying to set it up. No one in school has sufficient office 365 admin permissions to link the logins to capita. Had to refer it to the LEA....
synaesthesia Posted April 23, 2015 Posted April 23, 2015 If you use Moodle, look up Edulink by OvernetData - we've had a load of awesome comments by staff.
enjay Posted April 23, 2015 Author Posted April 23, 2015 If you use Moodle, look up Edulink by OvernetData - we've had a load of awesome comments by staff. Just had a quick peak at that - don't see why it has to have Moodle to use it. What am I missing?
synaesthesia Posted April 23, 2015 Posted April 23, 2015 It links in with Moodle's SIMS integration (also via Overnet) - I don't know if it can run standalone, it may well do. Could still be worth giving them a call and asking.
winng Posted April 24, 2015 Posted April 24, 2015 I have endeavoured to set this up in three schools within our Federation. Once I finally managed to configure the admin setup and get the services running okay, none of our teachers can access the app as 'the services are offline' - but they aren't when I look! I've also noted an increase in the server load due to SSM taking up more CPU and I've got Capita investigating this following the provision of SQL Server Profiler trace files.
ForgotMyPassword Posted April 24, 2015 Posted April 24, 2015 Using it here, LOVING it. NOT perfect (only available for teachers, not TAs, that's a pain...) and we had an issue with it not saving registers which seems to have gone away but generally good. It's a bit laggy so not sure if that's a network issue or just the fact it's early days for the app. Overall we are impressed.
enjay Posted April 24, 2015 Author Posted April 24, 2015 NOT perfect (only available for teachers, not TAs, that's a pain...) That is a limitation, isn't it. That said, our LSAs and cover supervisors don't have iPads anyway, but it would be annoying that IT Services couldn't use the app.
PhilNeal Posted April 24, 2015 Posted April 24, 2015 @ForgotMyPassword - I've just seen the next release (due end of May) - any lag has gone completely.
GREED Posted April 24, 2015 Posted April 24, 2015 The main problem we encounter with Emerge is the frequent and sometimes lengthy database updates which must run before you can use anything. This is particularly problematic for infrequent users, who find it quicker to log in to a PC and use "normal" SIMS than wait for Emerge to update before they can take a register. This is in the process of being addressed in a big way. Have you spoken to us (Groupcall) about the things that irk you (clunky) about Emerge?
enjay Posted April 24, 2015 Author Posted April 24, 2015 Have you spoken to us (Groupcall) about the things that irk you (clunky) about Emerge? Yes. I was told the updates had to happen, and shown how to clear the database cache for times when the update gets stuck in a loop. The latter at least gets the staff member working again, but it is tedious for them to have to sit and wait while behaviour, achievement and the red button (which we don't even use) are updated before a register can be taken. This is especially problematic for the two legal registers, which have to be taken in the first 15 minutes of a lesson.
adhutton Posted April 24, 2015 Posted April 24, 2015 We already have Emerge on a few teacher ipads and, in the main, it gets well used. It can be a bit bothersome sometimes, but is generally ok. We already have hosted SLG, so got the SIMS app at no extra cost. I installed it on the teacher ipads and asked them to use it/compare to Emerge. Without any exceptions, they all said that Emerge was better and they found the new SIMS app to be slow/not as easy to use. I then gave the new SIMS app to a few teachers who hadn't ever used Emerge and they also weren't very keen, stating that it was slow and not very easy to use! So, in conclusion, I think we'll be sticking with Emerge for now. Andrew 1
enjay Posted April 24, 2015 Author Posted April 24, 2015 This is in the process of being addressed in a big way. Have you spoken to us (Groupcall) about the things that irk you (clunky) about Emerge? Allow me to give you this feedback, in that case: We are new Emerge customers so many staff are aware of the features it contains, but haven't yet tried using them. The first task for which staff want Emerge is always the ability to take registers on the go, and many staff have commented they would use Emerge more in lesson time if they had already used it to take registers, however because SIMS is open on their PCs by then, they tend to use SIMS. So, get the app so it launches and allows teachers to take registers quickly, and the rest will follow. 1
GREED Posted April 24, 2015 Posted April 24, 2015 (edited) Yes. I was told the updates had to happen, and shown how to clear the database cache for times when the update gets stuck in a loop. The latter at least gets the staff member working again, but it is tedious for them to have to sit and wait while behaviour, achievement and the red button (which we don't even use) are updated before a register can be taken. This is especially problematic for the two legal registers, which have to be taken in the first 15 minutes of a lesson. Fully appreciate that. More than once it has been mentioned that the sync business is an issue and as I say we are in the process of making so significant changes specifically to address this. The reason it does this is because Emerge was originally designed to function when you were not connected consistently to the school Wifi. This is still a requirement for many customers. But appreciate that things have moved on and this is why the changes are coming. And thank you for the feedback, it is through this that we make the changes that you want to see happen! Edited April 24, 2015 by GREED 1
enjay Posted April 24, 2015 Author Posted April 24, 2015 Fully appreciate that. More than once it has been mentioned that the sync business is an issue and as I say we are in the process of making so significant changes specifically to address this. The reason it does this is because Emerge was originally designed to function when you were not connected consistently to the school Wifi. This is still a requirement for many customers. But appreciate that things have moved on and this is why the changes are coming. It is a requirement for us too, although less so since the wireless coverage was extended. Some staff do like using it from home, however, so a decent offline mode is still required (the 3G option doesn't help, as our iPads are not 3G). Perhaps the sync could be set up so it only syncs when needed, i.e. when changes have been made offline, or when a component is accessed. What I mean by the latter is not to update "behaviour" until the teacher taps on "behaviour", that way they can turn their iPad on, open Emerge and take a register without being impeded. If they then wish to view or add behaviour points, they would be more willing to sit and wait while it updates that section. Alternatively, could the update process happen in the background, rather than open up in the foreground? Sometimes it even starts syncing mid-way through typing your password in, which is highly frustrating.
GREED Posted April 24, 2015 Posted April 24, 2015 It is a requirement for us too, although less so since the wireless coverage was extended. Some staff do like using it from home, however, so a decent offline mode is still required (the 3G option doesn't help, as our iPads are not 3G). Perhaps the sync could be set up so it only syncs when needed, i.e. when changes have been made offline, or when a component is accessed. What I mean by the latter is not to update "behaviour" until the teacher taps on "behaviour", that way they can turn their iPad on, open Emerge and take a register without being impeded. If they then wish to view or add behaviour points, they would be more willing to sit and wait while it updates that section. Alternatively, could the update process happen in the background, rather than open up in the foreground? Sometimes it even starts syncing mid-way through typing your password in, which is highly frustrating. You have basically described the thoughts and feelings of what we are wanting to do here! Not to take away the value of your feedback, not at all. I'd just reading it with a wry smile because I know just a little more! The one thing we would not want to do is only sync the parts you use or go into, because you might get into a situation of using attendance, going offline, then cannot sync behaviour because you did not go into that section when you were online. No no no! I've seen other apps go this way and it is a real issue. But this is superseded by you alternative. We'll never get away from the need to download 'something' even if it is just your registers, maybe even just your registers today first plus associated student details, there will always be something (take your situation of teacher that has not used it in a while). But hope to make things very much more efficient! I know it is all typed promises, but hope that helps a bit? Still take a look at TeacherApp of course. There will be a best app for your school! 2
enjay Posted April 24, 2015 Author Posted April 24, 2015 One other comment, since I've just hit this now with another staff member, is it seems the iPad app can't sync if the Groupcall Xporter job is currently running. Is that correct? As one of those jobs is set to run every hour and takes around 10 minutes, this causes obvious problems... (I'm happy to move this discussion to email and the official Groupcall support channels if you'd prefer)
zag Posted April 24, 2015 Posted April 24, 2015 Glad to see competition between the 2 products creating innovation I've never used Emerge in offline mode, so it would be great to have a fast sync of just registers. Thats all we use it for.
GREED Posted April 24, 2015 Posted April 24, 2015 One other comment, since I've just hit this now with another staff member, is it seems the iPad app can't sync if the Groupcall Xporter job is currently running. Is that correct? As one of those jobs is set to run every hour and takes around 10 minutes, this causes obvious problems... (I'm happy to move this discussion to email and the official Groupcall support channels if you'd prefer) I would say that is interesting and is worth contacting the helpdesk. I do not believe it should do that anyway, and more so just for the iPad app. So definitely log that as a case to be investigated.
GREED Posted April 24, 2015 Posted April 24, 2015 Glad to see competition between the 2 products creating innovation I've never used Emerge in offline mode, so it would be great to have a fast sync of just registers. Thats all we use it for. The idea is less a fast sync (although we are always tweaking the sync piece to improve where we can, in every release), more an intelligent sync, getting the data you need first so you can perform x actions while other data is still downloading, as just one example. There are more, but I've already given away enough secrets
GREED Posted April 27, 2015 Posted April 27, 2015 Glad to see competition between the 2 products creating innovation Well, I like to think so particularly given the news today.
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