Ask HN: Review my classroom web tool, Eduset
1–10 of 79 posts
Re: Ask HN: Review my classroom web tool, Eduset
#2Definitely a good start. Lots of teachers don't want do deal with mastering a learning management system like Moodle or Blackboard. What I don't see is a compelling reason to pay $5/mo for something I could accomplish with a class blog or facebook page. Are there plans to allow interaction between students? Grade management? Online quizzes? These would be great value-adds to justify different pricing tiers.
Re: Ask HN: Review my classroom web tool, Eduset
#3Haven't tried the actual product, but the site design and execution looks professional and trustworthy.
Re: Ask HN: Review my classroom web tool, Eduset
#4Definitely a good start. Lots of teachers don't want do deal with mastering a learning management system like Moodle or Blackboard. What I don't see is a compelling reason to pay $5/mo for something I could accomplish with a class blog or facebook page. Are there plans to allow interaction between students? Grade management? Online quizzes? These would be great value-adds to justify different pricing tiers.
The goal was certainly to target teachers who aren't willing or able to put in the time and effort to learn a full-fledged LMS.
I agree that $5/month is a slightly hard sell right now, although there are certain parts of Eduset (such as assignments) that cannot be easily accomplished with a blog. In order to fix this, we are actually in the process of implementing every one of the features you described. Soon, students will be able to post content to their classes (if the teacher allows it), making classes more collaborative. Students will also be able to turn in homework and take quizzes on Eduset, and teachers will be able to grade that work.
As for pricing tiers, does anyone have thoughts on which of these two options would be better?
1) The current model, where all features are provided free for one class, while $5/month is charged to create an unlimited number of classes.
2) The model the commenter above describes, where certain features are made pay-only.
Re: Ask HN: Review my classroom web tool, Eduset
#51. Slideshow view or whatever you call it where you can press "next" or the right side of the image to go to the next screenshot. I hate clicking to "minimize the screenshot" then clicking again to zoom to the next screenshot
2. Maybe zoom in on that email message since it may give the impression you have to use a gmail account.
3. Page of features and screenshots
4. DEMO ACCOUNT WITHOUT SIGNING UP. No one likes signing up for anything unless they have to. Just have a static version or give them a demo account with full access and every hour or so, have the database be restored to normal
Re: Ask HN: Review my classroom web tool, Eduset
#6Definitely a good start. Lots of teachers don't want do deal with mastering a learning management system like Moodle or Blackboard. What I don't see is a compelling reason to pay $5/mo for something I could accomplish with a class blog or facebook page. Are there plans to allow interaction between students? Grade management? Online quizzes? These would be great value-adds to justify different pricing tiers.
The goal was certainly to target teachers who aren't willing or able to put in the time and effort to learn a full-fledged LMS. I agree that $5/month is a slightly hard sell right now, although there are certain parts of Eduset (such as assignments) that cannot be easily accomplished with a blog. In order to fix this, we are actually in the process of implementing every one of the features you described. Soon, studen…
Isn't $5 so low as to undermine the value you're offering? I paid $5 for a cheeseburger today at lunch.
I'd look to offer something in the $30 range as your first paid tier.
Re: Ask HN: Review my classroom web tool, Eduset
#71. Slideshow view or whatever you call it where you can press "next" or the right side of the image to go to the next screenshot. I hate clicking to "minimize the screenshot" then clicking again to zoom to the next screenshot 2. Maybe zoom in on that email message since it may give the impression you have to use a gmail account. 3. Page of features and screenshots 4. DEMO ACCOUNT WITHOUT SIGNING UP. No one likes sign…
Yes, the demo account is crucial; a lazy effort would be a screencast (flash-based?). I certainly want to give this a whirl, even though it would not directly help me, but rather, friends of mine who are professors or teaching assistants. But I'm not about to register, activate an account, and then populate it with bogus info and bogus students burning an hour of my time ... the entry barrier is too high :/
Re: Ask HN: Review my classroom web tool, Eduset
#8Definitely a good start. Lots of teachers don't want do deal with mastering a learning management system like Moodle or Blackboard. What I don't see is a compelling reason to pay $5/mo for something I could accomplish with a class blog or facebook page. Are there plans to allow interaction between students? Grade management? Online quizzes? These would be great value-adds to justify different pricing tiers.
The goal was certainly to target teachers who aren't willing or able to put in the time and effort to learn a full-fledged LMS. I agree that $5/month is a slightly hard sell right now, although there are certain parts of Eduset (such as assignments) that cannot be easily accomplished with a blog. In order to fix this, we are actually in the process of implementing every one of the features you described. Soon, studen…
Free for one class seems interesting but how would you distinguish between their classes? What happens if a teacher just put all their students on the one. I think you don't mind getting it to some people for free.
Re: Ask HN: Review my classroom web tool, Eduset
#9Why the monthly plan? I know subscription is the holy grail because people set it and forget it. But are you implying teachers should cancel it during the three summer months if they aren't teaching?
And do teachers really pay for two months and then go oh... sorry kids but I realize this isn't going to work and cancel it? I assume once your on one LMS your stuck for at least the duration of the semester. Maybe a 30 day free trial is better, even sixty. If Eduset is really amazing, which it could be, then it'll become such a critical tool that they can't just switch off midway of a semester.
I'd also want to see it in action. If it is a LMS, what better way to demo your LMS than to create a Eduset page on how to use Eduset. Have quizzes, videos, homework assignments... etc.
Re: Ask HN: Review my classroom web tool, Eduset
#101. Slideshow view or whatever you call it where you can press "next" or the right side of the image to go to the next screenshot. I hate clicking to "minimize the screenshot" then clicking again to zoom to the next screenshot 2. Maybe zoom in on that email message since it may give the impression you have to use a gmail account. 3. Page of features and screenshots 4. DEMO ACCOUNT WITHOUT SIGNING UP. No one likes sign…
I'll definitely put #1-3 on my ToDo list, thanks. As for #4, my current strategy is to provide one option and one option only to the user on the home page: signing up. I believe I got the idea for this strategy from 37signals. Does anyone have any insights as to whether this works in the real world?