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Ask HN: Review my classroom web tool, Eduset

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Re: Ask HN: Review my classroom web tool, Eduset

#71
post #21

This is almost an exact replica of my startup http://edmodo.com which is completely free for multiple groups (eduset charges for more than 1 group), and already has decent traction with 87,000 registered users.

SchoolRack has been around for years and is doing ~10K daily visitors. Both of these services do a lot of what we do... We're not bitching! :) Bring on the competition! The Education space needs some attention.

http://www.quantcast.com/schoolrack.com

Re: Ask HN: Review my classroom web tool, Eduset

#72
post #57
post #21

This is almost an exact replica of my startup http://edmodo.com which is completely free for multiple groups (eduset charges for more than 1 group), and already has decent traction with 87,000 registered users.

Did a quick search for Eduset. From the blogs I have read this dude Jeff just spams "Rip off of Edmodo", "Not impressed", etc. everytime somebody posts about this thing. I have no relationship to either, but pretty scummy practice IMO.

Behaviour like that isn't going to help either startup.

Re: Ask HN: Review my classroom web tool, Eduset

#73
post #9

Why 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…

That's a very helpful observation, thanks. The problem I actually ran into there is a liability one. My payments provider, Braintree, informed me that allowing yearly payments for a web-based service presents liability concerns, as if Eduset was to close, Braintree could be on the line for any refunds demanded by customers. Thus, they say they advise against new companies charging yearly. Does anyone have any experie…

How is working with BrainTree?

Re: Ask HN: Review my classroom web tool, Eduset

#74
post #5

1. 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?

Another option is 'lazy signup', as demonstrated with some YC startups like posterous. Get the user starting to use the site and only then ask for an email address, username, password etc.

My hunch is that in the real world if it's "signup or die" most people choose the latter.

Re: Ask HN: Review my classroom web tool, Eduset

#75
post #21

This is almost an exact replica of my startup http://edmodo.com which is completely free for multiple groups (eduset charges for more than 1 group), and already has decent traction with 87,000 registered users.

SchoolRack has been around for years and is doing ~10K daily visitors. Both of these services do a lot of what we do... We're not bitching! :) Bring on the competition! The Education space needs some attention. http://www.quantcast.com/schoolrack.com

Whalesalad, totally agree, Education startups are lacking. I'm very impressed with the new Schoolrack release. Hey we are getting close to you guys :) http://www.quantcast.com/edmodo.com

Re: Ask HN: Review my classroom web tool, Eduset

#76
post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'll talk to them further about the possibility of escrow - that sounds like a potentially reasonable solution. I asked previously about one-time payments, and they said that doing so does not negate the issue, which is interesting. Also, if a school wants to pay the good ol' fashioned way, I'm more than happy to oblige.

It's going to be really difficult to get schools to pay for anything in this environment. Definitely a worthy goal. I'd have a school administrator page or portal or something target at people who purchase 30 accounts at once. But you need an entry point. Cold calling schools is likely ineffective. Try seeing which schools use Blackboard and then see if you can convince someone to try it out Eduset. Administrators ar…

I hope you're not implying that this could replace Blackboard for some people–I'd say that's highly unlikely (at least in the near future).

Re: Ask HN: Review my classroom web tool, Eduset

#77
post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'll talk to them further about the possibility of escrow - that sounds like a potentially reasonable solution. I asked previously about one-time payments, and they said that doing so does not negate the issue, which is interesting. Also, if a school wants to pay the good ol' fashioned way, I'm more than happy to oblige.

It's going to be really difficult to get schools to pay for anything in this environment. Definitely a worthy goal. I'd have a school administrator page or portal or something target at people who purchase 30 accounts at once. But you need an entry point. Cold calling schools is likely ineffective. Try seeing which schools use Blackboard and then see if you can convince someone to try it out Eduset. Administrators ar…

Yes, for the foreseeable future I will very much keep the focus on getting teachers to sign up for accounts. A teacher using Eduset inside a school can be a far better advocate for an institutional purchase than I could ever be by cold calling.

As for Blackboard, Eduset certainly was not designed to directly compete with them. Blackboard is a vast and complex piece of software that teachers often require courses to learn how to use. Our aim with Eduset is to make it as easy as possible for even non-tech-savvy teachers to jump right in. This means that we will never have the range of features a solution like Blackboard provides.

Re: Ask HN: Review my classroom web tool, Eduset

#78
post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's a very helpful observation, thanks. The problem I actually ran into there is a liability one. My payments provider, Braintree, informed me that allowing yearly payments for a web-based service presents liability concerns, as if Eduset was to close, Braintree could be on the line for any refunds demanded by customers. Thus, they say they advise against new companies charging yearly. Does anyone have any experie…

How is working with BrainTree?

They were incredibly helpful in the application and integration process, and I've had no real problems with them so far, beyond this issue of yearly billing (which is understandable on their part). Highly recommended.

Re: Ask HN: Review my classroom web tool, Eduset

#79

"Eduset completely changed the way I interact with my students." - High School English Teacher Would be much more effective with a name (and even a picture). My first impression was that you made that quote up. Here's a good tutorial on using testimonials: http://www.marketingexperiments.com/improving-website-conver...

Working on it.
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