Bottoms Up!
In talking to many teachers we are often asked what makes us so much different from our competitors (aside from the great technology and no cost of our products). And the first thing I always mention is our "bottom up" approach. That's usually followed by a blank expression.
So what is the "bottom up" approach? Well to explain it, its best to understand what the "top down" approach is first. In simple terms, its a method employed by all our competitors. A teacher wanting to use their product can only do so once their school (or institution) has adopted it (bought it). So in essence, they receive their marching orders (using the technology) from the top, and are thus at the mercy of their schools administrators, budget surpluses/shortages, etc. So given that, many of our competitors design their products to (1) appeal to the administration, (2) the budget (sometimes), and finally (3) the teacher.
The "bottom up" approach, which we have started to coin, aims to reach the teacher separately from the administration. That is the teacher has direct access and control over the technology they NEED, and don't have to worry about budget shortages, administration changes, etc. Furthermore, it leaves us flexible enough to fill the needs of the administration separate from the teachers.
Let me give you an example. We are working on a product for entire schools right now, it will be subscription based only (very cheap, but not free, sorry folks). Say your school decides to purchase our solution. All your teachers set up VirtualOffice accounts and invest all their time and energy learning the tools and using them. Suddenly a massive budget crisis hits, and the first thing to go is the school wide learning management system purchased from E-Office Hours. With any other tool you would loose the time and effort (not to mention the money) spent in setting up your websites and really using the tool. But with E-Office Hours, you as the teacher would still maintain ultimate control over your classroom website through VirtualOffice. If the next year your school finds that it can afford our learning management system again, it wouldn't affect you, since your free VirtualOffice would have been unaffected. The point is that you as the teacher are always in control, in every sense of the word.
Hope this helps explain a bit more about why we are so unique and why you won't find anything else out there that even comes close to what we're doing.
Cheers, Dan
In talking to many teachers we are often asked what makes us so much different from our competitors (aside from the great technology and no cost of our products). And the first thing I always mention is our "bottom up" approach. That's usually followed by a blank expression.
So what is the "bottom up" approach? Well to explain it, its best to understand what the "top down" approach is first. In simple terms, its a method employed by all our competitors. A teacher wanting to use their product can only do so once their school (or institution) has adopted it (bought it). So in essence, they receive their marching orders (using the technology) from the top, and are thus at the mercy of their schools administrators, budget surpluses/shortages, etc. So given that, many of our competitors design their products to (1) appeal to the administration, (2) the budget (sometimes), and finally (3) the teacher.
The "bottom up" approach, which we have started to coin, aims to reach the teacher separately from the administration. That is the teacher has direct access and control over the technology they NEED, and don't have to worry about budget shortages, administration changes, etc. Furthermore, it leaves us flexible enough to fill the needs of the administration separate from the teachers.
Let me give you an example. We are working on a product for entire schools right now, it will be subscription based only (very cheap, but not free, sorry folks). Say your school decides to purchase our solution. All your teachers set up VirtualOffice accounts and invest all their time and energy learning the tools and using them. Suddenly a massive budget crisis hits, and the first thing to go is the school wide learning management system purchased from E-Office Hours. With any other tool you would loose the time and effort (not to mention the money) spent in setting up your websites and really using the tool. But with E-Office Hours, you as the teacher would still maintain ultimate control over your classroom website through VirtualOffice. If the next year your school finds that it can afford our learning management system again, it wouldn't affect you, since your free VirtualOffice would have been unaffected. The point is that you as the teacher are always in control, in every sense of the word.
Hope this helps explain a bit more about why we are so unique and why you won't find anything else out there that even comes close to what we're doing.
Cheers, Dan
posted by Dan at
12:08 AM
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