TeacherNotes

FROM: Mark Beaumont

What NEED does this meet?
Teachers are constantly writing material for their classes. From tests to mock exams, demonstrations, even handouts consisting of several pages, they are a valuable part of the learning process.

I taught A-Levels for 5 years and during that time it occurred to me that much of the work that I was doing must be being repeated by thousands of other teachers all across the country. This is ludicrous. I propose a system whereby teachers can catalogue and then swap their handouts with colleagues from other schools reducing the duplication of work that takes place right across the country.

What is the APPROACH?
Many teachers become authors and write books in their subject. However, where a teacher does not have sufficient material for a complete book, their is no easy way to publish. I am certain that a Website enabling teachers to publish small documents that they have written themselves would be massively popular.

The general premise will be similar to the peer-to-peer model employed by services such as Napster. There will be a download to upload ratio so that teachers have to offer material before they can pull documents from other teachers. And finally, there will be a subscription fee that centres will be asked to pay.

What are the BENEFITS to people?
I had this idea when I was writing a Computing mock A-Level exam. It occurred to me that around 1000 centres offer Computing A-Level and each of their teachers must be writing an exam similar to mine. This seems like a massive duplication of workload. Surely if the advent of the Web has taught us anything, it is that information can be shared very easily. The current system of hundreds of teachers all writing and preparing similar material should have become outdated years ago. I am seeking to put this right.

What is the COMPETITION?
None and believe me I have looked. The nearest competition is from teachers' guides that accompany course text books, but this is not really the same thing.

What BUDGET & LOGISTICS are required?
The project needs three things to be successful. 1) Management. Me. I have a PhD in Computing and am capable of designing and planning the system at a conceptual level. I am also a freelance writer and can use my jounalistic skills to generate publicity. 2) A Website that allows sellers to logically "meet" buyers. This will be quite complex as Websites go and although I am a developer, I do not have the required skills myself. I will need to buy outside help. Such sites are standard and can be bought off the shelf. Ball park figures for such a site £7k. 3) Publicity. the success of such a scheme will depend on a critical mass of users. I will need a budget as large as possible to promote, by direct marketing, my site to teachers. Est: Up to £5k