Christmas market at LIT
Students at Limerick Institute of Technology showed their entrepreneurial flair.
NewsSimplify Learning – a new online network for students
Simplify Learning – a new online network for students
28.04.2010
South African native Claire Burge is releasing the first version of what she describes as “Facebook specifically for learners to exchange study material” in the second week in May.
Called Simplify Learning, it allows students to create summaries, share them with others, access the summaries that others are making and earn credits in the process.
Their network is built for them, through the Simplify Learning system, based on their location and study programme, so there is no hassle of first finding friends and then accessing content.
From IT Sligo to the world
“We are carrying out a Beta test with the Institute of Technology, Sligo, but would hope to go live with other universities. Once up and running, we would aim to link with international universities such as Harvard or Stanford in the US,” says Burge.
Burge had started researching the idea in South Africa before moving a year ago to Ireland because her husband was transferred here.
“I got the idea while doing my master's in entrepreneurship, driven by the frustration of trying to co-ordinate a diverse group of people working on a group project. What differentiates Simplify Learning from other learner-management systems is that the others are driven within the institutions. The system doesn’t work unless the lecturers work it.”
Shortly after arriving in Ireland, Burge started on the CEIM business-support programme in the North West, which gave her access to CORD funding from Enterprise Ireland, and from April to September she put the plan of the online system together.
“A big factor that counted in my favour was my belief in the product, having done market research in a different environment. As part of a previous business programme I spent time doing market research in the US. I would recommend any person trying to set a business to try to get US research behind you as part of your business plan.”
The business model – similar to Flickr and LinkedIn
There are three revenue streams for Simplify Learning, according to Burge.
“It can carry advertising but that is not the primary one. I aim to sell universities a skimmed version of the site with added functionality that regular users wouldn’t have – to follow the same business model as Flickr or LinkedIn, whereby the basic functionality is free but you pay a premium for added functionality and collaboration. In the future when there is a large user base, I see revenue potential for the wealth of information the research on the site will generate.”
Photo: Claire Burge
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