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In October, Sherston Software announced that its online digital world Planet Sherston was now a freemium service, available to all UK primary schools. Freemium is a word of two halves: free and premium, and involves giving away a product with no time restraints, hidden costs or half measures. The company then offers completely optional add-on premium services to customers, but which are not necessary to use the free service. Examples of businesses using the freemium model include LinkedIn, Dropbox and Skype.
Planet Sherston (freemium) contains over 3000 Maths, Science and English activities, videos and games; all mapped to the curriculum and automatically marked and in turn reported on the Progress Table. The unique Adaptive Learning Engine that sets individual pupils tasks based on their personal performance in the online digital world and the layers of rewarding game based play are also free.
With its core product free and the focus on giving away as many subscriptions as possible, it made no sense to send a team to the BETT show this year. It will be the first time Sherston Software has missed a show since it opened thirty years ago, but it gives the team the time to concentrate on all the new customers instead. Sherston are keeping their heads down this year and instead will focus on what is key – to invest in the new customer base and also to invest in the product; further improving the new free service so that more and more schools hop on board.
The BETT show is a great opportunity for companies to sell their latest products. But it isn’t the place for possibly the biggest free offering in the history of education technology. Take a look at www.planetsherston.com or call Sherston on 01666 843200 for more information.