ACCA Exam Study - distance learning

[optrix100]

Hello all

I hope the moderators/administrators don't mind me asking like this. I'm not advertising our company or product in any way and have made NO reference to any company name, but it is a genuine test market to ask existing ACCA students if this is something they would consider in the future, that could help them with their studies, and to gauge an idea of pricing structure.


I've just started working for an ACCA educational company, providing lectures to students studying for their ACCA qualifications, and we're putting out a bit of a test market to see what the response rate is like to a new product we may be launching soon.

We are looking to launch our Online Webinar programmes. Basically... distance learning with a Lecturer over the internet, for your ACCA papers.

We are looking at two formats.

1) First format is a LIVE presentation, with students logging in at a specific time. The software would be entirely web based, without requirement to download any additional software, and would be suitable for both PC and Mac. The presentation screen would consist of 3 squares. 1 small one with a live video feed of the lecturer, the 2nd small one with a live chat screen to put forward any questions during the lecture, and the 3rd bigger square consisting of the presentation itself. The Lecture/Class/Presentation would be predominantly one way, with the Lecturer presenting and their voice coming through your computer speakers, and the opportunity for you to put forward your questions in the chat box, when instructed by the Lecturer.
After the Lecture, registered students would then be able to access the recorded version of these seminars, and view them as normal video files in their own leisure, with all the usual Pause, Fast Forward, Rewind facilities.

2) The second format is purely access to the recorded versions. Registered students can access the pre-recorded sessions and view them in their own leisure. With this 2nd method we still want students to be able to ask questions to the Lecturer, and would allow them to email in their questions, to be answered by the Lecturer within 48 hours or so.
The main difference between this format and the live format (version 1 above) is that there is no live interaction with the Lecturer via the Live feed. Questions would have to be put forward separately by email, to be answered later.

In both cases, the presentations would be similar to those shown as a PowerPoint presentation. They would be quite fast paced and cover a lot of ground. Also Lecture notes can be emailed to you beforehand for you to print down to write on as you go through the Lecture.

To begin with, we were looking to launch our Intensive Revision Course. Our Full Study Course would come later after a successful Revision launch.
The Intensive Revision Course, would cover approximately 18 hours Lecture presentation, split over a number of sessions/lectures.

Price wise, we would be looking at approximately £50 for the live version (version 1) or £30 for the recorded versions (version 2). That works out to be about £1.66 - £2.77 per hour of Tuition!

Access is via the web and is available on a Global level.

The test questions we would like to ask current ACCA students are:
a) Are these prices reasonable? Are they too costly? How much would you genuinely pay for either of these services?
b) Is there any reason why you would NOT want to learn this way?
c) What areas of these 2 services could be improved? What extras would you as the student want to see from this type of Distance Learning Service?
d) Have you tried any type of similar distance learning yourself in the past, and what was your experience of it and why?
e) In their current format and price, which would you choose - version 1 or version 2?
f) If the Full Study Programme consisted of approximately 40 hours Lecture time, would you still be interested in that? Or is it too long and you would prefer only the Intensive Revision Courses at 18 hours?
g) If we were to seriously launch this... would anyone be genuinely interested to buy and use this type of distance learning programme? If so, which format, Version 1 or Version 2?

I don't want to blatantly advertise, so I wont give out the name of the company here. This is a genuine Test Market questionnaire, and it is designed to offer you as the students a better learning experience to help you pass your ACCA exams. We've been in the business of Lecturing for the ACCA and CIMA exams for over 30 years now, and we take serious consideration into the students needs, especially their costs. We always try to reduce costs as low as possible without ever compromising on quality.

Please can you PM me with your answers, or just reply me with any notes for consideration you might have. Again I don't want to give the company email address, because I do not want to feel like I'm advertising. I would like to thank the moderators/administrators of this forum for allowing me to ask these Test Market questions, and I hope that we can improve our Tuition service to ACCA students in the future.

Thank you very much for your time

[Indizine]

Have you thought of using a survey instead of this? You can then send or post the link to loads of people to survey. Much quicker and better than waiting for replies this way.

[optrix100]

Hi Indezine

A survey sounds like a great idea. I may sound a little silly, but I don't know how to set up a survey... and once I have one, how do i contact everyone?

Is there a way I can contact users from this forum and email this survey to them?

Thanks - really appreciate your help with this.

[Indizine]

you can only post a link to the survey once you have made 15 posts (to be able to post a link) and then its up to people here to respond. You cant message them direct.

[optrix100]

Ah - ok.
Thanks for that. I will get on it then!
Cheers

[Indizine]

If you google 'online surveys' you should find a few to choose from.