Edinburgh University Seeks Personal Response System

The University of Edinburgh has issued a tender that reveals it is seeking a supplier for its next generation personal response system.

According to the document, the education institution is currently using a radio frequency system and eInstruction Cricket hardware and Response software.

The programme in place is used by around 5000 student users, but the University is seeking a system that would allow students to use their own devices.

Edinburgh hopes that this will allow for expansion and flexibility in the personal response area, as well as offering new functionality.

“The solution should be a flexible system that can be picked up and used as needed by staff that also offers a cost-effective route to expansion of number of users over time,” claims the tender.

“It should be functionally equivalent to the university’s main computing platforms – Windows 7 and Mac OS X 10.7 and above,” it adds.

The notice states that prospective bidders will be expected to deliver benefits including new methods of teaching through an expanded question set, no handset reliance as students can use their own web-enabled devices, one system covering the whole university for a higher level of support and service, as well as the ability to monitor system usage centrally.

Fast Timeline For Development Wanted

Edinburgh says it expects to publish the official invitation to tender by the end of August, receiving replies from prospective suppliers by mid-October to late November.

The university intends to award the contract in late November or early December and sign them in 2015 and wants the live system available by August 2015.

An initial two-year contract is planned but may extend to four years if the performance of the chosen supplier is satisfactory.

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