Logos dot com web site resources and Mobile Ed courses...

I was asked to bring this suggestion here, so here I am:
The initial information I suggested in another forum: "it would be AWESOME if the logos dot com page would allow you to automatically select resources (dynamically, that you are missing) when purchasing a course (and give a discount!)

I was overjoyed when Faithlife/Logos made their website dynamic. Before that (many of you probably didn't know that in the past - it didn't have dynamic pricing, etc...) this was the best thing since sliced bread. I was a little disappointed though, that the dynamics didn't include a few things:

when buying a book that also comes in a series, that it gives an option to show the series as well.
and based on that is the Mobile Ed courses with all their reading resources, both "Suggested Reading" and the "See also" sections. (As a student, I see the Suggested Reading more as a "required" section for the course, and the See Also more as "optional".

So having the other resources dynamically show on the web page when "shopping"; having the "required" reading show in a section, and having the "optional" also show, with a check box to add to the cart when buying a course.

Of course, part of this dynamic is also my desire to see other related Mobile Ed course that are part of a certificate program be listed and linked and checkbox'ed as well to also add to the cart.

Find more posts tagged with

Comments

PetahChristian

It certainly would be helpful to have resource bundles for Mobile Ed courses. I know it's been brought up in the past, and FL certainly has the ability to create bundles of suggested readings for a course, and even expand the number of course/resource offerings.

While Faithlife does offer some resources in their certificate programs, and is also bundling textbooks with their Introductory Hebrew and Greek Mobile Ed courses, bundling course resources for the whole catalog of courses would be an expedient, cost-effective way for more customers to benefit from what Mobile Ed presently offers.

Bundling would save time (from having to individually click through each locked resource listed in the plan details).
Bundling should save money. It would be beneficial to get a discount on a bundle of required course resources, instead of having to individually purchase those resources and not receiving any bundle savings at all.
Bundling could translate into more immediate purchases. At present, if a necessary resource isn't on sale, it may end up on our wish lists, where it could remain for a year or more until the resource eventually goes on sale. In the worst case, this hinders us from starting a course which may be missing many key resources.

Mobile Ed product pages generally said "For the best learning experience, we recommend you use Logos Platinum. ... The Platinum collection best matches the resources used in screencasts." Unfortunately, the reality is that many necessary resources don't exist in any (current) collection or library, often making our actual cost to complete the course readings 2-3x more expensive than the course itself.

I believe we're all looking for opportunities to save on resources (beyond sales themselves), such as buying a set/series instead of individual volumes, or a library instead of individual sets. Mobile Ed resource bundling will give customers another way to save money on courses which may already cost hundreds of dollars, even when on sale.

Of course, part of this dynamic is also my desire to see other related Mobile Ed course that are part of a certificate program be listed and linked and checkbox'ed as well to also add to the cart.

Yes. I'd like to see more certificates be offered as well (e.g. Book Study certificate for the Pentateuch). I imagine that the Certificate program is probably underutilized, and I'm hoping that separate purchases we've made of course offerings (such as book studies for example) can eventually become part of our certificate completions of study.

Thanks, Brent, for making this suggestion, and for FL in considering it!

Brent Hoefling

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/920698#Comment_920698

... Mobile Ed product pages generally said "For the best learning experience, we recommend you use Logos Platinum. ... The Platinum collection best matches the resources used in screencasts." Unfortunately, the reality is that many necessary resources don't exist in any (current) collection or library, often making our actual cost to complete the course readings 2-3x more expensive than the course itself.

yes this,

Pre
Sice
Lee!

as an owner of (well beyond) Collectors, I still find very few of my courses have all the resources available.

John Schwandt

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/920701#Comment_920701

The additional readings are one of the things that makes a Mobile Ed course special. I’ve seen video courses that are basically a video supplement to a text book. Mobile Ed courses take a different approach. The video lectures are produced independently (with the exceptions of some courses that rely heavily on one or two books like HB101 or GK101) and the readings from all sorts of books are added to help the student either expand their breadth of learning (seeing additional, alternative or summative content) or take the student deeper into what was taught (with additional elaborative content.) The Mobile Ed content including, guides, tools and activities resources is really a complete learning experience by itself. It isn’t broken or fundamentally incomplete without the readings. The suggested readings add an additional level to that learning. I highly recommend taking one’s learning to these broader and deeper levels by taking advantage of the unique experience of having the courses and library connected and integrated.

So I agree with the sentiment that the readings are very useful and we should make it easier for customers to see how well their current library matches up to the additional reading links for any course. We also need to provide better ways for customers to purchase the books that match the additional breadth and depth in reading they want when working through a course. Both of these things are on our road map for improving the product description pages. We are working on the determining the best metrics for helping customers in this area and the e-commerce solution for providing this information. I think most customers would like to see three categories for books (showing what is and isn't in their current library) and what it would cost to complete each category.

1) The minimum number of books that would provide access to half of the links in the suggested reading.

2) All of the books necessary to have access to all of the suggested readings links.

3) All of the books referenced in both the suggested and see also sections.

I’m curious if these three categories of books would be the sufficient help that you are looking for.

Brent Hoefling

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/920728#Comment_920728

the last 2 is what I was asking for. I am not sure what the first one would accomplish, unless that is the metrics/algorithm for moving a course in the courses tool from Started to Completed.

PetahChristian

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/920728#Comment_920728

So I agree with the sentiment that the readings are very useful and we should make it easier for customers to see how well their current library matches up to the additional reading links for any course.

The (partially unavailable and unavailable section) improvement to the Courses tool has made it easier to see which resources we don't own for any live course, owned or unowned.

Adding that functionality to the store would make it much easier in general (and might even generate a sale for a resource or two, even if the customer doesn't end up buying the course itself).

One present shortcoming is that we have no idea what resources a Community Pricing or Pre-Pub course will use until a month or so before the course goes live (and the resources list spreadsheet is generated).

A key reason why that is important is to avoid the frustration of missing out on sales for resources we didn't know would be needed. In that regard, even a preliminary resource listing on (Community Pricing or) Pre-Pub product pages could generate more resource sales (before or) while a course is in production!

1) The minimum number of books that would provide access to half of the links in the suggested reading.

I think this would be very helpful for any of us on a budget, to generally let us glean from the most readings, for our dollars.

2) All of the books necessary to have access to all of the suggested readings links.

I try to stick to this category when possible, but it really depends on what's on sale, and whether I can afford all the readings.

3) All of the books referenced in both the suggested and see also sections.

I think this category would have to provide a good enough discount to make it worth buying a bundle of books where some are only linked once, and at times only to a single paragraph or two.

I’m curious if these three categories of books would be the sufficient help that you are looking for.

I think the categories would be sufficient, but the real issue generally comes down to cost for many of us. One of the fundamental problems I see mentioned frequently on the forums is that Pre-Pub courses might still cost several hundred dollars. If your customers (who already own some courses and appreciate Mobile Ed) have to miss out on buying an expensive course, then there's no benefit to making it easier for them to buy that course's resources.

I think that's why we're interested in seeing course/resource bundles with dynamic pricing and bundle savings, to lead to more customers taking advantage of what Mobile Ed offers, and benefiting from larger libraries to gain that broader and deeper education.

FL already offers library expansions. Why not take the next step and offer dynamically priced Mobile Ed library expansions as well, to provide courses and books for similar topics. The S size could correspond to your first category of resources, M to your second category, and L to your third category.

Whatever FL decides, I'm grateful for the opportunity to get this manner of education via Logos. Thank you to everyone in the Mobile Ed department!