Reading, Writing and Arithmetic – or the so called “Three R’s” – are the cornerstone of education. Our most recent project which is dedicated to at least two of those three R’s (reading and writing) has been completed. It’s with great pleasure that I announce the launch of a new education consultancy website that focuses on the importance of literacy in New Zealand and to some extent, globally.
Literacy teaching methodology and best practice amongst teaching staff is the key subject matter for Dr Murray Gadd, who is an independent literacy facilitator, teacher and researcher working across New Zealand and around the world. Dr Gadd works with school leaders and teachers on a wide range of literacy-focused topics. He was frequently being asked about a website and he knew it was time to get a website design that would enhance and compliment his services.
Murray approached Purple Dog to enquire about setting up an eCommerce website that would enable the distribution of free teaching resources and the sale of related ebooks for schools and teaching professionals. He also wanted to be able to showcase several case studies and, as a side interest, be able to discuss recent films, books and theatre that he had seen in a blog.
Education Consultancy Website
It quickly became clear that the new website design would need to feature a lot of video of Dr Gadd teaching. We set about gathering, editing and then uploading many videos and audio media to the various website pages and for both the free and paid for resources. The resources (both paid and free) were to be transacted through an online-shop, where users register and select the products they wish to download.
At the same time, we set up an online payment system to receive credit card transactions and enable the items to be distributed via PDF downloads.
The completed website features:
- prominent video in various locations including on the splash (home) page
- ecommerce online shop
- integrated newsletter sign up
- integration with social media
- a news section or blog with several categories
- search engine optimisation
Document Design and Delivery
Along with the website, Sol of Purple Dog also assisted Murray with the technical aspects concerning the formatting, set up and delivery of the eBooks and the free downloadable resources. In total at the time of launch, there were 5 free resources and one paid for book primarily aimed at teachers and teaching institutions.
One of the fundamental issues for digital media and ownership is DRM or Digital Rights Management. This is an area of much debate and centres around the dilemma of providing easy access to the material for a purchaser, and on the other hand, trying to protect the rights of authors. If a user downloads a resource, what is to stop them simply forwarding it to others. This is a tricky problem because no method is foolproof or 100% water-tight (even physical books can be copied!).
In this case, Purple Dog was able to advise and guide a suitable technology to help protect the publications from unauthorised use and copying. So far the feedback has been excellent and users appear to be happily making use of their resources, without being impeded by the use of special software or other DRM techniques.
Personalised Service
Purple Dog is proud of the highly personalised service that we bring to our customers. We take enormous pride in our work and strive for 100% client satisfaction. Whether our customer is based on Waiheke Island, Auckland, or anywhere else in New Zealand and beyond – we will treat the project with the dedicated and professional attention that it deserves.
Here’s an edited version of what Murray had to say (read entire testimonial)
I always found Sol to be knowledgeable, amicable and very helpful. Since the website was launched, I have had excellent feedback from colleagues all around the world who have found it ‘exciting’, ‘accessible’ and ‘very comprehensive’.
I am very proud of this website and I thank Sol for that. Sol has also helped me develop resources to go on to the website, some for sale and some free. I have drafted resources but he has been very adept at editing them, formatting them (especially for consistency) and making them technologically accessible.
Thank you Sol. I couldn’t have developed my website and all it contains without you and I am grateful for that.
You can check out Dr Murray Gadd’s new education consultancy website here: https://murraygadd.co.nz/
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