I’m obviously gutted that Citizen UK (and the whole of Jam for that matter) isn’t live and being enjoyed by users. With almost 2 years of hard work it seems such a waste, particularly as we haven’t come across anything similiar in this subject for children of this age.

Children had a lot of input in the design of the game and all of the issues addressed within the game were raised by children themselves.

Glad that you found the game engaging.

With the exception of one deeply engaging (but somewhat age-inappropriate) Citizenship game it all looked a bit tired and unoriginal to my untrained eyes.

It struck me as the sort of thing that’s been commonly available on CD for at least a decade and failed to make any interesting use of the online medium except as a means of distribution.

It’s simply a cynical, political move by large companies which achieves precisely the OPPOSITE of what they claim. It sinks small companies, beats the BBC into submission, and opens up the market for exploitation by large, dominant producers who want to squeeze schools for every penny they can. Nobody who actually works in education respects these companies as a result of this action - the kids are heartbroken, the teachers and educationalists are apalled.

There’s room in this market for everyone, but sadly politicking, control freakery and disgraceful behaviour have won the day. The companies that brought this about should hang their heads in shame.

Many companies were already doing innovative things, it’s arguable that the UK government agency for technology (BECTA) and their push for conformance with elearning standards was a barrier to innovation.

What the BBC did is undercut the existing commercial market, so they spent 150m with private companies. That’s on a work for hire basis for those companies rather than a build it once selling it many times basis, as regardless as to how many copies of the content were used the end suppliers only got paid once.

If it was anything like some of the other publicly funded elearning projects I’ve been involved with I suspect the suppliers wouldn’t have made much money anyway as the profit gets eaten up in the overhead of managing a demanding client.

Personally, I fail to see why besa are now complaining. They weren’t complaining about UK Govt subsidies when it was in e-learning credits. Where income was guaranteed for a few years, with hundred of millions of pounds available. How’s that for a guarnateed income? And why weren’t these companies using that ‘comfort time’ to make sure they could compete, if that is what they do, in a post-jam space?

That is the problem in market-orientated societies such as the UK and (I guess) the USA. The priorities are about profit margins, cash flow and the bottom line. What about the actual market - ie the people who are to use the product? Anti-competitive laws do not protect the consumer, they protect the businesses. As said by many above, the only real losers here, are UK children

The BBC jam service was aimed at learners not teachers and it still had lots of exciting content to publish. Some teachers managed to see this at the BETT show earlier in the year and most thought that these resources would be of great benefot to learners.

In addition, the materials were multilingual designed for all of the nations in the UK, there was support for learners with special educational requirements and specific content planned for profoundly deaf and for the blind. The commercial sector won’t produce this content - there is no money to be made in it due to the small market.

The commercial sector through their representive BESA should be hanging its head in shame and not gloating.

If you feel stongly enough about the demise of this service then you should write (or email) the BBC Trust.

BBC Trust Unit, Room 211, 35 Marylebone High Street, London W1U 4AA
Telephone 0870 010 3100
trust.enquiries@bbc.co.uk

This complaint has come from BESA - http://www.besanet.org.uk. The contact details for Dominic Savage (Director General) are besa@besa.org.uk - I have emailed them to complain about their complaint to Europe, and to point out that, as 50% of BBC Jam was commissioned from private companies, he is shooting himself in the foot.

The website has a list of members in the IT sector.

One of those companies, Spark Learning, was an opponent to Jam before it launched. Since then, we’ve been pragmatic: if it’s here and that’s what’s happening, then let’s work with it and move on. We are now, through our joint venture with the television company Tinopolis, one of Jam’s biggest independent suppliers, and creating stuff that I am enormously proud of and believe in. Also, the material that we are creating just wouldn’t have a business model, and doesn’t threaten educational publishers. I know. I am one.

The media is telling a story of the private sector forcing the BBC into this measure. This misses half of the reality. The BBC is legally obliged to commission half of BBC Jam’s content from private production companies. Often small organisations, these companies are working at the cutting edge of the new media, creating original and highly worthwhile material for Britain’s children - which will be made available to them for free. In the media, “the private sector” has become shorthand for “one particular set of commercial interests”, missing the vital point that one industry is being built while another stutters. We have just finished a ground-breaking resource for totally blind 6-11 year-olds, hosted by Benjamin Zephaniah, to help them learn to read and write using braille. There is nothing like it in the world. It is now possible that this very expensive project may never see the light of day. Until Thursday, we were working on four other similar pieces of work. What’s the point of them being wasted?

http://www.zuneconverter.net

let us know when you have completed the beta

So why not let the “customers” decide, rather than running to the EC like a bleating lamb, eh Josh?

If you entrepreneurs who complained are so innovative, I’m sure that you can find another niche to make money.

Wales is a bilingual nation, and Welsh on the curriculum within schools is compulsory. Thus the market is there. However, now we have a distinct lack of materials for children to learn.

What disturbs me about this, the BBC operating in Wales, as a public body, is legally bound to produce materials in English *and* Welsh. Since there’s plenty of sites promoting the English language (and indeed other minority languages), its interesting that business models are seen to be more important than the Welsh Language Act 1993.

At the end of the day it is UK school children whom will suffer as a result of commercial interests shutting down BBC Jam.

How many commercial interests are rushing to provide rich content for Welsh, Gaelic and Irish learners, kids with severe educational needs and kids whose 1st language isn’t english while at the same time providing learning through games and community resources for all abilities.

I wonder how many commercial inteests will go back to the European courts and say that they really can provide an alternative.

As another commentator said ‘its like BUPA complaining to Europe about the UK’s free NHS service.’

This is a sad day for UK school children and a great day for commercial interests no doubt.

Frank

Josh- There is no silver bullet. Private industry isn’t the answer to everything. Private industries are beholden to the stock holders, and as a stock holder I want increased revenue, nothing else. If the priority is revenue, then the public good takes a backseat.

The BBC has also done an amazing amount of good for education by offering very high quality content and learning programmes for no cost (license fees excepted). You have to remember that British government schools have very limited funds and there is a big digital divide in the UK so anything that can be done to increase access to excellent learning resources should be welcomed.

I agree with earlier comments that safe guards should have been setup by the UK Government to ensure that the services and content are distinct to avoid hurting other suppliers, but it is up to them to provide affordable content that is compelling for schools and parents to buy and use as an alternative to the BBC.

There have been comments that the BBC is confused about its operational boundaries and strategic direction. I see no such confusion. The BBC is making a transition from a public sector state subsidised broadcaster into a commercial and global independent media empire distributing high quality content through every available channel and format.

I am looking forward to the day that I can subscribe to the IPlayer service and stream recently broadcast tv shows such as Little Britain or Newsnight. I am not asking the British license fee payer to foot the bill for my viewing. I will happily do that myself.

debates like these are the reason my company created the site in my sig.

But within a broadly free market, the BBC as a publicly funded institution can provide an alternative outlet for quality work and can take certain risks others can’t because of the way its funded and the way its set up. I think its history of quality output speaks for itself.

Hence the BBC is a help to the free market in some ways as I have stated in my previous post.

In this specific case, the facts are that a useful and free educational resource has been pulled because of the narrow mindedness of a few. Not to mention the work for the PRIVATE companies developing the content!

If the BBC is using technology innovatively and using the private sector, including numerous UK New Media companies, content producers and writers, as well as other companies, including Microsoft UK, then why is this stifling to business.

Many of the experiences and skills brought about by the use of the innovations of the BBC will find their way into innovation by start ups. I speak from direct experience when I say this.

As for the politics surrounding the BBC. It is a well regulated and respected produce of quality programmes and content. Who cares what its ‘political’ slant is on current affairs. If you want pseudo liberal garbage, watch the BBC, if you want right wing garbage watch Fox. Whichever way, its mostly formula.

There is more to the story of course than the ’stifling of business’… but that’s for another thread.

My favorite part: “Arrington reintroduces the British audience to a fellow named Adam Smith; you can actually see the very moment when he drops his GigaBalls on the lecturn.”