PebblePAD

FAQs

Technical FAQs

I want to upload some video to PebblePad, are there any file size limitations I should know about?

About PebblePad

Who are Pebble Learning?
What’s the link with the University of Wolverhampton?
Will PebblePad be available as Open Source software?
Won’t I be better off using an Open Source option rather than PebblePad?
What about Open Standards?
How much does PebblePad cost?

Technical FAQ's

I want to upload some video to PebblePad, are there any file size limitations I should know about?

There is no actual limit on the size of files you can upload to the server, although the size of the file you can upload depends on your connection speed. The server opens a connection for a fixed period of time and so the size of the file you can upload depends on amount of data you are able to transfer in that time.

For example, a dial up connection would only manage to upload a small file whilst a university connection at 100mb for instance would upload a file much larger. One thing to remember when putting large files into/onto your eportfolio is the kind of connection that the person viewing any shared files/assets might have. If they have a slow connection speed then viewing large files will inevitably take longer than smaller ones.

About PebblePad

Who are Pebble Learning?

Pebble Learning are an independent limited company ‘spun-out’ in 2002 by two eLearning specialists. Pebble's principle area of activity has been the mentoring of staff to develop their confidence, competence and understanding of eLearning. After some frustration with the quality of existing eLearning software Pebble decided in 2003 to expand its operation by employing additional designers, programmers and specialist e-mentors and began to develop software to support learning.

What’s the link with the University of Wolverhampton?

Pebble Learning has worked closely with the university since being formed. Pebble’s directors still work and teach at the university and all of Pebble’s team are graduates of the university. The University of Wolverhampton initially approached Pebble Learning to discuss electronic provision for personal development planning. Pebble demonstrated some software already developed as well as some conceptual designs which were very well received by staff at the University. These designs and ideas were developed further by Pebble with some input from staff at the University to create the initial version of PebblePad.

Will PebblePad be available as Open Source software?

PebblePad has received no public funding for its development. Its functionality and appeal is the product of considerable investment and the (long, hard) work of a dedicated team. So, PebblePad will be available as a commercial offering from Pebble and the UoW but it will be sensibly priced. The benefits of a commercial product are numerous but the most obvious ones are a clear product development plan with a dedicated team and reliable product support.

Won’t I be better off using an Open Source option rather than PebblePad?

We don’t think so, but we would say that wouldn’t we! In an ideal world Open Source is a great idea, in reality there is no such thing as a free lunch! Open source software is not really free. You will have to support the software yourself and develop local custom facilities in house.

This typically means you’ll have to employ a highly skilled member of staff to look after your system. This alone will cost you more than PebblePad and you’ll still have no local support for the 5 weeks a year when your staff member is on annual leave! The other problem with open source solutions is that they often get stuck. For example funding comes to an end and no one is available to make a concerted effort to take the product forward, lead developers get moved to other positions or other projects, technical support, if any is available, is usually at best via email on a best endeavour basis.

So all in all we think you will get a better service by paying for your software.

What about Open Standards?

Whilst we argue against Open Source we absolutely support Open Standards. PebblePad is based on XML and uses a range of web-services to communicate with it’s database. All of the assets are mapped against the emerging ePortfolio Standards and web outputs are CSS compliant.

We expect to develop and/or support links with a range of Management Information Systems and to support importing/exporting of assets created in other eportfolio-like systems. PebblePad supports Shibboleth authentication and RSS.

How much does PebblePad cost?

We are trying to be realistic with our pricing and so are setting prices dependent on the size of the institution. Feedback from some of our customers indicates that the annual cost of PebblePad is 60-70% cheaper than even simple paper-based systems.

We now offer hosting for smaller institutions and for pilot projects and offer incremental licensing to allow you time to develop your eportfolio population.

To find out more about pricing for your institution please contact us.