If there’s one educational company I admire the most in Ireland, it’s Rainbow Education who are based in Co. Wexford. Started by Martin Pender and his wife a few years ago selling general educational resources, their business, I believe is one of the most innovative in the country.
Rainbow is now the main seller of the Jolly Phonics scheme and they have helped develop online courses for Irish teachers to learn how to use the scheme. Not only that, Martin has created his own packages specifically tailored to the Irish market, something other resellers have not done.
Another thing I admire about Rainbow is that they have created their own software. Again, this software is written for Irish schools and is tailored to the Irish curiculum. There are very few companies developing these types of products and Martin manages to keep the prices low and accessible. From my own experience of writing educational software for Irish schools, one doesn’t realise the tiny market of around 3,500. Generally only 5-10% of schools buy software unless it’s incredibly good and even if half of all schools buy the software, you’ll barely get a holiday out of the profits!
However, one of Rainbow’s biggest success stories is their very own Interactive Whiteboard. Essentially, it’s an eBeam stuck to a whiteboard and packaged up nicely, but it’s effective, easy-to-use and cheap. There are many brands that sell eBeam based IWBs but few that can compare to the level of personal service and price you get with Rainbow. This month Rainbow Education reduced their prices on IWBs which includes installation, speakers and short throw projector. Essentially, this is the first sub-€2,000 short-throw IWB solution in Ireland. Martin likes to tempt us to buy more to save more so below is a sample of his pricing:
- 1 X Interactive Whiteboard Unit: €1,995.00 inc. vat
- 4 X Interactive Whiteboard Units: €7,800.00 inc. vat
- 7 X Interactive Whiteboard Units: €13,300.00 inc. vat
Martin does most of the training himself and he also delivers an online software package along with many creative ideas for applying the IWB solution in the classroom. The boards themselves easily compare with the quality of Promethean’s offerings.
I really didn’t think the world of IWBs would fall below the €2K mark so quickly so naturally I’m delighted to be proved wrong. Expect other companies to follow suit but I’d recommend supporting this pioneer of innovation.
