If you went to a trade show a year ago conversation quickly turned to the way that demand had fallen off a cliff, even before eLearning Credits ran out. In schools Heads had a large pile of unopened software behind their desks, bought with eLCs and ready to be installed (if someone could be bothered). We saw the end coming, of course. The question was, what to do?

We knew that we needed a niche where we could be strong, and a chance meeting at an exhibition introduced us to Wolverhampton's PDA project. We bet the company that this was the right market for us and all development effort was instantly dedicated to redesigning every screen in our curriculum maths games to make them suitable for handheld devices. Soon after this we added a Sony PSP (Playstation Portable) version. The schools who were early movers in handheld gave us great support.

Now I know that there are many readers who are doubtful about the future of handheld computers. If there is one thing I can predict with confidence however, it is that we are heading rapidly to the era where every child will have their own device, and that for children younger than 13 that device has to be small enough to be carried in their pocket. Everybody who has seen a handheld project in action knows that you get an instant boost to confidence, to enthusiasm, and to performance. With a host of new hardware announcements expected soon, and prices tumbling, 2008 looks good.

So where is the money going to come from? If schools can't afford software, how can they buy both the software and hardware needed for handhelds?  The evidence at this point is that large chunks of it will come from parents, and the rest will be found by Heads excited by the potential of the technology to transform their schools. Expect demand for traditional IT infrastructure to slacken as wireless-based handheld devices become the preferred area for spending.

It is an interesting transformation, and one that government is only slowly catching on to.  You see, as soon as a parent realises that the handheld will belong for all practical purposes to their child, most are prepared to contribute. The eLearning Foundation has shown the way in early pilots, but as device prices fall to £150 or so, extra subsidy may not be needed at all. Indeed the Sony Playstation Portable is already starting to see considerable success because there are 2 million already in pupils' hands, and a new one costs just £110+VAT.

So, there is a whole new growing market for your software, with a new source of money, and teachers who genuinely want to buy. Of course, you’ll have to beat us to it because we are dedicating every waking moment to building up our range. Our maths software is already doing well, and we launched our synthetic phonics software last week at Special Needs London. It not only works on whiteboards, it also works on PDAs and PSPs so that parents can help their children learn to read at home while still sitting watching TV. The power of handhelds to transform how children learn is awesome.

The second interesting thing is that the UK is leading the world in this area, with even the USA watching developments here with interest. At Handheld Learning 2007 a couple of weeks ago, we had visitors from most European countries, and many enquiries about the costs of translating our software. If you run the numbers on the income potential of all pupils owning a handheld device and purchasing even low cost educational software then I'm sure you'll get the point - that genuine market demand is so much better than the government subsidy of eLCs, and so much more fun too.

www.sums.co.uk