Re: Cost

On Wed, Feb 10, 2016 at 9:19 AM, Phil Barker <phil.barker@hw.ac.uk> wrote:

> Hello Alan,
> yes, you're absolutely right that cost can be very difficult. At the same
> time we don't want an incredibly complex mechanism for saying that
> something is FREE (e.g. MOOCs, which I hope are going to be a big target
> application) or has a relatively simple cost structure (many other examples)
>
> Schema's way of setting variable prices is to model these as distinct
> instances of a http://schema.org/Offer with different values of
> http://schema.org/eligibleCustomerType
>
> I suppose that a price of "it depends" or "POA" is also an option.
>

Really an Enumerated attribute for type of course and o would be most
helpful for a faceted search.

http://schema.org/Offer

+ eligibleDuration
+ inventoryLevel
+ price
+ priceCurrency
+ priceSpecification
+ priceValidUntil
+ seller <Person, Organization> Supersedes +merchant, +vendor


>
> Phil
>
>
> On 10/02/2016 14:00, Alan Paull wrote:
>
>>
>> I’ve duplicated the current (10 Feb) use case for refining course search
>> by cost below for convenience.
>>
>> We have a <cost> element in XCRI-CAP, defined as “the cost for obtaining
>> access to the presentation”.  It’s part of the XCRI-CAP <presentation>
>> element, which is equivalent to what’s already being mentioned here as
>> “specific instance of a course being offered” (Learning Opportunity
>> Instance in the European MLO model).
>>
>> As part of our work on XCRI-CAP we investigated how to model ‘cost’ in
>> relation to UK HE.  Our conclusion was that it was a very fraught area.
>> Most issues were to do with costs varying in relation not only to the mode
>> of study and location of study, but also to the specific (detailed)
>> circumstances of the individual.  Particular difficulties were raised
>> because an individual might be offered a very different price (or free of
>> charge) dependent on where they were living (UK / specific country in the
>> UK / EU / EEA / RoW), or their own circumstances (dependents / no
>> dependents / employed / unemployed / etc), and whether they had access to
>> scholarships and bursaries.  Also VAT / No VAT (for EU).  The upshot was
>> that the <cost> element in XCRI-CAP is unstructured.  No-one supported the
>> idea of putting just a numerical or currency value in there, because
>> context was vital.  Current web page entries from UK Universities are very
>> varied in content and structure.
>>
>> For these reasons I suggest we modify requirement c) to:
>>
>> “must be able to identify text that describes the costs associated with
>> studying a specific instance of a course.”
>>
>> This (I hope) doesn’t suggest a requirement for definitive values in
>> relation to what a specific individual might have to pay. So it would be
>> possible to have an entry like: “2015-16 fee for UK students was £10,500.
>> Fee for 2016-17 academic year not yet determined.”
>>
>> I would miss out the requirement of cost by mode of study.  Where they’re
>> available, they could be included.  Where not available, I suggest we don’t
>> put off usage by narrowing the requirement.
>>
>> For more on XCRI-CAP: http://www.xcri.co.uk (redirects)
>>
>> use case 1.1 refining course search from UC1 by cost
>>
>> description: an extension to use case 1, where the searcher is concerned
>> about the cost of the course.
>>
>> note: where a course is offered in different modes of study, e.g. full
>> time or part-time, face-to-face or at distance, the cost may vary by mode
>>
>> requirement p) must be able to identify web pages that describe specific
>> instances of a course being offered
>>
>> requirement c) must be able to identify cost of course in each mode of
>> study offered.
>>
>> Alan Paull
>>
>> --
>>
>> Alan Paull
>>
>> APS Ltd
>>
>> 80 Fenton Road, Warboys, HUNTINGDON, PE28 2SL, UK
>>
>> alan@alanpaull.co.uk <mailto:alan@alanpaull.co.uk>
>>
>> 07977 120886
>>
>> Skype: alanepaull
>>
>> http://www.alanpaull.co.uk
>>
>>
> --
> Phil Barker           @philbarker
> LRMI, Cetis, ICBL     http://people.pjjk.net/phil
> Heriot-Watt University
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