Tamara Wong
My venture is a resource for adult ESL teachers or tutors. It makes use of learning analytics and intuitive design. You can find my elevator pitch here: http://thetutorhelper.wordpress.com/2011/11/26/elevator-pitch/ And my venture pitch here: http://thetutorhelper.wordpress.com/
Continue reading A3 Venture Pitch Posted in: Week 13: Venture Forum Day 3 • On the 522 Blog: Design your own m-learning venture by answering the following questions: • describe a problem in teaching/learning/performance • how do the affordances of mobiles help solve that problem? • what learning theory / approach will you use? • how will your m-learning solution use mobile affordances? • what is […]
Continue reading Day 3 and 4 Posted in: Week 11: Mobiles
What if your students’ mobiles provided them with ways to practise and test their speaking with the people around them out in the real world? My studies of ESL and anxiety show that perfectionism really holds people back from even trying to speak… a mobile might be able to provide them with enough of a crutch to keep them pushing through simple conversations with the people in their neighbourhoods!
Blackboard LMS on iPhone https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N4q_UlHqLHE&feature=related – This app allows students and teachers to take their learning on the go – The affordances are accessibility, ubiquity and better design – It allows for learning on the go and it looks a little nicer and easier to use than it’s computer […]
Continue reading Day 2 Posted in: Week 11: Mobiles
Interesting comments!
I have to admit that I prefer generally available resources rather than the confines of LMS. At Concordia we have FirstClass and Moodle. I prefer the web and my own Gmail. Agilix even did a project with Brigham Young university where they created a stripped down system to accept and grade content made and posted anywhere on the web (rather than trying to confine things to an LMS).
By using widely available resources, we get to use all our favourite mainstream tools rather than get caught in an LMS. Consider ETEC522 where we’re doing everything in a blog, creating blog resources, relying on YouTube and live web links etc.
Would I want a FirstClass client on my mobile? I’d rather not have FirstClass at all!
David,
I can see your point- an LMS can be confining. For work, we use an LMS and I feel like it’s long and boring for the students and doesn’t provide a lot of options for me. I am constantly using outside sources, but I still feel that a properly created LMS with constructivist activities is still better than the other options. Granted I’m looking at it from the point of view of my students, where secondary learning – like technology is not important to them, they want to learn to use English and don’t have the time or often the abilities to visit different sites. I’ve tried a few and the only ones that seem to work are ones that don’t have logins or sign up info. For course content I’d say use mainstream tools because they tend to be more authentic, but for activities and a place for students to find these places I like the affordances of an LMS.
Tamara
What, when, where and how are you doing m-learning now? For the most part I use mobile learning in the classroom when I allow my students to use their cell phones as a dictionary or to look up some information. At first I struggled with this as I felt that it was ‘cheating’ but the […]
Continue reading Day 1 Posted in: Week 11: Mobiles
The whole “cheating” issue fascinates me.
It seems to me the way to deal with cheating is to remove activities that are biased to knowable right answers. If students engage in highly-contextual and personal activities high in Bloom’s Taxonomy, you can reduce the ability and likelihood of cheating. The results have to apply to them personally and rely on creativity and assessment and evaluation related to their own backgrounds and experiences.
For instance, in the course a TA for, the assignment that is usually best done by students (low cheating, plagiarism, high creativity) is one where they have to create a procedure to explain how they did a job they had in the past. They include pictures, they conduct tests of the procedure with co-workers, and they report on improvements.
To me, cheating is not a technology issue, it’s a pedagogy issue. I’d be thrilled if my students used any technology available to perfect their grammar and spelling before submitting an assignment. As for resources, as long as they cite, I’m happy.
Tamara,
Very interesting. Is it a case where your students independently use their mobiles for learning purposes? I have to remind my students that they can use theirs for other purposes a part from social networking.
Everton
I apologize as here I am on the last day of the week with my one post again! Work and life just seems to be getting in the way. Activity #1. I enjoyed many of the PBAs in MET and feel that I’ve learned a great deal more than I would have had I written […]
Continue reading PBAs Activity 1 & Final Post Posted in: Week 10: Product-Based Assessments
Hi,
I also like concept map.
Unfortunately, there are times I feel that it is “subjective” (.. I am sure there is a more appropriate word (than “subjective”) to describe… )
What if the student sees relationship between node A and B , and we (teacher) didn’t (and vice-versa)?
I do not use any specific PBA tools in my class. I have tried blog in the past. Unfortunately, I discovered that some students would just ask their friends to do it. The discovery was by accident. We have a Lab room open to any students. We have a Lab technician who handles the hardware. On that day, he was very busy. So, I decided to give him some assistance in the Lab room. When I enter the Lab room to fix the printer connection, it was then I discovered that some of my students are asking someone else to do their blog.
As an EVA I would be tempted to first apply the Bates and Poole sections model to look at whether or not the iPad would be a smart investment for the classroom. S- Students: As others have pointed out younger students would be the best candidates for iPad in the classroom as they are […]
Continue reading Discussion # 3 Bates and Poole tells it all Posted in: Week 09: iPad Apps
Genius! I totally forgot about Bates and Poole! Thanks! I will be incorporating their framework into my venture pitch assignment!
I, too, use Bates & Poole’s SECTIONS model. Ever since I came across that piece in a previous course, I keep it in mind all of the time. Very useful.
I don’t currently use an iPad in my class and I don’t own one – I have a blackberry playbook. I got the playbook because of it’s size, it is easier to thumb type than one finger type like on the iPad, it’s multitasking abilities, and it’s ability to run flash. The biggest advantage my […]
Continue reading Discussion #2 – Too frustrating for an ESL adult Posted in: Week 09: iPad Apps
Hi Tamara,
Thank you for your post. I like the fact that you brought this other perspective to the discussion. It is true that we need to think about what the incorporation of technology does for our students. For instance, does it make learning better or does it make it more frustrating? I remember the same thing came up about Second Life and its use in education. The immersive learning environment can be great for adults to learn in complex situations, but many of the students found that trying to interact with the Second Life platform was very frustrating.
Juliana.
Great point Tamara – user frustration and the learning curve that comes with it. The ipad is built to be very intuitive, however, not every user finds it that way.
I found that it is a great way to teach my girlfriends kids action terms – like ‘shake’ or ‘flip’ etc. We used a story book app that showed Humpty Dumpty and you had to shake him off the wall – very fun but becomes overkill very quickly when you have to do it numerous times in a row.
I think the ipad is good as a ‘tool’ – just like anything else – and not to be the object of learning.
Juliana,
I see your point about Second Life – sometimes it just takes too long to learn the tool. When I tried out Second Life I got frustrated because I couldn’t figure out how to use it and decided that it might not be appropriate for my students who struggle with the most basic things on the computer when it’s in English (or sometimes even in their language).
Deb, I love how intuitive tablet can be – and it seems especially for children, and Mac’s in particular are great at making things easy to use. Older people seem to get them much easier than PCs at least my mom’s questions about her computer now that she has a Mac has decreased significantly. She seems to understand it way better. However, I feel for my some of my students (others are way ahead of me in the technology department) learning a computer and learning a language at the same time is too difficult and the learning time is too long. I find that other tools might be better suited for this situation and I’d only be using an iPad as a ‘cool’ factor (I think if I were teaching younger students I’d have asked my boss for iPads a long time ago!)
Tamara
I have been using cloud techonolgy for a while without really realizing it. When this group first presented I asked my partner (the real techie in our family) what he knew about cloud computing, to get a better idea of what it was, and he didn’t really have a clear idea what it was either […]
Continue reading Silver linings Posted in: Week 08: Files in the Cloud
I forgot to mention something that had bothered me while watching the Google videos about safety and security. The narrator of the videos kept mentioning that they don’t share your information. However, have you ever noticed the ads on the side of you gmail screen? They usually pertain to the information within your email. This suggests that they share your info with ad companies doesn’t it? How else would they have specific ads geared towards you?
Tamara
Tamara,
I actually had the same thoughts on the ads in Gmail when I started doing research for this assignment. Ironically enough, Google was nice enough to provide a video explaining (in great detail) exactly how the ads work. You can view the article and video here: https://mail.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?answer=6603. You can also check out the Google Dashboard (https://www.google.com/dashboard/b/0/), which provides a transparent view of all of the data that is associated with your Google account.
I think the only way for your information to be completely secure is if you have a computer that never connects to the internet (unless someone steals your computer). The moment you connect to the internet your data is accessible. You can obviously prevent access using firewalls and malware protection but someone could gain access by you simply clicking on a webpage or accessing a compromised wireless network at a cafe or hotel where the data being transferred to and from your computer can be captured using packet sniffers (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Packet_analyzer).
We also haven’t really talked about social engineering (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_engineering_(security), which is when someone is manipulated into giving up information that will allow someone to access their data. This obviously goes well beyond someone reading your Gmail and usually plays a key role in identity theft, etc.
Tamara,
Great observations! That’s a great point. I don’t think our information is really secret. The same way banks take our money and lend it to others without our consent then the same is applied here. I guess they are saying it’s free storage so they can do whatever they want. I too never knew what cloud technology was about even though I was always using it. When I saw it on CNN I was thinking otherwise.
Everton
Thanks for the kind words, Tamara.
I thought it was rather ironic that you were having an “internal” struggle about putting files out there / “externally”.
An excellent example of student portfolios is the work done at New Brunswick’s Centre d’apprentissage du Haut-Madawaska (http://cahm.elg.ca/). The blogging (WordPress) portfolios that students keep over their years there are excellent.
Hi Tamara,
I did not know cloud technology prior to this progamme although I was using Gmail, Yahoo Mail for several years. I think security of cloud technology has been a hot topic for many people. When we are freely given something we must mindful that there can negative impacts on us. In most cases when something is given to an individual there are normally consequences. In light this cloud technology may affect negatively. Many individual are of the view that the negative effect of cloud technology is security.
I also didn’t know what cloud technology was prior to this week’s discussion. I also use Gmail and other sources of the “cloud”, however wasn’t exactly sure what it was.
I agree that the negative aspect of cloud computing is security. I believe one day, everything may be out in the open for others to see.
I’ve discovered blogs are pretty cool in the classroom. I’ve used them in a few different ways but I have yet to use a blog in a way that I actually want to – as portfolios for students, but I digress. I’ve used blogs as places to store my own course material. I did not […]
Continue reading Day 1 and Day 2 blogging Posted in: Week 07: Blogs
I have used Weebly too – but felt that it was just a web page builder and didn’t feel like a blog – that is where some of the ventures blend into each other – like Facebook and blogging – an interesting merger!
I too tried out weebly but wasn’t interested as it was more like a shell and never offered what I wanted. A blog should be simple and cater to the user. Technicalities breed confusion and that should not be a part of the modern classroom.
Everton
Hi Tamara,
Interesting how you used a blog for a webquest. How did that work in your classroom? Was it a successful endeavour?
Juliana.
I think Weebly is not a good blogger. Indeed, WordPress is more comprehensive as a blogger and a site to post content.
BrainPOP is the idea of Dr. Avraham Kadar a pediatrician and immunologist. This venture began as a way for Dr. Kadar to explain difficult medical concepts to children and expanded to various parts of K-13 Curriculum including ESL. BrainPOP includes a variety of movies about a particular topic with interactive quizzes and activities to reinforce […]
Continue reading BrainPOP: Interesting beginnings Posted in: Week 02: The Edtech Marketplace
Hi Tamara,
I was wondering if you had viewed some of the BrainPOP and BrainPOP Jr videos, as there are a number that they offer for free viewing. They are most definitely targeted at K to 10 classes, and serve as useful introductions and reviews for a wide variety of topics, from science to English. We use three or four of them a week in our grade 9/10 classes, and find the pre-made quizzes cover curricular material in a fun, yet adequately challenging way. I must admit to having never used the other resources that are associated with each video, but as they are designed by teachers, I think they could be useful, perhaps at lower grades. Before BrainPOP, I found that othere “educational” videos, such as those made by Bill Nye, were too long to include in 50 minute classes, whereas 3 to 5 minute BrainPOPs are perfect!
Oops, is this more than 2 bits worth? Sorry, I must admit to a passion for BrainPOP!
KJ
Hi Tamara,
I was very excited to see that you chose BrainPOP as your venture. Over the last couple years I have used BrainPOP regularly in my classroom. Either as a primer for a new topic, or just at random to learn something new as a brain warm up. Since the site addresses such a range of topics, I was surprised to learn that its origins come from a medical background. I guess the site really expanded over time.
Interesting research, Tamara!
Hi Tamara,
One of the things resonating throughout this activity for me has been whether or not I can place or see myself as an entrepreneur with a successful venture. In my research, and in some of the others I have read, what stood out is the wealth of and years of experience in CEO/heads of department positions, and in education, research and development that the CEOs/founders bring to the table.
What is heartening in this post is the natural development of a solution to an identified need that is then further developed into a venture. This is more in line with how I see myself and future venture efforts. However, I am cautioned by what seems to be the necessity of strong relationships, boards of advisors and networks to supplement lack of experience, in order for ventures to be successful and garner support, whether consumer and/or investors. The CEOs’ experience et al. really were important in my analysis of if I would buy/invest in the product therefore where does that leave me? What about you? Where do you see or position yourself/your success/needs as an entrepreneur in this milieu?
BTW check your category. It seems you categorized this entry under Week 2: Edutech Marketplace rather than Week 4: Entrepreneur Bootcamp
Kerry-Ann
Hi Tamara,
BrainPOP is an excellent learning technology. I am impressed with where it is now in the market …. It is now used widely in U.S. schools and also offers subscriptions for families and homeschoolers, considering it was designed to explain medical concepts young patients using animation. I wonder if Dr. Avraham Kadar expected that this innovation would be so successful?
Keisha
Before you publish your posting, please make sure that you select a category (eg. Introductions) as well as assign some meaningful tags (keywords).
jarvise 10:21 am on November 29, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
the tutor helper is a great idea. I like how you have laid out your venture pitch. The sections make it easy to understand the different components, and your sales strategy is simple, but makes sense. I know that the ESL market is big – I wonder how you will actively sell your product and make sure that it gets noticed. I also wonder how difficult it is to attract qualified teachers to work as tutors for you. You may hit a snag on that one. In my own research on tutoring, it seems that many of the online companies are looking – I wonder what the availability of teachers is like. Maybe target hiring to the East coast… There are a few ventures here looking to design one-stop-shopping for online ed – there is obviously something lacking in the current availability; based on what my research says, this is the most important determinant for success.
Emily
Tamara Wong 6:30 pm on November 29, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Thanks for the feedback! I hadn’t thought too much about hiring the teachers before but it seems to me that there is an overabundance of ESL teachers lately, at least in Toronto. I’ve worked at both private schools and colleges and many of my colleagues get laid off during the slow times. I also had the idea of putting my name on craigslist for tutoring and found that there are MANY teachers on craigslist looking for students to tutor. In Toronto I wasn’t too worried about getting tutors but I suppose elsewhere it might be a different story. Something that I’d have to look into. I was wondering if merely posting a job online would be sufficient. I know for myself I always am a little leery about applying to an online school -some of them don’t look legit. I think actually speaking with the teachers/tutors face-to-face might be a better option. Once I’ve head hunted a few teachers the word may spread? That was my plan to hire teachers.
Tamara
mcquaid 2:42 am on November 30, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi, Tamara.
Your idea looks pretty good, and I appreciate the mock-ups of what it may look like – visuals for something new are a great help. The EAL market is pretty huge and should continue to grow – your useful-looking program may work nicely.
Your pitch had a few things I struggled with, though:
– much longer than the maximum time given – I wondered how strict I “should” be… if I should stop watching at 1:00
– errors in the words (one misspelling / typo and one or two words I thought should have been capitalized)
– audio was a bit hollow – could have a bit more energy
Angela Novoa 9:55 am on November 30, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Tamara,
You provide an innovative concept and it has a huge market. As Emily has mentioned, I wonder how will you attract qualified tutors to work as tutors for you. I also would like to know more information about money required and returns (how much and how long will an investor receive returns). this information would make easier to an EVA to assess if investing or not in the venture.
Cheers,
Angela
David William Price 10:54 am on November 30, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Elevator pitch assessment
Wongte – tutorhelper
First Impression: no face, voiceover slides, slides too fast to read and quite busy in places, voice lacks passion, many slides emphasize boredom
CEO Credibility: The CEO does not appear as an image or video although there is a voiceover all the way through. I have the voiceover to judge CEO credibility. The voice has no passion. I might take a negative inference based on the fact the CEO is unwilling to appear.
Management Team: No team is mentioned, so I have no way to judge. I might take a negative inference based on the fact the CEO is unwilling to talk about the team.
Venture Concept: Mentions “teachers” but not what type. Apparently something about a web resource for activities for teachers teaching English but also mentions tutors. Mentions learning analytics but doesn’t explain how they are used. Mentions learning management system but appears more like a database of resources.
Opportunity Space: Apparently aimed at English teachers or tutors? Does not describe the market, proposed market share or revenue.
Market Readiness: No description of how this will be marketed or distributed, how to enter the market or how to grow presence.
Competitive Edge: Does not explain how this is better than existing web-based resources or how it will compete with LMSs. Not sure if this is a real LMS or not.
Exit Strategy: No indication of their target market, its size, or how they will capture it. No indication of what investment is wanted or how it will be repaid.
Overall Investment Status: I don’t see the CEO or the team, I don’t know who the targeted market is. I don’t know how my investment will be repaid. I don’t know how this will be marketed. I consider this high risk and would not pursue.
Jay 9:49 pm on November 30, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Tamara,
Your pitch resonated with me as I was an EFL teacher for four years in Canada and Japan. It is very time consuming trolling through websites to find resources and I think you target a pain point for teachers and students. I also like that you advocate for a learner-centered allowing learners to choose what they feel is relevant for them.
Your screen shots are a nice addition to your picth and are helpful in visualizing what the Tutor Helper would look like.
The market is big but there would also be a lot of competition with regards to tutoring and other sites that provide resources for fees although you set yourself apart from others by personalizing lessons and allowing for quick selection of specific lessons through analytics.
Interesting pitch.
Jay
andrea 7:12 pm on December 1, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hello Tamara,
You’re so right when you say there are lots of resources out there but none that consistently deliver. I was also an ESL teacher for a few years, and would spend hours trying to find the perfect news articles to use, or a game that practiced something specific. I would have loved a tool like this!
One question I have is about how students use the LMS. You mentioned that the students will interact with it, but is this still within the context of one-on-one tutoring or something included in their hourly fee? I really like your idea and would like to know more about how students would interact with the system.
Andrea
Deb Kim 11:10 pm on December 1, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Tamara,
What a great idea!
Your venture is very similar to mine, though mine is for Math.
My venture idea also came from my experience. I had difficult time finding RIGHT resources and questions for my lessons and for students. Although there are resources available at school, many of them are outdated and there are not enough resources to support teaching. I didn’t even have a textbook last year when I worked at a different school from this year!
Your venture will support teachers and create a better work condition for teachers who are struggling to find English resources.
Great work!
Deb
khenry 6:59 am on December 3, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Tamara,
Your idea is a good one. I can imagine that other ESL teachers would welcome it. Is this your primary market? How expansive do you think it would be?
I imagine you could also target English teachers as well and promote authentic learning opportunities.
See below for my extended EVA.
Elevator Pitch: Your voice was pleasant and I liked the use of the graphics. Some of the text was hard to see. But the availability of voice and the timing of the voice and text addressed this. Interestingly, I do not have a problem not seeing the faces of CEOs. However, your pitch did not give an idea of your management team, even though you provided a further link, I think a mention of this is essential in your elevator pitch. I read somewhere that you should try to put your essential elements first because persons get switched off. At about 52 seconds in I felt myself switching off. By then you had gotten through many of your essentials but perhaps you could revisit to end with a bang within your 1 minute. I sat through the rest but I imagine that as an investor I would have probably been done at 1 minute, given that they get so many pitches.
Team: CEO and Management Team are mentioned on the site. Pictures would add to presenting faces to names. Strenghts for content and learning technology development are displayed. However, the financial and business aspects need strengthening. If Robert Wong is busy, would he be too busy to feed into the business? This is a potential red flag for investors. Also, there are no mentions of track record or ability or credibility of financial and business administration strength and capability.
Venture: Problem and product/service solution are clearly delineated and involves the use of a website hosting learning resources for ESL and tutors with offers for subscription, licenses, opportunities for private online tutoring and the use of learning analytics to identify and recommend resources. I like the focus on learning theories, particularly authentic learning. But I have questions on if one can access these services already (see further under competitive advantage).
Market: Target market, pricing and revenue are discussed. $80 per year for tutors and $10 per student are reasonable prices and worth taking away the stress of searching for a wide variety of new and fresh resources that are varied according to such diverse user needs. Expanding information on this process/activity would give investors valuable information on the ventures approach and viability. However, how confident are you of attracting your target market? Would users be willing to pay for such services? (see further under exit strategy)
Market Readiness: LMS mention. Which will you use? How will it work? Also which learning analytic tools and how will they work?
Competitive Advantage: This needs to be zeroed on some more. I read it as using learning analytics to find resources to personalize learning. But can’t a tutor do this for themselves? What are you offering that is different?
Exit Strategy: Needs further information on the size of your target market and how you will access it.
Kerry-Ann
murray12 8:57 am on December 3, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hello Tamara,
I like the way your elevator pitch used the same image/symbol when discussing investors, etc., which helped to spell out how I could be involved. I also liked the your site with page tabs that can direct you to exactly the areas you want to learn about. What I felt was missing was a personal touch, ie photos or videos, of the people behind the product. In addition, as someone commented on my web based ET product, it’s hard to convince people to embrace your product for a fee when they can also get similar for free. Many people are willing to run around if they get to save a buck.