karonw
Welcome to Blackboard Virtual (Blackboard Virtual is the venture that was developed by Karon Wong) – a venture specifically designed to facilitate and develop skills and knowledge learners need in a virtual setting, Blackboard Virtual promotes better teacher‐student interaction through a real‐time, collaborative educational platform where users can post comments, initiate discussions, enter a chatroom, […]
Continue reading Blackboard Virtual Posted in: Venture Forum Hello, Thank you for the fabulous and detailed presentation group 9! As I went through your presentation and reflected on what I have learned this week, here are my thoughts. As we learn, we have a good sense of the ideas and concepts that we encounter. I think mind mapping allows us to reflect this […]
Continue reading Reflection on Mind Maps Posted in: Week 09: Visual-Intensive Learning
Hi Karon,
Thank you for sharing your thoughts with us. I do agree that simple mind maps that fit on one page tend to be easier to read. Do you think there’s a difference between who is reading the map? That is, if the author is reading the map versus an outsider. Would that affect the level of complexity that one can include? Along the same path, do you think this effectiveness issue that you have identify could lead to some new venture opportunity in the world of mind mapping?
Cheers,
Sherman
Hi Sherman,
I think that it would always be easier for the author to read the mind map that they created over an outsider especially if it was a complex map that was not organized well. However, if the map was well-organized then the visual representations would benefit to the human’s visual processor as it makes visualizing and understanding large amounts of information easier for the reader and the reader can read the information as a whole rather than trying to link pieces of information from the mind map to make sense of what is being presented to them. Perhaps, mind mapping tools can incorporate a way to better present visual information, many of them right now actually allows you to hide the information bubbles and hover over it to review the detail so that the map wouldn’t be over cluttered and would be more organized, I think something a long that line would benefit the world of mind mapping.
Karon
During week 6 our Emerging Market Team (Bridget Perry-Gore, Colin Kam, David McInnes, Deborah Schell, and Karon Wong) would like to introduce you to Game Based Learning. We welcome you to visit our Emerging Market Analysis blog at Game Based Learning where we have presented an overview on four emerging areas: educational games, gamification, simulations, and […]
Continue reading Week 6 EMT – Game Based Learning Posted in: Week 06: Learning with Games
Thanks group 2 for your hard work in preparing a valuable game-based learning resource.
Thank you everyone in ETEC 522 for participating and contributing throughout week 6 on our Emerging Market Analysis. Your responses to our activities are very valuable to us. We hope that you have learned lots in regards to learning with games.
Best,
Karon Wong & Team 2
BIO Michael L. Chasen at the age of 39 is the co-founder and CEO for Blackboard Inc. As a graduate from Georgetown University with a MBA and an undergraduate degree in computer science from America University Michael Chasen began his early career as a higher education practice member at KPMG Consulting, his expertise was in […]
Continue reading Blackboard Posted in: Week 04: Entrepreneur Bootcamp
Thanks for profiling the founder of Blackboard, Karon! As a frequent user of the Blackboard LMS I find it interesting to read about the face behind the innovation. What I find most intriguing is that Chasen comes from a Computer Science background, not one in Education, yet he has managed to create a system that is integral in online learning today. I know of several companies that use Blackboard as their go-to professional learning tool. Today many of the LMS look the same and function in mainly the same ways, yet are open source or free, unlike Blackboard, so it is interesting to hear about what they are doing to keep their competitive edge i.e. tackling the growing mobile app market.
Hi Sheza,
Yes, it would be very interesting especially with Desire2Learn being Blackboard’s biggest competitor it would be interesting to see how they will continue to expand with such competition.
Karon
Hi Karon,
Blackboard is such an interesting company – from what I understand, they recently bought out Vista (the current platform for many of the ETEC courses at UBC). Even more interesting, Vista was created by an employee at UBC! It’s a smaller world than we think!
Lisa
Hi Lisa,
When we look at it, it seems like we are all interconnected.
Karon
Yes, I will invest in Mindtraction. The elevator pitch was presented by the founder of Mindtraction which showed some credibility. The pitch included background information as to what Mindtraction is for and what is its main purpose. The elevator pitch also states clearly the target audience for Mindtraction. The pitch gives us information as to […]
Continue reading EVA for Mindtraction Posted in: Week 03: Analyst Bootcamp I chose to review Myngle a venture in global language learning. The selling point of Myngle is that it will allow students to take lessons anywhere and anytime so it is like a multi-language online school. However, the elevator pitch lacks clarification it mentions that Myngle can be used globally but it does not provide […]
Continue reading EVA for Myngle Posted in: Week 03: Analyst Bootcamp
Hi Karon,
Even though it’s not explicitly stated, I think enthusiasm is so important in any venture pitch. If the person is not excited about what they are doing, it almost seems as though they don’t have the enthusiasm to push the venture forward and develop it to its full potential. Would you agree?
Lisa
The report that I chose to review was the 7 things you should know about Virtual Meetings from the Educause: Seven Things research report library. The author used headings which made the report very easy to follow along and the terminology used were easily understandable. The author first provided a scenario of how virtual meetings […]
Continue reading 7 Things You Should Know About Virtual Meetings Posted in: Uncategorized
For schools involved in professional learning teams, this technology can expand the learning community to others in various locations around a school district or province. It also holds potential for school leaders who need to stay connected within a network of ‘critical friends’, without leaving their school sites or travelling long distances to meet. Despite the challenges, virtual meetings and webinars will continue to shape professional networking. Helen
Thanks, Karon. I participated in a number of virtual meetings when I was in the corporate world. It saves both money and time as participants no longer have to drive or fly to meet with clients or colleagues in another city. It is also a good way to deliver professional training to participants who may be geographically dispersed.
Deborah
Hi Deborah and Helen,
Thank you for your input.
Deborah: At the moment my corporation uses Elluminate Live as the platform to perform virtual meetings which is quite effective.
Karon
Hi Karon,
We are just beginning to use virtual meeting more extensively! Our recent transformation program require experts of many fields to come together for the best solution for our business and training needs in our future state after implementation of business and technological changes. Flying everyone to the head office for meeting was simply not an option due to the cost and the number of work hours lost due to travelling. Hence I could see why you would recommend this article for others. Would you say that this article would apply more to the commercial side than audience in the k-12 / higher education? If you do not mind sharing, what does your company currently use Elluminate Live for?
Sherman
Hi Sherman,
I would say that the audience is very broad for this and it can be targeted towards the commercial side and towards k-12/ higher education depending on how the program is being utilized. The program itself can be used as a presentation tool, meeting tool, training tool and to teach a course.
My corporation currently uses Elluminate Live for project meetings as we work with other health authorities across Canada and as you stated flying everyone over to one location is not always too ideal.
Karon
HI Karon,
We used Elluminate for meetings in our vocational training organisation, now they moved to Blackboard and we have had lots of problems especially with audio delays. It really puts people off using the technology.
In the MET courses for group work assignments I have really found the virtual meeting technology one of the best ways to speed group formation and start working together compared to lots of other techniques – wiki, Google etc. But that could just be me!
Hi Denise,
Thank you for your comment, I think that one of the problems with the other technologies such as wiki and Google is it requires a wait time, for example if the other peers didn’t login at the same time then there will be a delay in response.
Karon
Hi Everyone, A little background about me, I’m Karon, I graduated from Simon Fraser University with a Bachelor in Arts in 2009 with a major in Interactive Arts & Technology concentrating in New Media Environments and a minor in Education and Technology. I am a Media Artist and Designer with extensive experience in designing and […]
Continue reading Introduction: Karon Wong Posted in: Uncategorized
Hello Karon,
Wow, you have a very impressive background. I will be great to work with people like you in this course.
Thanks Donna! Nice meeting you.
Hi Karon,
Sounds like you really have a handle on the technical side of things (I think I followed most of it). I am really looking forward to seeing your assignments!
gillian
Hi Karon, good to see you in this course as well! Looking forward to working with you again!
Shawn
Hi Karen, I am also an SFU alumnus! 🙂 Your knowledge is going to be a great asset to this course. I have met so many creative people on the MET journey – you are all an inspiration! Looking forward to gaining knowledge from you! Danielle
Hello fellow SFU Alumnus!
What an interesting background you have – looks like I’ll be learning lots from you this term Karon!
Cheers,
Lisa
Hi Karen, your background is so impressive! I’m always a fan of media design and computer graphics, though no have many chances to get hands on. Looking forward to learn from you in this course.
Ping
Before you publish your posting, please make sure that you select a category (eg. Introductions) as well as assign some meaningful tags (keywords).
unclereg 10:35 pm on July 30, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hello Karon,
I was a little unsure as to what this idea was designed to do. I’m out of the loop when it comes to smartphones (I don’t own a cell phone) so I’m guessing Blackboard is a pre-existing company and you’ve created a new mock additional program for it called ‘virtual’. I think this idea needs an accompanied picture or mock screen shot, or described scenario in which this program can be applied. I think the use of a phone app is smart because phones are everywhere and this could be a popular program….I’m just not sure of all the features it allows.
Thanks.
-Regen
karonw 12:26 pm on July 31, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Regen,
Thank you for your feedback, Blackboard Virtual is a mobile application that performs virtual classrooms via a mobile device rather than through a computer as more people carry a cellular around in comparison to a laptop.
More details in regards to my venture can be obtained through my venture proposition.
Thank you for reviewing my venture.
Best,
Karon Wong
vawells 2:04 am on July 31, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Karon
I really enjoyed viewing your elevator pitch. Neat idea using a smartphone as the delivery tool! Your idea of capitalizing on the mobile market and smartphones is a realistic venture that would certainly have a niche in the market. I am a little unclear as to what you are offering though. Would the features of Blackboard all be accessible and fully functional on the mobile device?
Good luck with your future ventures
Valerie
karonw 12:43 pm on July 31, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Valerie,
Thank you for your feedback. As indicated in my venture proposition Blackboard Virtual was specifically designed to facilitate and develop skills and knowledge learners need in a virtual setting (just like virtual classrooms e.g. elluminate live but instead of via a computer it is accessible through a mobile device), Blackboard Virtual promotes better teacher‐student interaction through a real‐time, collaborative educational platform where users can post comments, initiate discussions, enter a
chatroom, upload media files, pictures and files, perform mobile conferencing (like face time) with their mobile devices, and voice authorizing. All the other products that Blackboard have can be paired up with this mobile application as Blackboard’s products are all made web accessible so as long as the mobile device have a dataplan or has access to wifi it can access all its products.
Karon
Deborah S 10:16 am on July 31, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Karon,
I enjoyed your elevator pitch and thought it was great that you delivered your pitch from inside your device. Clever! I’m still a bit unclear as to what your product or service is.
I thought your venture pitch was well laid out and liked the use of colour in the subheadings. I thought the description of the problem could have been a bit stronger as I wasn’t sure what need your company was filling. As an EVA, I would have also liked more detailed information on the services that your competition is currently providing to assess how your product or service is different from theirs.
Good job!
Deborah
karonw 12:36 pm on July 31, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Deborah,
Thank you for taking the time to review my venture pitch. I tried to showcase how virtual applications would work for a mobile device, hence I have came up with the idea of using a mobile device as a frame for my venture pitch. It was very unfortunate that when I provided all the details to my venture pitch no matter how fast I spoke or how I tried to trim it down with the core details included it still went over 1 minute long. Hence, I had decided to provide a venture pitch that gives a general overview of the current problem, the solution and the main winning point it has compared to its competitors while trying to provide the details in my proposition. The idea was to move virtual classrooms into a mobile device as mobile devices are more common to be carried around, therefore it will be more convenient for learners to access their courses and collaborate with one another live.
Thanks for your suggestions!
Karon
gillian 9:20 pm on July 31, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Karon,
What a great elevator pitch – presenting a mobile venture via a mobile device is genius – you should pitch it to Blackboard! I was impressed that you were able to maintain eye-contact throughout your pitch and although a little fast – you were able to communicate the important parts of your venture.
As for your venture pitch, however, I am afraid I am in agreement with other comments – I am not sure what your venture is. My understanding from your pitch is that Blackboard Virtual already exists … what are you proposing that is new? Am I wrong in my understanding?
gillian
karonw 10:05 pm on July 31, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Gillian,
Thank you for your feedback. Blackboard Virtual is what I am proposing it is a mobile application that performs mobile conferencing which is like virtual classrooms done via the mobile device. And no, Blackboard Virtual does not exist it was a venture that I have came up with. Blackboard is a big corporation and have many products including Blackboard collaborate, blackboard transact, blackboard connect, blackboard analytics, blackboard engage and blackboard mobile. However, blackboard mobile is not the same as blackboard virtual as blackboard mobile is just accessing information via the mobile device which is no different than just loading webct on a browser through the mobile device while the venture that I came up with was virtual classrooms offered through a mobile device. My venture proposition attached to this post has more details, please feel free to review it.
Thanks,
Karon Wong
kimnoel 1:30 pm on August 1, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Karon,
Nice pitch and I love your venture idea. To be able to use your smartphone would be fantastic, and I think most users would consider it a valuable purchase.
My biggest concern would be using the small screen on the phone. It would seem that this would be used mostly to check for assignment, grades, comments etc., rather than actually working in discussion forums, etc.
Well done!
Smiles, Kim
karonw 10:48 pm on August 3, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Kim,
Thank you for your feedback. The small screen on the phone was put into consideration for this venture, hence Blackboard Virtual was made available to smartphones, including Blackberries, Androids, iPhone OS and devices such as the iPod touch, iPad and webOS as well .
Karon
Danielle 5:39 am on August 2, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Karon,
I am impressed with the presentation of your pitches – very professional. I am also impressed with how your company has been working with “thousands” of organizations, etc, and in 70 countries. Investors are not going to feel as great of a risk with that kind of background. My only suggestion would be to differentiate your product. What is particularly novel and innovative about this venture compared to the wider market, what are some of the challenges, and how will I gain from this from an investor’s point of view? I think you have done an excellent job with this presention, though I think I would need a little more information before diving in.
Danielle
karonw 10:58 pm on August 3, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Danielle,
Thank you for the feedback. The main feature that Blackboard Virtual offers compared to its competitors is mobile conferencing. Although, all its competitors have similar educational mobile applications Blackboard Virtual is the first to have mobile conferencing, which is bringing a virtual classroom to a mobile device. Mobile conferencing for a course can bring people closer together. Although students do not attend the class by physically being there, they render more mutual support and develop better learning relationships. The virtual classroom is
no different than a real classroom as students will be able to see and hear one another with face-to-face interaction. Yet, less progressive students do not have to feel intimated in front of a class but can comfortably pose their questions onto the discussion forum or in the chatroom. By investing in Blackboard Virtual, your institution will be recognized by its unparallelled success which would lead to higher rates of enrollment in the programs being offered by your institution and in return you will have an increase in your revenue.
Karon
troos 2:03 pm on August 2, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hello Karon:
The Blackboard Virtual venture you propose sounds like a viable and valuable proposition. Its too bad you couldn’t slow down your presentation somewhat to make it clearer. It may have helped to provide some graphics in your presentation that help focus the listener on all the different aspects you are addressing. Although I found your presentation through the smartphone a neat idea, it would be nice if it was a little larger, using more of the available screen space. I certainly appreciate what you are trying to do with your venture in making learing more mobile and accessible. Great job.
Tim
karonw 11:01 pm on August 3, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Tim,
Thank you for the feedback! Unfortunately, when I uploaded my elevator pitch to YouTube it got compressed pretty badly and the video turned out half the size it was supposed to be.
Karon
Bridget 5:58 pm on August 2, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Karon,
Thank you for sharing your pitches and after reviewing your elevator pitch I have the follow comments.
You hooked me from the beginning with the video within the video and I was instantly curious about what you had to say. The iphone instantly told me that what your company was offering would most likely have to do with mobile technology. I think it would have been fun to make it go deeper with the video inside the video inside the video etc. but I am not sure how technologically challenging this might be.
However, the quality of the audio made it difficult to hear and there were not any diagrams or flow charts to help with the explanation of your venture. I understand that it is an app to aid in online learning but it is not clear as to how it will help.
Bridget
karonw 11:06 pm on August 3, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Bridget,
Thank you for your feedback. Blackboard Virtual is the first to have mobile conferencing, which is bringing a virtual classroom to a mobile device. Mobile conferencing for a course can bring people closer together. Although students do not attend the class by physically being there, they render more mutual support and develop better learning relationships. The virtual classroom is no different than a real classroom as students will be able to see and hear one another with face-to-face interaction. Yet, less progressive students do not have to feel intimated in front of a class but can comfortably pose their questions onto the discussion forum or in the chatroom.
Karon
Dennis Pratt 9:01 pm on August 2, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Karon;
I like the idea, especially as I have gone mobile over the last few years. I like to have all my favourite programs and web pages on mobile as well as on the computer. It just makes everything smoother and easier one it is set up for mobile devices. I can see Blackboard going this way in the near future. As others eluded to, I would like to know more about the issue you are trying to solve in the elevator pitch. Good work, though.
Dennis
karonw 11:14 pm on August 3, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Dennis,
Thank you for your feedback. Due to the unavailability of laptops and inaccessibility to internet connection, learners are more likely to be disengaged and unmotivated with their learning. Blackboard Virtual was designed to be available through any mobile device. While many mobile applications performs nothing more than just online learning where information is pulled off from the browser, Blackboard Virtual was designed to offer the benefits of synchronicity and engage interactivity, the mobile conferencing feature would support teacher-student and student-student relationships, enhancement on students’ motivation and interaction.
Karon
toddpowell 10:59 pm on August 5, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Karon,
Your presentation was very well done, and kept my attention. A couple of issues that were brought to my mind was, what do you intend to do with the students in the class who can’t afford smartphones, parents won’t buy them smartphones, etc. I just have a fear that this is creating a little bit of a have-vs-have not situation.
Cheers,
Todd