vawells
Hi all The summer term is almost at an end. I’m not sure where it went but August 5th is just around the corner. One suggestion I would make to promote greater participation would be to have small cohort groups peer edit and provide feedback on assignments and/or to work through OER activities. This would […]
Continue reading Participation Suggestion Posted in: Uncategorized Welcome to LevelMe, an educational app for teachers, parents, students and educational professionals. Level your books using the newest smartphone app, anytime, anyplace. Watch the elevator pitch, read the venture pitch and get ready to invest! Elevator Pitch Read LevelMe Venture Pitch by Valerie Wells LevelMe Venture Pitch References Valerie
Continue reading LevelMe Posted in: Venture Forum
Hey Valerie,
You’re very well spoken. Great presentation of your elevator pitch. So when you’re out shopping you could scan a book and see its reading level and then you would have to determine its appropriateness based on the person you are buying it for. That means you would also need to know that persons current reading level. The one problem I see here is publishers eclipsing this idea by including reading level suggestions on the spine, or dust covers of books. I also realize that publishers place age suggestion and not usually reading levels, and the two are not usually the same. I’m also not sure what to suggest as an improvement or a consideration for the future.
Nice delivery though.
-Regen
Thank you for your feedback Regen.
Valerie
Hi Valerie,
Your elevator pitch was well delivered and it was helpful to see you in the video to increase potential investor buy-in.
Your venture pitch was supported by some relevant statistics such as number of mobile internet activities and number of smartphone owners. I thought your summary of competitors was very effective. I was curious why you weren’t planning to develop the app for BlackBerry users. I am from Waterloo (the home of RIM) and know that most of us here use BlackBerrys. I think you may be excluding a large potential market by only developing for iPhone and Android devices. I also wasn’t clear about your target market. Your venture plan referenced K-12 students, but wouldn’t the primary users of this app be parents and educators?
Good luck!
Deborah
Hi Deborah
Thank you for your feedback. The plan referenced the number of students to give investors an idea of just how many students there are out there and in turn then the need for an app like this for parents and teachers.
You are right about BlackBerry users, however I was trying to narrow the market at first and then expand slowly. You make a good point and these users should have been added to future directions for markets.
Again thanks for your interest
Valerie
Hi Valerie,
Your confidence in your venture comes across clearly in your elevator pitch and I commend you for stepping in front of the camera – something I was not comfortable doing. You hit the key points and piqued interest to investigate further into your venture. My only criticism would be the fact that it was clear you were reading your pitch and thus losing some personal engagement with the viewer by breaking eye contact.
As for your venture itself, I thought it was a very unique idea and was unaware that there was even any competition out there for such a product, yet you were able to communicate your venture’s edge quite well. I wonder though – how does your product work with e-books? E-books themselves are becoming a large market and one I think should not be discounted for consideration for your product.
I thought it was genius to market to parents as well as educators, but I thought you did not spend too much time on this aspect of your market.
Your research and stats were very helpful in showing the value potential of your product. A very concise and comprehensive pitch overall.
gillian
Thanks for your feedback Gillian. You have made some very good points.I think the reading part was nervousness, no matter how many times I did it I always reverted to reading, Frustrating!
I had not considered e books but should have. Thanks for pointing that out as it will be a huge market.
Again thanks for your interest
Valerie
Hi Valerie,
Absolutely LOVE your venture idea! As a K-6 teacher, I have spent way too many hours on the Scholastic et al. sites figuring out the reading levels! I would love your app!
Your pitches were concise, comprehensive and professional. Your presence, and your included background would give me, as an investor, confidence in your credibility and in your team. You appear to have done a good amount of background research, and I was impressed by the listed apps and sites that you had (I will be using some of them myself!)
The only area where I would have liked a little more info would be the “roll-out” plan of the app, and the long-term plans ( but I realize there is a limit to how much you can include on this assignment!)
Overall, I think you did a great job, are very credible, have a viable product, and if I were an investor, I would certainly arrange to me w/ you!
Well done!
Smiles, Kim
Oooops!
That should say “…arrange to MEET w/ you.”
Kim 🙂
Hi Valerie,
I think you have done a great job with your elevator pitch venture pitch. Your ideas are very well researched and I think that such an application would be highly valuable to both educators and learners.
As a language teacher, it is a challenge to find reading texts that are appropriate to my learners level. Such an application would simplify my job significantly.
Your pictures very optimistic! This is great, however, your investors might appreciate being aware of some of the and potential challenges.
I think this is an excellent venture idea and I’m certainly interested!
Danielle
Thank you for your feedback. Good point about the challenges.
Valerie
Thanks Kim for your feedback. I agree that the roll out plan is definitely missing and would need to be added.
There are resources out there for reading level however they are cumbersome due to having to type in the text.
Valerie
Hi Valerie!
I think that your tone of voice exuded confidence in your elevator pitch and that, along with the idea of the venture itself made me want to go on to your venture pitch and I’m glad I did because it was very well put together!
In regards to your elevtor pitch I think perhaps you could have used a different medium if you weren’t too comfortable putting yourself in front of the camera or memorizing what you had to say without having to read it – for example mybrainshark presentation or an imovie where you could overlay your voice onto corresponding images and what not.
However, spaking again as an EVA I was moved to go onto your venture pitch because I did hear the confidence and thought the venture was interesting.
Your venture pitch is very well written and researched. You do a very thorough analysis of your market and your competition. I can see that you have also done the math regarding the revenue and ROI and these figures do look promising. I can see that this would be a viable venture and I would consider investing after seeing your complete business plan.
Thank you!
Sheza
Hi Sheza
Thanks for your interest and the constructive feedback. 🙂
Valerie
Valerie;
My first thought was “What a great idea!”. My daughter is entering grade 2 but reads at a higher level (not meaning to brag). It is difficult to even go to the library and find books that are at her reading level. Usually we just let her pick what she wants to read but if we want to push her forward we would get her to read books at (or just above) her level. I have to admit this might even be good for me as sometimes I might pick up a book that is too heavy for the light summer reading I am trying to relax with. I don’t know that the reading level would help but if you can scan for reading level maybe you can scan for other things, too.
Good luck on carrying this venture out.
Dennis
Hi Dennis
Thanks for your reply. I think that with the increase use of mobile devices and constant updates to the software scanning for other things may be a possibility and perhaps an in app purchase down the road..
Love to hear about your daughter’s reading level as difficulties in this area can be such a frustration for children.
Valerie
Valerie:
You’ve done an excellent job in convincing me to invest in LevelMe. I think this would be an excellent and useful tool to have as an app on a smartphone. Your elevator pitch clearly shows your enthusiasm in this product; you are convinced it is something that can and will be used by potential customers. Your personal presence in describing your product is effective and convincing. The only thing you may want to fit in is a little more about the market size in terms of client numbers and revenue. I feel this is important for me, as an investor, to know right at the start. I realize you cover this and cover it well in your venture pitch but just a brief mention in the elevator pitch would be good.
Your venture pitch is thorough in identifying the need and solution your product will accomodate. You do an excellent job of breaking down your potential market and your projected revenues are very believable. You have provided clear research regarding both the existing and potential market. Your team appears clearly competent to develop and market this product.
Overall, I really like the concept and,as a parent, would find this to be an extremely useful tool. I have found that the few books that are currently marked with a reading level are not very accurate in their projections. Your tool would hopefully provide an unbiased analysis of the reading level. I am somewhat concerned regarding the revenue generation through advertising in the general, parental version of your app. If I was to use this as a parent (which I think would prove to be your largest client base) I would be annoyed and turned away by this advertising. I feel that after an inital free offering of your product in a very simplified format, you could quickly move to a product you could charge a few dollars for to have it be ad-free. Just a thought. Overall, I am very excited regarding this product. You have made an excellent proposition.
Tim
Hello Tim
Thank you for your interest in LevelMe. I think your suggestion to have a paid ad free version for parents makes sense for those who want to pay. This would be very easy to arrange as an in app purchase.
I will certainly pursue this offering for the parent app.
Thanks for the constructive feedback
Valerie
Hi Valerie,
Your elevator pitch, while not filled with bells and whistles was very convincing and when you asked the question “Have you ever had to buy a book for someone only to find it was too hard or too easy for their reading ability?” I found myself answering “yes” since this happens to me on a frequent basis. The ease and mobility of using apps appears to me to be one of the strongest points of your idea. I would also add grandparents to the list since they are often the book buyers who feel lost in the field of new books and stories making them gravitate to those with which they are already familiar.
From what I understand there is not an international standard for reading levels so what system would you propose to use when determining the reading level? I assume that your program will work with e-readers.
I like the idea of offering the freemium along with an upgrade, however, I would be interested in learning what you are considering as the added features. As readers enter middle school they often find that the thought of reading longer books to be daunting. I think that an interesting feature might be the ability to determine how long it might take to read the book and then break it down into 15 min per day etc. in order to help them set realistic goals to finish.
I am very interested in providing you with the $250 000 financial backing for LevelMe and I look forward to a great partnership.
Bridget
Hi Bridget
Thank you for your interest and support. I am sure this will be a successful partnership for both of us.
Valerie
Valerie,
While not a parent (yet), I cannot tie in personally with your venture. But as an English teacher, I would love the ability to have your product to suggest to my parents. You have presented in such a clear and concise way that all questions are fully answered even before being asked.
Well done, and I would certainly back this venture!
Todd
Hi Todd
Thanks for your support and feedback.
Valerie
Thank you for the introduction to this new tool. As I said before I have used concept maps for brainstorming sessions, pre assessment and exit cards. This particular application would be too difficult in my own context however tools such as spiderscribe(online) and kidspiration are student friendly and helpful for grade 3 students. With the […]
Continue reading Reflections on mind mapping Posted in: Uncategorized, Week 09: Visual-Intensive Learning John Baker, founder and CEO of Desire2Learn founded the company in 1999 at the age of 22. Baker’s privately owned, independent e learning company is headquartered in Kitchener, Waterloo with offices in New Brunswick and British Columbia. Desire2Learn has staff in Canada, United States, Australia, Singapore and the United Kingdom. Desire2Learn […]
Continue reading Desire2Learn – A Growing Canadian Tech Company Posted in: Week 04: Entrepreneur Bootcamp
Hi Valerie,
This is a very interesting read! Coming up with D2L at the age of 22 just goes to show that some were born to innovate! And thanks for sharing the “LMS Market Share” chart – very interesting statistics. I had not heard of Sakai before and I see that it is fairly new. It will be interesting to follow these statistics over the next couple of years to see if any innovative and new (as well as old) open source LMS software will ever give Blackboard a run for its money!
Danielle
Hi Valerie,
This is an awesome post, thanks for sharing! I based mine on Desire2Learn’s competitor. Like Daniele, I am very amazed that John has founded Desire2Learn at age 22. It was a smart move for Desire2Learn to form partnerships in adding more to their portfolio rather than trying to create it themselves to add more work to their workload.
Karon
Oops, sorry Danielle I didn’t mean to misspell your name in my previous post!
Karon
The report that I chose to review was Top 10 Ed Tech Predictions for 2011. In the report Christopher Dawson, former teacher and writer for ZDNET and Adam Garry, Dell’s manager of global professional learning, present 10 Educational technology trends/predictions for 2011. The report is well laid out with headings and brief summaries of each […]
Continue reading ZDNET’s Top 10 Ed Tech Predictions for 2011 Posted in: Uncategorized
Hi there,
Excellent analysis here. I agree – since technologies are changing at such a rapid speed, reviewing reports that are more framework / direction-based are more relevant to educators and developers of educational technology.
Cheers,
Lisa
Hi all My name is Valerie Wells and this is my eighth course in the MET program. I am also taking etec 532 this summer so I think I have a busy summer ahead of me. I live in beautiful, St. John’s, Newfoundland with my husband. My two sons are finished post secondary education (for […]
Continue reading Hello from the East Coast Posted in: Uncategorized
Hi Valerie!
You have a wealth of knowledge and experience to share! It is great to have you on the course!
Your picture is fabulous! How often do icebergs become grounded? I suppose more often these days with global warming!
I am also looking forward to learning with you!
Danielle
Hi Valerie
Hi Valerie,
Nice to meet you. I’m looking forward to working with you during this course.
Nice to e-meet you Valerie. Look forward to learning with you.
good luck!
Hey Valerie,
Have you had the opportunity to mix techy stuff with Special Ed?
Cheers!
This year Special Ed teachers have taken on a more team teaching role with classroom teachers. I have been supporting their use of the smartboard and iPads in the classroom to support students. It has been working very well in some classrooms.
Great to see you again in this course Valerie.
Leonora
Before you publish your posting, please make sure that you select a category (eg. Introductions) as well as assign some meaningful tags (keywords).
toddpowell 10:57 am on August 4, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
I really like your idea of smaller groups which stimulates more discussion. I think that collaboration at any point is hugely important.
Todd