No, I would not invest in this venture. The Content: While there are many (obvious) benefits to providing OpenCourseware through RRU, the main one that stuck out for me (because I am an Administrator) was the issue of marketing – if the prospective students could just try the course before they enroll in university as […]
Continue reading Pitch Critique: Open RRU Posted in: Week 03: Analyst Bootcamp
Analyzing SchoolManager Credibility and Management – The absence of the presenter’s picture as well as the complete absence of the product developer reduces the credibility of this pitch. The presenter does ot seem personally connected to the product. The producers experience is significant but no information regarding an organized team is presented. With the predicted […]
Continue reading Venture Analysis of SchoolManager Posted in: Week 03: Analyst Bootcamp
No, I would not invest in this project. What makes me feel so are the following: 1- the way the whole thing was presented. 2- Insufficient information 3- Vague ideas 4- Unclear target market Cloud Connect as a concept is great and we can […]
Continue reading No, I would n… Posted in: Week 03: Analyst Bootcamp
Hussain:
Good point about the speed of presentation. I had to listen to the pitch at least 4 times before I had a thorough understanding of what was being presented. I would rather the pitch was a little longer to allow some time to process the information, especially since the information being vocalized was somewhat different than that being presented visually.
Tim
I found Ambient Insight’s 2012 Learning Technology Research Taxonomy to be informative and possibly useful for educators, learning technology specialists and venturers. This report is comprehensive in detailing the current and recent trends in educational technologies by categories. The categories include: 7 international regions (e.g. North America, The Middle East), 8 buyer segments (e.g. Higher […]
Continue reading Keep Your Sights on Ambient Insights 2012 Posted in: Uncategorized
YES I would invest in Dybuster. The ‘apple-pie’ plea at the end of the elevator pitch gave me the psychological hook to add my money to this endeavour. The pitch presentation, done by Christian Vogeli, CEO and founder, is done in a compelling, confident and convincing manner. His angled standing position, eye contact with the […]
Continue reading Dybuster – answer to dyslexia challenge Posted in: Week 03: Analyst Bootcamp
Helen:
Great analysis. I, too, found this to be an intriguing and very necessary product as it relates to the disability of dyslexia. This specialized niche target market gives this product a distinct advantage. Before investing, the only thing I would like to see is a set of academic reviews showing the success of this product.
Of all the pitches I sifted though, this was the only one that had a really clear, “this is what we do next” in the pitch – which I really appreciated. I think a lot of the pitches lacked the message or “ask” behind the pitch.
-Lisa
NO, I would not invest in Mindtraction. Despite the compelling story presented, the apparent ease and comfort of the presenter while sharing the story, or the marketable response to an evident need, this company is not for me. The simplistic view of a mentor in your pocket conflicts with my experience and understanding of what […]
Continue reading No Mind Traction for Me Posted in: Week 03: Analyst Bootcamp
NO, I would not invest in this venture. After watching the video, I kept asking myself “why would I want to invest in this company?” When I think of photo sharing websites, I think of the big-name competitors: Flickr, Photobucket, and maybe even SkyDrive and Facebook. Even though they may have limitations (upload size, storage […]
Continue reading Smugmug Posted in: Week 03: Analyst Bootcamp
I agree with you that it is important that the challenges to the venture be outlined in the pitch. It shows that the CEO and organizers have “thought it through”. When investing, you want to be confident that the developers have done their homework and researched the challenges that they will likely encounter on their way to success. It also shows transparency, which I think is vital to success.
-Lisa
Having read some previous press releases form Gartner, I chose this report to critique as I feel they are a trustworthy source of information in the IT field. Being a techno-junkie and in my role with my board, it is only fitting that I take on this type of report as it is quite valuable […]
Continue reading From the Gartner newsroom… Posted in: Uncategorized
Yes I would invest. This is another growing dynamic improvement. The presenter which is the CEO of Evernote seems quite passionate as he tried humbly to inform the audience of the merits of the Evernote. I am definitely drawn by the idea; “an external brain” is what we need! There seems to be […]
Continue reading EVA for Evernote Posted in: Week 03: Analyst Bootcamp This project is potentially a great venue for investment. Yes, there are similar products but this product has been in the market for a while now and it has been used with almost all the operation systems of computers and tablets. So technically the product is ready for the fast growing market. What makes me […]
Continue reading Evernote: A promising project Posted in: Week 03: Analyst Bootcamp
I would invest as an EVA also Hussain…This product is not new on the market it has been around for a little while now it seems. In fact a friend of mine just recently introduced it to me as this is what he uses daily. He seems quite fond of the product and tried to persuade me also to get on to it. It yields a lot of benefits and as the CEO of Evernote mentioned “its an external brain”! For a feasible product of such the cost is quite low and so many can have access. I do agree with you that It is a promising project…
~Shawn
Like you Shawn and Hussain, I too would invest in Evernote as an EVA. I agree that short and to-the-point presentations should not be viewed as negative. In fact, I think that long pitches should be challenged – do you really need 18 minutes to present your pitch?
Cheers,
Lisa
Hey all, I think I went a little overboard here but anyways, had a good time doing it. Sorry about all the formatting inconsistencies. Critiquing ‘Empowered Learning: A Better Way to Teach Highschool Math’ Overview From the ETEC 522 ‘pitch pool’ I chose the pitch titled ‘Empowered Learning: A Better Way to […]
Continue reading EVA for Empowered Learning…. Posted in: Week 03: Analyst Bootcamp
After viewing Pattie Maes’ TED presentation it really is easy to be drawn into the interesting new ideas that she and her student have created. However, taking an EVA approach from the angle of a school principal, her idea really doesn’t seem to uncomplicate things, which I believe is the original goal of her invention. […]
Continue reading After viewing Pattie Maes’ TED presenta… Posted in: Uncategorized
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
Hi all, I just posted into the week 3 forum and I had embedded a YouTube video in my post. Everything looked fine on preview and the video ran beautifully. When I posted, however, I noticed that the embedded video had disappeared. I have embedded videos in previous blogs without issue. Does anyone have any suggestions? Thanks […]
Continue reading Embedding a Video Posted in: Blog Café
Hi Deborah – I’ve posted several embedded videos since this post and they’ve appeared to work fine – if you’ve tried again and failed let me know and I’ll see if our tech team has any suggestions.
David
I chose to review a Dragon’s Den pitch from season five about the Ethical Oceans venture. The pitch was delivered by Tony Hancock and David Damderger from Calgary who were asking the dragons for $150,000 for 20% of their company which they had valued at $750,000. CEO Credibility and Management Team The presenters seemed […]
Continue reading EVA – Ethical Oceans Posted in: Week 03: Analyst Bootcamp Although I find the idea presented in this elevator pitch intriguing and feasible, I find the pitch lacks certain elements that would convince me to invest. Credibility and Management: Although mention is made of a strong management team with years of experience, the presenter never provides his own name or position. In addition, the presenter’s […]
Continue reading EVA Analysis of CloudConnect Posted in: Week 03: Analyst Bootcamp
Hi Tim,
You raised a good point about being able to see the person making the pitch. There is a great deal of information that is delivered non-verbally and being able to see the person making the pitch would probably have enhanced the presentation. It’s difficult to provide all the information a potential investor would be looking for in an elevator pitch. I think there’s a balancing act between trying to be engaging and communicating critical information. I guess we’ll have an opportunity to figure this one out for ourselves in our final assignment!
Deborah
I think this site was made just for me or with me in mind… The site captured my interest as it talks briefly about 7 things we should know… It describes annual findings which is up to date information. It identifies and describes emerging technologies and the impact they are likely to have on learning […]
Continue reading Seven Things You Should Know… Posted in: Uncategorized
I read the Horizon Report always with great interest as it predicts the educational technology trends agenda for the year. Horizon Report 2012 is nothing short of intriguing as it identifies mobile apps and tablet computing as technologies expected to enter mainstream use in the first horizon of one year or less. Of the six […]
Continue reading Horizon Report 2012 Posted in: Uncategorized
I’m sorry about the last minute post here, but I’ve had a long week. My parents have retired and packed up and sold just about everything from their home in Winnipeg and have now relocated to Langley, BC. I had to fly to Winnipeg for a whole 1.5 hours to pick up the gift they […]
Continue reading My thoughts Posted in: Uncategorized
Jody;
That is quite the drive. One I have never been too excited to do myself but when my kids are older I think we have to do a trip across Canada. There is so much to do and see.
I liked the idea of 7 as well. I have heard that we can remember 7 things at once, like a 7 digit phone number, but start to drop off when numbers become larger than that.
The flipped classroom is very intriguing and can see it working quite well at higher levels. The concern I have as a junior high teacher is the ability and focus of students to do the reading/viewing on their own and being prepared for class. I think there would have to be an adjustment period with lots of review in class before it really takes hold but the class time would then be used very effectively.
I would prefer to learn in a flipped classroom as I could learn as much as I could at home and then take questions to class, in stead of the other way around.
Dennis
HI Jody, ,
That sounds like a bonkers of a week! One of the perks of online learning, being able to contribute where ever you are (well, mostly…still haven’t figured out Cuba yet…Ha!) The Flipped Classroom is definitely something that is making a huge push, and has sparked the attention of many. My partner and I teach in a Grade 4/5 classroom and are looking into many aspects of this concept. We started blogging this year, and this engaged them ten-fold! We, dabbled a bit in posting some pre-teaching videos on the blog to see what would happen, and many of the students came in the next day with great questions!
I know there is a Flipped Classroom conference in Kelowna at the end of June, unfortunately, that time isn’t ideal to attend.
Cheers
jon
Hi there. Oh I wish I could have a blog! Our board, in their infinite wisdom, have passed a policy that requires any school related social media (Facebook, Twitter or blogging even) be available to anyone in the board. Meaning, that for me to have any of these tools, I must provide my password and user name to the admin! I am not comfortable with that at all! So needless to say, I gave up on my Twitter account….
There were some hoops to jump through for sure, but it was something that I really felt that the students would use and find real purpose and meaning for it. It has been a great journey so far, and one that will for sure start right up in the fall. As for twitter, it is one area that I think has great purpose, but under twitter law, you must be 18 to have an account. My students are far from that age demographic.
In regards to the blog, yes, admin at the school need to have access (the get their own account) so they can see what is being posted. Take a look at kidblog, it is by far the most secure blog site I have used. Here is the link to my classroom blog as well (we are totally public on this one) http://kidblog.org/Room1617Blogzone/
Jon
Hi Jody,
Thanks for personalizing your post . . . a reminder that life goes on while we take online courses and that sharing part of our lives makes the learning experience more ‘human’.
After reading many of the reviews about the Educause 7 things you should know – I am convinced I too will visit it more often . . .
Before you publish your posting, please make sure that you select a category (eg. Introductions) as well as assign some meaningful tags (keywords).
Dennis Pratt 4:02 pm on May 27, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Lisa;
I really liked the RRU model of open courseware but did not think too much about the economics of it. I would like to know more about that before “investing”. I wonder what the instructors think about the opening up their work, as well. I know, as a public school teacher, any work that I create for work is property of the school board, and I don’t mind sharing whatever I create. If I was writing a textbook, either hardcopy or online, I don’t know how I would feel about the potential monetary loss. I would imagine that some people would buy in but others would oppose the concept.
Dennis