Electronic Classroom Solutions Welcome to ECS, a startup that provides retrofitting software and services to existing student management systems. We have a successful beta version of our platform that bypasses BCesis’s interface and that of other SMS’s. We pride ourselves on bringing aesthetics, usability and efficiency to existing platforms– all while saving education systems millions. Elevator Pitch […]
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Brian H
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HJDeW
LB4U – get your learning badge for 522 here!
Imagine earning your gold level digital learning badge for your personal educational efforts in ETEC 522! Learn more about this disruptive, game changing technology and how learning badges will revolutionize open, online learning environments. See how LB4U will connect learners with opportunity. The ELEVATOR PITCH is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pBbyzDwaEDc The VENTURE PITCH is found HERE.
Continue reading LB4U – get your learning badge for 522 here! Posted in: Venture Forum-
jtpatry
Good Day Helen,
Thank you for your pitches, you can hear and feel the excitement in the elevator pitch for this possible venture. Despite my own pedagogical and philosophical perspectives on “earning” badges to represent learning (are the learners learning, or just wanting to get that badge, what about those students who are aren’t able to achieve, etc) you are absolutely correct in stating that more demand is being voiced in regards to accountability. With social media becoming almost intertwined in daily life, I think your venture has great potential to be woven into this type of learning market. I haven’t joined the fourSquare world, but I do see how people become “hooked” into this type of activity and enjoy having the recognition for his/her accomplishments or achievements. Parents would also benefit from seeing what levels students have achieved and can follow along with their child’s learning development. From a business standpoint, I would be willing to invest in this company as I can see a dollar value potential (and return and profit from the original investment). Schools/boards I’m sure can’t wait to jump in and get in on this opportunity.
Thanks,
Jon
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HJDeW
Thanks for the feedback Jon. I too have some issues on philosophical levels, but so many learners within ‘standard’ learning environments will work for extrinsic motivations as a step to gaining internal motivations. With social learning environments so tightly tied to student success, it is the disenfranchised and disengaged that need this type of support to succeed. Helen
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janetb
Hi Helen,
Your elevator pitch is engaging and thoughtfully laid out. You made a good argument for the need for celebrating our successes and providing us with a visual reminder of what collecting badges used to be like. I think you are right that having a way to “display” one’s badges online could be trend that catches on.
Good luck with your venture!
Janet-
HJDeW
Thanks Janet…. as a former special education teacher who worked with students who just needed to be able to show off some accomplishments, this product caught my attention.
Helen
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Claire Burgoyne
Hi Helen,
Your pitch for LB4U is well done. You sound excited about this venture and clearly explain its features and why you believe it’s beneficial. As I understand it LB4U supports extrinsic motivation which isn’t the trend in educational reform efforts. That said, some people do like to collect stuff and having the option to accumulate badges may appeal to some. I’m just not convinced that the opportunity to participate in LB4U will contribute to student engagement and lead to meaningful learning.
Claire-
HJDeW
Claire, I respect that on philosophical grounds there may be many who would not invest or purchase this product. It provides and external symbol for something that should be internal and intrinsic. The mechanism for creating something that explicitly demonstrates what others have achieved, especially those whom a learner may respect and look up to, will give some students the goal and learning path to achieve more than they would otherwise. Just look at what is happening at the Olympics! I watched young divers watching the bronze medal winners today and aspiring to follow their path. Learning badges are just another way for ‘expert’ learners to model and show the way.
Helen
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gregcamp
Hi Helen, you can hear in your pitch that you are passionate about your venture and believe in it. I like the idea of the badges that can be displayed online to celebrate success. I think this is likely a market more targeted towards elementary school students and as an investor I need to know how I am going to make money and I need convincing that this product wouldn’t just be a fad and disappear within a short timeframe.
Greg
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HJDeW
Greg, the market would not be limited to elementary students, but that would be part of the potential market. It would be marketed to individual learners at the adult, higher ed level first, and move cautiously into younger learners (with research and design being done to ensure that it is the right move, of course !!). I see this as being ‘sold’ to individuals just as the ‘certificate’ or ‘transcript’ are currently ‘sold’ to learners by their learning organizations. It would be a value-added to the ‘award’ for achievements gained. So, once I receive my certificate from MET, I can migrated my info to the secure LB4U site and there receive the digital images of my courses and achievements which I can then show and share to the world…. does that make sense?
It can also them be embedded into my resume when I go out job hunting for those elusive ed/tech jobs OR be incorporated into my CEO blog/web presence for all to view. Bragging a little, yes! Sharing my path of success for others to emulate, perhaps!
Four square is not a fad and look how people are flocking to earn badges and share their social activities with others. This is the leading edge of a potential tsunami! Jump in before you get swept away.
Have I convinced you to invest! Hope your funds are in transit! 🙂
Helen
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chrisaitken
I think that with the increase of PLE style learning badges will become mainstream. The market probably won’t be for courses like ETEC 522 which are part of a credentialing program, but for learning that takes place through social participation on the web. There is the potential for people to learn anything they want on the web without the help of teachers and courses and this valid learning should be recognized somehow.
However, with Mozilla Foundation already establish an open framework for badges I wonder where the revenue stream would come from. Is funding possible through a Canadian government agency? Perhaps. But without detailed information on the business model I might wait and see what transpires with badges through the open source movement.
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HJDeW
Chris, waiting could potentially leave you out of the windfall once this product hits mainstream. LB4U is positioned to make the most of the OBI by working in partnership with learning organizations (such as UBC) and with learners to provide secure, transfer of data and achievements -rather than each individual applying to UBC for their learning badges on completion, this will be streamlined and design of the badges would be done by LB4U (with approval and control of brand by the learning organization). We are the ‘go-between’ just as Facebook is social media. OBI is the mechanism, hence the proposed partnership with Mozilla in R&D, but our proprietary work in display and design would be where the actual money to be made resides. Hope you don’t miss this ‘boat’. Invest in learners today!
Helen
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lisamallen
Hi Helen,
It’s clear that you are passionate about your venture and you have really backed up the ideas presented with theory (which is comforting as an investor). I would have liked to have seen more information on your competition and what sets you apart from them.
Overall, great pitch!
Lisa
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HJDeW
Thanks Lisa, your feedback is appreciated. There are a few competitors in this ‘business’ in the US, but none in the Canadian marketplace, that I discovered. But cross-boarder, internet based businesses are not uncommon so it is worth investigating further.
I guess what really sets LB4U apart is our knowledge and experience in the Canadian education field. Hope that is enough to keep Canadians buying and supporting Canadian ventures.
Helen
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maybacon
Hi Helen,
You make an excellent presentation and exude enthusiasm for your venture. Although some may have philosophical reservations about this type of venture, several people could benefit from having markers for signaling and commemorating their achievements. As an investor, I would be concerned with the philosophical issue, which has already been cause for criticism among existing reward systems (such as the one available through Khan Academy). Nevertheless, I believe that this kind of motivation will play an important role in the future of education.
Excellent pitch and good luck with this venture!
May
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HJDeW
Thanks for the feedback May. I appreciate your honest opinion.
Helen
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Leonora Zefi
Your enthusiasm and confidence in this venture came through your pitch Helen. You clearly articulate what B4U plans to do and what it needs to be successful.
Concept and Marketability
I think the concept of B4U to validate and celebrate learner success is a good one. I can see market opportunities for this venture in being incorporated in electronic portfolio applications and as you have pointed out, strategic partnerships are absolutely crucial for venture success.Venture plan and financials
Your plan is well thought out and your venture analysis is very thorough.Thanks,
Leonora-
HJDeW
Thanks Leonora, your feedback is helpful. I’ll look forward to our continued venture relationship when we meet to ‘share the funds’. 🙂
Helen
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Leonora Zefi
Sounds good to me Helen 🙂
Leonora -
ping
Hi Helen,
Great pitch! Your idea is totally innovative to me, for I’ve never heard about such kind of service in my country, but I believe there is a sure market waiting there. Online badge service could be provided cross-country depending on their international reputation, therefore I believe your venture has a prospective potential in global market, with global competitors as well as you have pointed out.
You elevator pitch is very engaging, which instantly catch my attention. I can’t help imaging how much children and other learners will like these lovely badges shown on their websites. Your venture plan is very informative, with professional demonstration of your solution, marketing strategy and financial consideration. I like the “For Profit” chart in the financial overview section, only with a little confusion of what the numbers represents: do they mean the number or users, or the number of badge you plan to release, or the estimated revenue in $million?
From an investor’s point of view, I think your early awareness of Canadian DLB market is a great advantage, but for a long-term competition, I would hope to find more differential advantages on both technical and marketing level. The use of Mozilla OBI platform can be copied by other ventures, what will make yours different relies on your post-developed innovations upon the platform. The postion of LB4U in the DLB ecosystem is somewhat not anchored a little bit.
I think you have an excellent awareness of partnership, that shows how you qualified to lead this venture. I just wonder how you will weave these partners within your framework. Your services are 2-sided, both to badge issuers and to badge displayers. That give you double chances of profit. But how about the 2 sides connect directly? I know many universities hold a system of their own to serve degree badge (and other details) inquiry. You need to make more differences to intercept in these services and redirect both sides to the LB4U platform.
Excellent job for a hopeful venture!
Ping
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danishaw
Helen,
I found the idea behind your venture to be unique and interesting. You provided a great deal of content based on sound research. As is evident from most of our peer’s presentations, this can be a difficult feat; well done!
Good luck with your venture,
Danielle
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Meggan Crawford 6:32 pm on July 30, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Brian,
As a potential investor I am very interested in your venture. There are often platforms that need adjustments made, rather than replacement, and I am curious to see how ECS would manage those daunting tasks.
I think that the key to your venture is keeping the retrofits of the platforms simple – if these new tools require a great deal of training or cause a lot of frustration ECS is not likely to thrive. If, however, these retrofits improve access to and use of existing tools they are worthwhile. At the same time, there is likely to be some negative reaction to these retrofits, as some teachers will likely balk at the idea of having to learn a new interface. My key question about your venture is how a new ‘face’ for a program can make it into something that meets the needs of schools, governments, etc. For example, you give the example of BCesis and how it has not met the needs/goals of any party, but how will a retrofit make it suddenly work? This may be my lack of programming knowledge, but I am curious nonetheless!
Other than that, it was great to see your short and long term goals as it clearly laid out the direction that ECS hopes to take. It might help to give a bit more context for how these goals will be met (i.e. how do you overcome competition to become the leader!).
Great work – thanks for sharing the ideas!
-Meggan
p.s. You probably want to check the spelling of opportunity at the 15second mark of your venture pitch 🙂 (Now Fixed–Brian)
Donna Forward 11:04 pm on July 30, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hello Brian,
You really have a great idea here. I know that BCesis is not well liked by many teachers and you offer a good money saving venture that is very convincing. I believe that you could actually make a go at this. You have really done your homework and researched this topic well. Your argument for the company is truly credible.
If I had to be picky, there was one point during your presentation where the music was louder than your voice and I had to strain to follow but otherwise, a very professional presentation.
I would invest in Electronic Classroom Solutions!
Donna
(Typo fixed in Video)
gregcamp 8:33 pm on July 31, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Brian, as an investor and teacher I am interested in learning more about your product as it sounds like you have a great idea that has real merit. The difficulty I see if having the ministry or school boards by into your idea. Great job
Greg
Allan 11:50 pm on July 31, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Brian,
As an investor, this is a very impressive presentation, and I am interested in investing in your product!
I like the concept and business plan of ECS as a startup that provides retrofitting software and services to existing student management systems. Your elevator and venture pitches is really convincing in showing ECS as a successful platform that bypasses BCesis’s interface and that of other SMS’s.
The presentations were very energetic presentation – music is important – and you brought out the best of your slides and statistics. Your argument is also convincing — the fact that you did some really hard good research on the BC Government is fantastic – I’m glad you touched on its need for an alternative – the government is a good buyer.
Your technology is also a great validation — open source. It’s a low-cost effective technology, and efficient with low overhead costs. I especially am impressed by your 3-5 year picture. As an investor, knowing that ECS has a chance to prosper in a $7.5 million dollar market, as you pointed out, assures some of my hesitations and piques my curiosity as an investor.
Well done!
Allan
Denise 10:25 am on August 1, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
HI Brian,
I too was impressed with your elevator and venture pitch. Both were punchy and the music really did generate a passion for the venture. I enjoyed “meeting” you in the elevator pitch and so felt really comforatable watching the venture pitch without seeing you again.
I thought you answered painpoint, solution, differentiation and really provided a clear idea of ask and return as well as convincing about the team.
I am not from Canada and so don’t know a lot about BCesis, but your pitches made me very keen to learn more and considering investing. You emphasised partnerships and opportunities that made the venure seem less risky too.
Denise
Kenton Hemsing 12:30 pm on August 1, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Brian,
You have put together a fantastic, effective and well researched pitch for your company. I am interested in learning more about how you are going to retrofit and make the student information systems more user friendly and intuitive for the end users. I thought that you did a great job in creating a rock solid reason, solution and expansion opportunity for your company. Well done.
However, as this topic is a bit out of my expertise, I feel that I could not invest without doing a lot more research myself and totally understanding the market you are venturing into, nothing to do with any weaknesses in your pitches.
Thanks,
Kenton
Danielle Dubien 6:51 pm on August 1, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Brian,
The quality of your pitches is amazing! Great use of music, pictures and narration!
You’ve convinced me that there is a financial need for your service.
You differentiated your own venture well from the others. How do you manage to keep your costs so much lower than those of Pearson? Is it all because of your use of open source products?
Once your services are used by different clients, what ensures ongoing viability of the venture?
I wish I knew more about your topic to be able to make more comments. All in all, I think your pitches are extremely done and definitely worth an investment! I would have little, if anything to contribute to your company because I know nothing about the topic, so the only contribution I could make would be financial. It would better serve you to have someone else invest.
Cheers,
Dan
Brian H 8:00 am on August 3, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Danielle wrote “How do you manage to keep your costs so much lower than those of Pearson? Is it all because of your use of open source products?”
Thank you for your questions. We can keep our costs low as our interface is open source and the retrofit software is a simple program that logs the new interface into school’s existing management system. Schools really only pay for a small adapter between the old and new systems rather than a complete overhaul. Training costs are less as the new system is based on web 2.0 standards with the usability consistent to social networking sites.
Great question!
Brian
mariefrancehetu 3:54 pm on August 2, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hello Brian,
Well done! I think your elevator pitch was well done, you chose your words carefully and rendered your message clearly. Your use of images, video and screen captures was very well-balanced and well-suited to your subject matter.
Your venture pitch was equally well done, it looked quite professional. The only improvement I could note was the soiund quality, sometimes it sounded as if your recordings were of lower quality, thus providing a less homogenous presentation.
Your message was clear, your subject well researched. If I were an administrator within a school board I would certainly consider investing in your venture. You cleverly outlined the need and solution and convincingly outlined the gap left by competition.
I would definetely be interested in meeting with you for further discussions and possible partnerships.
Cheers!
Marie-France
HJDeW 8:16 am on August 3, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
David, this venture has merit and potential within a BC educational environment, with growth into other SMS locations (eg. Ontario). The look and feel of the product appeared user friendly and intuitive, but I wondered if market research or beta-testing on the ECS environment was conducted?
Within the elevator pitch, your passion and commitment to the product was evident and compelling. It was good to have your visible presence as a lead-in to the venture information. Nicely done.
Helen