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  • ddubien 11:48 pm on July 29, 2012
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    Tags: experimentation, postsecondary education, science   

    Hi all, If you’re interested in a venture dealing with postsecondary science, have a look at my venture pitch and proposition, both available here: https://blogs.ubc.ca/dubienetec565a/2012/07/29/etec-522-venture-forum/ Cheers, Dan

    Continue reading Hi all, If you’re interested in a ventu… Posted in: Venture Forum
     

    • jtpatry 12:16 pm on July 30, 2012 | Log in to Reply

      Hi Danielle,

      Thanks for sharing your pitches! I can recall back to my high schol science days and you describe exactly how it was, and I never pursued much after that. Your pitches are very well put together and I think would be of interest to the market targeted. I think Youtube will give you some solid competition as there are many videos on there that relate to some of the content of your proposal.

      Thanks,

      Jon

      • Danielle Dubien 11:25 pm on August 5, 2012 | Log in to Reply

        Hi Jon,
        It’s too bad you got turned off of sciences. Sometimes it’s the teacher’s own fears or negativity that cause students to lose interest. That’s why one of the values I highlighted in my venture description was the need to instill confidence. A lot of the time, science students are just as afraid as anyone else of making mistakes in the lab, and proper instruction and the right attitude can change that.

        I mentioned that YouTube videos are a threat. However, as I said elsewhere on this page, my videos would be done professionally, with proper safety procedures and with a pedagogically sound foundation.

        Thanks for your comments!
        Danielle

    • Allan 6:17 pm on July 30, 2012 | Log in to Reply

      Hi Danielle,

      These are excellent pitches. For your venture pitch, I especially felt the effectiveness of the SWOT analysis. Certainly as CEO I trust that your knowledge and expertise of science is strong. I’m glad you touched on your experience in science education as a teacher’s assistant in chemistry labs and courses and also as an instructional designer of multimedia courses for high school in a variety of science subjects. I’m most impressed that as an investor, you have assured me with the financial analysis. You argue that the aim is to sell 200 modules in the first year for a gross profit of $180 000, and to achieve an increase in sales of 30% for the following year and renewal of licenses starting in the third year.

      Allan

    • gregcamp 9:29 pm on July 30, 2012 | Log in to Reply

      Hi Danielle,

      Thanks for sharing your venture pitches. It is difficult for me to comment on your venture as I have an extremely limited science background. You sound like you are very qualified to act as CEO and your background would bring credibility to investors. Your PP was not very fluid as I had to click through the various slides and so I would be maybe try to create a timed PP or use a different program for your pitch.

      Greg

      • Danielle Dubien 11:17 pm on August 5, 2012 | Log in to Reply

        Hi Greg, thanks for your comments.
        Ideally, I would have experimented with a variety of media for the venture pitch, but I wanted to see what I could do with PPT. Also, as I explain in a lower response, the extra clicking was purposeful. It was meant to break up the pitch into sections that were easy to search through for someone who wanted to repeat certain parts. With more content, the purpose of this format would have been more evident, but it’s still something I wanted to try. A nice alternative that I saw was Voicethread, and I’ll be experimenting with that soon.

        Cheers,
        Danielle

    • janetb 7:34 am on July 31, 2012 | Log in to Reply

      Hi Danielle,

      A very well thought out and laid out venture. You provided the viewer with evidence of a need in the system, a solution, your credibility, sound financial reasoning and possible issues with the venture. I think you covered everything comprehensively. I agree that there is a need in the market, but also agree with the threats you listed. YouTube and professor reluctance might cause the venture problems. Consulting with a marketing specialist might provide some insight on how to present your product in a way that could overcome those possible threats.

      Overall, a very well written venture.
      Janet

      • Danielle Dubien 11:34 pm on August 5, 2012 | Log in to Reply

        Hi Janet,
        The thing that I feel this venture needs the most is what you mentioned: someone with experience in marketing. It would take a lot of skill to know how to approach just the right people without offending them by saying that their courses need to be improved. In the institutions where I make sales, I would follow up and see how well the students perform. If the results are strong enough, I could prove that my materials add value to the course content. The institutions could use this information in ther own marketing and attract more students.

        Thanks for your comments!
        Danielle

    • chrisaitken 7:38 am on July 31, 2012 | Log in to Reply

      Hi Danielle

      I think there is definitely a market for this idea. Your venture pitch did a great job of leaving me wanting to know more. You establish some credibility with the description of your background. I would need to know more about the competition after your product differentiation. With the wealth of open educational resources available investors would need to be convinced that the quality of your learning material far exceeds what is freely available on the web.

      • Danielle Dubien 10:41 pm on August 5, 2012 | Log in to Reply

        Hi Chris,

        Thanks for your interest! Here’s information about my competitors and ways in which my content would be different.

        Brigham Young University offers fantastic simulations, but the licenses are more expensive than mine. BYU’s forums are not used at all for discussion, whereas I would strongly encourage forum use for collaborative purposes.

        MIT offers free courses on a lot of experimental science topics for graduates and undergraduates, but in my venture, I would cover more topics and I would be showing links between theory and practice. MIT also doesn’t appear to have any place for students to communicate, but they may have a forum for active classes.

        There are a lot of experimental science videos on Youtube, but they may not be pedagogically sound, and there may be safety issues if the videos are created in an amateur fashion. They would not cover the same amount of material as I would and my material would all be in one place, eliminating time lost in searching for necessary information.

        I hope that helps!
        Danielle

    • Claire Burgoyne 4:35 pm on July 31, 2012 | Log in to Reply

      Hi Danielle,
      In your pitch you establish that you’re well qualified to lead this venture and clearly describe the need for students to prepare for labs. I was left questioning the need for Prep Labs as I wonder how well received by institutions this idea would be. I don’t have experience in post secondary science courses but understand that some if not all institutions require that students attend each science course for a total of six hours weekly. Lectures account for three hours per week and labs for the remaining three. Does lecture time includes preparation for labs? It’s hard for me to imagine that students go into labs without being required to prepare. These questions sent me to your venture proposal looking for answers.

      Reviewing your proposal answered my questions and convinced me that your idea is well thought out with benefits to students clearly defined. You outline the requirements for a team of professionals and suggest that office space may be needed. You also note the requirement for a lab. Your cost estimates may be low as they seem to include only wages not equipment purchases or rentals, and rental of office space, lab space, and insurance. You also address obstacles to the marketability of the venture but it’s not clear how you will meet these challenges. With a cost of $900.00 per module you’ll need a convincing marketing strategy that clearly defines the benefits of Prep Labs to institutions. At this time I would not invest in this venture.
      Claire

      • Danielle Dubien 10:57 pm on August 5, 2012 | Log in to Reply

        Hi Claire,

        Thanks for responding. The cost for the licenses in my venture is on par with that charged by Brigham Young University, where site licenses cost between $850 and $1050 for an unknown length of time. Considering that a Teaching Assistant’s salary is about $4500 per semester, the licenses don’t cost very much for the value they would bring.

        Given that this venture would be just one project launched by my company, the costs that are unaccounted for would be taken care of using funds that I have accumulated. The cost estimates that I made are strictly related to this venture, but the remaining resources could be used for other purposes within my company.

        As for marketing issues, I would hire someone for that purpose. There are a lot of administration and accounting tasks that would need to be taken care of by people trained specifically in those fields.

        Even if these arguments are not enough to convince you of the worth of my venture, I thank you for presenting these points, which allowed me to discuss them in greater detail.

        Thanks again for your comments.
        Danielle

    • ping 9:50 am on August 1, 2012 | Log in to Reply

      Hi Danielle,

      I like your idea. I think you are very qualified to lead this venture, and I can see that design of lab & course supporting materials will have optimistic market out there. From an EVA point of view, I’d like to see a more fluid elevator pitch such as a video rather than slides. I’ve faced this issue myself, my tip is that you can use QuickTime Player to capture the screen while playing your PPT, and then you can export a video from the player.

      For the proposition of your venture, I would like to know more information about the targeted market. Why do you eliminate the pre-secondary market from your scope? As I know, the content of K-12 education is more standard than the high education, that will make a larger group of users for your products at each release. The buyer is not clear to me too. I wonder if a professor will buy your modules out of his own pocket, or an academic board will be involved to make the purchase. I think different professors might have different style of teaching, so they would probably more like tailored materials rather than common ones. Has your venture prepared for customization? How does it impact on the business mode? On the other hand, if your buyers include students, will you sell your products by single module besides the bunch package? Generally, I doubt that students will prepare their lab works based on non-free materials, I’d like to see more details about differentiation and competition of this venture to alternatives.

      Ping

      • Danielle Dubien 12:57 pm on August 1, 2012 | Log in to Reply

        Hi Ping,
        Thanks for the information about video creation, but the use of PPT for the venture pitch was deliberate. When I was analysing pitches at the start of the course, I found myself having to replay the pitches over and over to get specific information. This way, the listener only needs to replay the sections that he or she is curious about.

        It turns out that short clips made it easier to control the sound quality. I had to record many times before I could get prevent there from being loud static noises. For this reason, a video taping of me was definitely out of the question because the audio would have been impossible to deal with. I wanted a pitch that, at the minimum, had my voice in it, so I wasn’t going to play catchy music while showing the content. The pictures are not moving around either, because I want the listener focused on what I’m saying. In fact, both ventures are presented using a the principles I mention in the proposition.

        Why not market this venture to the K-12 system? High school science labs are, by definition, supported by teachers, as opposed to higher education where students are supposed to be more independent. The problem I’m highlighting in my ventture description is that TOO much independence is given to the students. They still need some support. As for K-8 labs, I think the product would have to be targeted at teachers rather than students. Students of that age shouldn’t be asked to go through multimedia material on their own. I would have to come up with something that can be integrated into science lessons done at school and that also helps the teacher to learn the science better, given that the majority of primary teachers don’t have a science background.

        As for the buyer, some profs may have a budget for teaching expenses, but none are certainly going to pay out of their own pocket. The main target is department heads who can get into contact with instructors, and together make decisions about purchases.

        Customization is achieved by discussing different equipment that can be used for the same type of experiment. I would be doing research on different ways of teaching the same experiments. Organic chemistry equipment is fairly standard, and first year labs and courses usually cover the same material. Beyond that, there is more differentiation. To address this, some of the modules could contain more labs such that the instructors choose which ones are suited to their needs. The cost for producing more videos would of course be higher, but that’s why there would only be 8 modules released at a time – to figure out how the product is received, and to make more money to re-invest in creating the next set of modules. Students aren’t meant to be buyers. I believe I mentioned that in the last segment of the venture pitch.

        Thanks for being so thorough!

    • lisamallen 11:10 am on August 2, 2012 | Log in to Reply

      Hi Danielle,

      I don’t have much to add to what everyone else here has already pointed out. Just wanted to say that this is a great pitch and is clearly well-thoughout. I would invest.

      Cheers,

      Lisa

    • maybacon 11:38 am on August 2, 2012 | Log in to Reply

      Hi Danielle,

      This is a good idea that could save colleges a lot of prep time and money. I really like the idea of establishing understanding of experiments before having students perform them, since it establishes students’ prior knowledge without the expense of using materials for the initial trial. As someone who liked to understand what her science experiments were about instead of just writing painstaking (and sometimes nonsensical) lab reports, I certainly could have benefitted from this product.

      All the best,
      May

      • Danielle Dubien 11:42 pm on August 5, 2012 | Log in to Reply

        Hi May,
        There’s a lot of lab work that I did blindly. Luckily, as a TA, I got the chance to learn many skills that I didn’t as un undergrad. When you’re supervising other students, you realise just how much unnecessary stress the students feel. That stress doesn’t make them better scientists, and it doesn’t make students better at figuring things out on their own. Unfortunately, a lot of professors don’t understand this and think that the current way of doing things makes students more independent. As such, there is definitely a marketing challenge in showing how helpful this venture is. The solution might be to show a lot of facts and hard evidence of what the students need and what skills are sought by employers.

        Take care,
        Danielle

    • danishaw 10:12 am on August 4, 2012 | Log in to Reply

      Danielle,
      I thoroughly enjoyed reviewing your pitch and venture analysis for I believe it was well thought out and delivered. You have a solid idea based on experience and expertise within scientific community and have based the majority of your project on research-based evidence and theory. I appreciate that you have incorporated some of the theory and applications learned throughout the MET program and I t is evident that you are able to apply such to varying learning environments. Although you do mention the fact that videos are available on YouTube I think that having textbook companies and/or school-specific videos custom created will differentiate your product from that of the competition. I hope you further pursue this en-devour for I believe it is a worthwhile venture. Well done and all the best in the future!
      Danielle B.

      • Danielle Dubien 11:45 pm on August 5, 2012 | Log in to Reply

        Thanks for your encouragement Danielle! Every time I create educational content, I try to see what research applies so that I can make it as effective as possible. There’s still a lot to learn!

        The best to you as well!
        Danielle

  • ddubien 4:36 pm on June 2, 2012
    0 votes
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    Tags: embodied learning, game, , kinesthetic, media, research, science   

    SMALLab stands for Situated Multimedia Arts Learning Lab and it was founded by an interdisciplinary team at Arizona State University led by the CEO, David Birchfield. Birchfield has a Doctorate in Music and a background in digital media and performance.   He and his team do research on games, K-12 education, assessment, digital media programming, […]

    Continue reading SMALLab Posted in: Week 04: Entrepreneur Bootcamp
     

    • sheza 10:28 pm on June 2, 2012 | Log in to Reply

      I hadn’t heard of SMALLab before you posted this profile, and I think it is fantastic! When Smart Boards came into the classroom it changed the way teachers taught and I think that SMALLabs has the potential to do the same. I liked the introductory video on their main website and I was happy to hear of the the developers say that it is not meant to replace teachers, but enhance teaching methods. I am also happy to read that it has been developed by highly qualified researchers in the subject field related to the game developed. This is definitely something I can see more schools buying into within the next 5 years. I think it will explode into the public education system just like Smart Boards did and CEO David Birchfield will be a very happy man then 🙂

      • mariefrancehetu 5:02 am on June 3, 2012 | Log in to Reply

        Hi Sheza,

        I totally agree with you . . . in my own mind any and all technology should not replace the teacher, but enhance teaching and learning methods. I feel SMALLab has great potential to do both. I would absolutely love to have access to these tools for teaching second languages to adults – what a great way it would be to present grammar concepts intreactively – or help students discover how the brain works when translating a word or understand the physicality of pronunciation (how the palate, tongue and lips work together when pronouncing)! I feel using this form of technology to increase embodied learning experiences has endless possibilities.

        Marie-France

    • mariefrancehetu 4:53 am on June 3, 2012 | Log in to Reply

      Hello,

      I think SMALLLab is an extraordinary learning venture and has tremendous potential to transform the school classroom. My vision and understanding of embodied learning so far has been ‘hands on’ experiences where students actually manipulate material, using their sense of smell, touch, vision, hearing and thus ‘feeling’ the learning experience in a holistic way. It is possible to handle physical objects for many subjects taught, but many principles remain abstract or untangible and this type of ‘virtual’ embodied experience, I believe, could help students experience embodied learning when exposed to these concepts. Out of all the ventures presented here, this is the one I find the most impressive and the one with the most potential. Not only would I certainly invest in this venture, but I feel excited at the thought that this embodied virtual lab could some day become part of all classrooms.

      I also thought that David Birchfield’s presentation was excellent. As a speaker he reached out to the audience with confidence, portrayed himself as a regular guy with an extraordinary idea and concept to share. His use of a PPT was well used to support his presentation.

      I don’t teach K-12 anymore, but ventures like this one almost make me want to become a primary or high school teacher again . . .
      I think it is high time we change the set up of classrooms – the traditional way being student desks on one side of the room (usually in rows) and the teacher at one end. Classrooms need to be more dynamic, they need to become a learning lab and the ‘SMALLab’ concept explores that idea.

      Thank you for sharing this learning venture!

      Marie-France

  • troos 8:28 pm on May 8, 2012
    0 votes
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    Tags: , , moodle, Nature, science, ,   

    Greetings all: I am looking forward to learning with you all through this course.  It is one of my 5th and 6th MET courses I am taking this semester (also taking 530).  Nice to see a few familiar names but I look forward to getting to know each of you.  I am a senior secondary […]

    Continue reading Hello from Tim Roos Posted in: Uncategorized
     

    • Dennis Pratt 9:16 pm on May 8, 2012 | Log in to Reply

      Hey Tim;

      I will have to bounce some ideas off of you as I am the new technology coordinator for our school this coming year. No-one has been doing it before me. We will see how it goes. Enjoy the term.

      Dennis

      • troos 4:24 pm on May 10, 2012 | Log in to Reply

        Hi Dennis:

        I’d be glad to help where I can. So far my experiences have been a combination of installing/integrating hardware such as projectors, interactive whiteboards, document cameras and doing Pro-D sessions on Moodle use and interactive whiteboard use.

        Tim

    • dubiend 12:09 am on May 9, 2012 | Log in to Reply

      Hi Tim,
      You’re in a K-12 school? I’d like to hear about how that works!

      Which science courses are you taking? I bet that using tech tools makes those subjects easier to teach! There are some abstract concepts in higher-level chemistry and physics that are much easier to explain with the help of graphics and animations.

      • troos 4:20 pm on May 10, 2012 | Log in to Reply

        Hi Danielle:

        The K-12 school concept works great for us. We have a total of about 400 students separated into three main buildings. We share computer labs, music and art facilities and gym. Under one main administrative umbrella we have vice principals for each of the three sections.

        I am currently teaching Science 10, Chemistry 11 and 12 and Biology 11 and 12 as science courses. I also teach Math Principles 12. Technology access has definitely made teaching more interesting for both the teacher and the student. I’ve also used animations in Biology with good success. I also have an extensive set of Pasco Probeware that I try to integrate in labs. Next year I am looking forward to using a class set of dedicated netbooks in my instruction. Really looking forward to see how that goes.

        Tim

    • chrisaitken 6:53 am on May 9, 2012 | Log in to Reply

      Good seeing you again Tim.

      • troos 4:27 pm on May 10, 2012 | Log in to Reply

        Hi Chris

        Our project in 511 seemed to work out well. I look forward to working with you again in this course.

        Tim

    • bpgore 8:08 pm on May 10, 2012 | Log in to Reply

      Hi Tim,
      Good to see another science/math teacher.
      Looking forward to working with you.
      Bridget

    • mackenzie 3:42 pm on May 13, 2012 | Log in to Reply

      Hi Tim,
      Great to see you again! You are going to love 530. Take some time to get to know Von Glaserfeld as he has some interesting points of view on teaching science. I am looking forward to working with you again.
      Cheers, Mac

  • Sherman Lee 10:04 pm on May 7, 2012
    0 votes
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    Tags: Business, , , , science, Sherman,   

    Good evening fellow classmates! My name is Sherman Lee. I had been popping in and out of this blog throughout today and I saw quite a number of familiar names (glad to see you all again) and many new names as well (nice to meet you). I am a full-time insurance instructor under the business […]

    Continue reading Introducing: Sherman Lee Posted in: Uncategorized
     

    • Dave Horn 10:35 pm on May 7, 2012 | Log in to Reply

      Hi Again Sherman

      It looks like you are joining a number of us crazies who taking a couple of courses and working as well. Should be entertaining.

      Look forward to working with you

      Dave

      • Sherman Lee 2:32 pm on May 13, 2012 | Log in to Reply

        Hi Dave,

        Yes, it will be a very interesting journey these few months! I do look forward to working with you this term. Let’s see if we have the luck of being on the same team this time.

        Sherman

    • Claire Burgoyne 10:38 pm on May 7, 2012 | Log in to Reply

      Hi Sherman,
      You have some interesting challenges ahead. It sounds like your timing with taking this course is perfect.

      Claire

      • Sherman Lee 2:35 pm on May 13, 2012 | Log in to Reply

        Hi Claire,

        Yes, I do think this is the perfect timing for this course. I am certain that the lessons I learn from this course and from all of you will help benefit me for more than just this one project though.

        Sherman

    • vawells 12:00 pm on May 8, 2012 | Log in to Reply

      Hi Sherman
      Nice to see you again. I am also taking 2 courses this term and expect to be very busy. I did 530 last term and really enjoyed it. Good luck with the course work. I look forward to learning with you again this term.
      Valerie

      • Sherman Lee 2:36 pm on May 13, 2012 | Log in to Reply

        Hi Valerie,

        I will be looking for your hints later this term about 530 perhaps 🙂 Hope we get to work in collaboration more often this term!

        Sherman

    • shawnharris 2:00 pm on May 8, 2012 | Log in to Reply

      Hey Sherman,
      Good to see you on this side! All the best with both courses!

      Shawn

      • Sherman Lee 2:38 pm on May 13, 2012 | Log in to Reply

        Hi Shawn,

        Hey good to see you here too! I am rather lucky to have others who takes exactly the same courses with me this term 🙂 Looking forward to working with you for the next few months!

        Sherman

    • Danielle 9:35 pm on May 8, 2012 | Log in to Reply

      Hi Sherman, nice to meet you! And good luck with 2 courses! I am also doing 2 so we can perhaps enjoy an insane moment or two together! Your background will bring a unique perspective to the course. I am looking forward to hearing more! Danielle

      • Sherman Lee 2:42 pm on May 13, 2012 | Log in to Reply

        Hi Danielle,

        Yes, we can certainly celebrate those insane moments together and perhaps cheer after we have successfully finished this course! I hope I will be able to contribute different ideas to this course in a beneficial manner. I would love to hear more from you as we move on as well!

        Sherman

    • lisamallen 2:01 pm on May 9, 2012 | Log in to Reply

      Hi Sherman,

      Nice to see you again! Looking forward to working with you this term!

      Cheers,

      Lisa

    • ping 12:00 pm on May 13, 2012 | Log in to Reply

      Hi Sherman, your projects ahead sounds very challenging, and right on-site for this course. Hope to hear your ideas, especially those you find just blocking your project’s way. Those we would have to face and solve too. Looking forward to working with you!

      • Sherman Lee 3:20 pm on May 13, 2012 | Log in to Reply

        Hello Ping,

        I will definitely share them. In fact, I think one thing that challenges me most right now is the fact that I do not know a thing about claims. I have had several years of background in insurance, but because I am working with the claims project now (there’s a huge gap between the two) I have a really steep learning curve to go through. Not to mention that I feel that I have a lack of contact for me to leverage knowledge off of (which I think is delaying my learning if we look at it from a constructivist point of view). I’ll update you more on this 🙂 perhaps it would shed some light on our work this up coming term!

        Sherman

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