Hi all, Here’s my one-minute pitch, and my venture pitch. Thank you for your patience. Comments are welcome! carmen
Continue reading Hi all, Here’s my one-minute pitch, and… Posted in: Week 13: Venture Forum
ccheung
Toggle Comment Threads | Keyboard Shortcuts
-
ccheung
-
ccheung
Ghostery Survey Summary Thank you for your participation in the Ghostery activity. Here are the results! Diversity of Web Analytic Tools: From the 12 participants, 29 different tools were identified in addition to the 8 mentioned in the survey Type of websites with the most Analytic Tools: Participants’ expectation before installing Ghostery Most analytic tools […]
Continue reading Ghostery Survey Summary Thank you for yo… Posted in: Week 12: Social Analytics-
mcquaid
In a “tracking our own course” sense… only nine of us completed the survey? I wonder if there was something wrong with the survey, as I completed the survey on Monday night, I think (after visiting all my usual sites), and I think I voted for the 6-10 tools range. Curious.
-
-
ccheung
Welcome to week 12! Â During this week we are going to examine Social Analytics and its applications in education. Â To get started, please go to our presentation for an introduction to what Social Analytics. All the activities are listed on our activities page. Hope we’ll have a great week together. Cheers, Alice, Carmen, David, Kerry-Ann
Continue reading Welcome to week 12! Â During this week we… Posted in: Week 12: Social Analytics -
ccheung
Discussion #2: Accessibility to Education For some, the iPad might be a luxury tool, but for others, it could be essential. I was watching a documentary about Steve Jobs the other day, and saw how iPad apps have helped learners with autism. The mom almost broke into tears of joy as she explained how […]
Continue reading Discussion #2: Accessibility to Educatio… Posted in: Week 09: iPad Apps-
Everton Walker
Carmen,
Great to hear about the success stories. You mentioned portability which is key to new technologies. Manufacturers are realizing that people are always on the go and need to do important things while doing so. I recently gave up my stationary modem for a portable one and it makes life so much easier. I think price is a major factor too and even durability and children using it as a tool. I think some special ones should be made for education purposes.
Everton
-
Angela Novoa
Hi Carmen and Everton,
thanks for sharing your thoughts and providing different ways in which iPads can be useful. Portability indeed is one of its major benefits. I think that new technologies are advancing so fast that maybe the new versions of iPads (or other tablets) will be everyday smaller until they become the same as the current smart phones, but with better capabilities. Thoughts?
Angela.
-
Kristopher
Hi all,
Carmen, thanks for sharing your thoughts on the potential for this market. It’s always easiest to think how we could use the technology ourselves (often an enhancer of our lives), but then to consider the same technology as a tool (such as a voice) for someone is a completely different way to conceptualize it.
Angela, I think that Apple did just that with the iPhone (a super powerful handheld machine), but eventually realized that our bodies (eye sight and input devices i.e. fingers) couldn’t use that much smaller a device and still be effective. I think that the machines won’t get smaller, but they will become increasingly power until just about the point of bursting legs:)
Kristopher
-
Angela Novoa
Hi Kristopher,
If it will be as you think, I will be really happy. I think that it is because my small mobile device that now I have to use glasses 🙂Angela.
-
-
carmen
Hi Everton, Angela and Kristopher,
Thanks for your comments. I’m sure Apple and other tablets will improve in portability in the future. I agree with Kristopher that it probably shouldn’t get any smaller… but it’d be nice if we can roll up our screen and bring it everywhere we go…! It’s going to be a wise magic scroll that we can have conversation with! (Sorry, imagination running wild here.)
I do feel that the device will continue to improve. With more advanced tools, we will continue to think of new ways of solving problems to fill a need. However, sometimes I feel that I tend to “take things as it is” and miss the “pain point” which could be turned into a market niche. Maybe it takes practice. 🙂
carmen
-
-
ccheung
Google just introduced the Chromebook, a netbook that is tailored for classroom use. The idea is that with all basic programs and files in the clouds, Chromebook can be turned on or “woken up” from sleep mode in seconds. Open Chromebook when you need it, and close it whenever you want to move on. This […]
Continue reading Google just introduced the Chromebook, a… Posted in: Week 08: Files in the Cloud-
mcquaid
I’m interested to see how well this does. I think things like it are definitely the future, but I wonder how it will do now that tablets & mobiles are gaining in popularity so quickly. Either way, the idea is the same – to have a lean, fast-starting device that relies mainly on online storage as well as apps or programs online.
-
-
ccheung
Like Verena and Brenda, I have a bias against gaming. A lot of the games I have “played” were lame or low-level thinking. The one game that I really enjoyed during my high school years was “All the Right Type”. It was fun and easy to play, and you can set a goal for yourself […]
Continue reading Like Verena and Brenda, I have a bias ag… Posted in: Week 05: Game-Based Learning
Julie S 10:54 am on November 28, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Carmen,
I viewed your elevator pitch but I don’t see any reference to your venture pitch. There’s an email address at the end of your pitch. Do I need to email you for access to the full venture pitch?
Kristopher 11:36 am on November 28, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Carmen,
Great energy in your pitch! I quite enjoyed the music and the humour (especially “Cool. I passed.”). I found that it took quite a while to get to what the venture is, and that once the explanation started it was almost complete. Perhaps you could spend a little more time describing the solution?
Cheers,
Kristopher
carmen 11:08 am on December 2, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Thanks for you comments, Kristopher. I was focusing more on the problem partly because I wanted to get people’s attention on a problem that I think would get me really excited if there is a solution for it. On hind sight, you are right on that I probably should explain my solution more clearly in the pitch!
Everton Walker 7:58 pm on November 28, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Carmen,
I must commend you for your effort. The energy is really palpable and I love the funny side. I actually wanted some more out of the explanation too as I am always interested in LMS. I definitely think one day I will invest in an LMS as there is no doubt that this is where the future of teaching and learning is headed. I hope you will make such an investment in the future too.
Everton
carmen 11:08 am on December 2, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Thanks for your comments, Everton. With the development of social networking, cloud computing and analytic tools, I think the functionalities of LMS will be developing quickly in the near future. Fueled by the enthusiasm in DIY and the unstable economy, lots of people want to do something “on the side”, and teaching what one is interested in online seems to a good option. I definitely an increasing need for online LMS as it offers flexibility. 🙂
Doug Smith 7:07 pm on November 29, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Carmen,
I think your pitch is catchy and the topic is intriguing. As well, you bring out enthusiasm and make me interested in finding out more about the venture. I would have liked to hear more about the market that you are entering – it felt like the pitch was more geared to a buyer than an investor. I think this is a really hard balance to achieve though, especially in one minute.
cheers
Doug
carmen 11:09 am on December 2, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Thanks for your comments, Doug. This activity really made me realize one minute is very little time! I thought of the venture idea and kept exploring on how good it could be and the possibilities of creating such a tool… afterwards I read the assignment criteria and quickly realized that I have to pitch it to an investor. If I get the time to redo this venture pitch, I would definitely expand on that.
Angela Novoa 9:37 am on November 30, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Carmen, I loved your elevator pitch. The combination of text and music allows possible consumers to focus on the problem and the solution that this product offer. In your elevator pitch you provided detailed information about the market gap, the solution, the reason why someone would purchase the product, and the competency of the venture’s leaders. As Doug mentioned, it seemed that the pitch was more directed to a buyer than an investor. I would suggest you to provide more information about how much money is required to run the venture, and how much and how soon will an investor gain returns.
Cheers,
Angela.
carmen 11:09 am on December 2, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Thanks for your comments, Angela. This is a great question and I have to admit that I need to do more research on the amount of money and time needed to invest on the product before it can become reality. To lower the cost, I might explore the option of creating “third party” solutions for an open source LMS like Moodle.
Julie S 10:47 am on November 30, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Carmen,
I agree with the others here that your elevator was really engaging and I thought it was really important that you focussed on the number 58% because it illustrated the problem simply and effectively than if you would have used say 78%. What I was looking for more clarity on in the venture pitch was what your product differentiator was. I think I understood it to be that you were going to develop a semantic anlaysis tool and combine it to get the comprehensive view of the student but I wasn’t really sure. The concept seems to make a lot of sense though.
carmen 11:13 am on December 2, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Yes, Julie. The goal of my venture is use analytic tools as a solution to analyze students’ performance in different areas over time. Looking at the numbers at a report card tells us very little about the students. People working with the student would have an idea of his/her progress. However, in a school, it’s not possible to know student(unless in a private elementary/high school); 58% (or 78%) could mean improvement for a failing student, but could be disappointing for others.
This venture is providing a solution to help administrators and teachers learn about each student’s progress in more details, as it provides a record of how the student has been progressing (in the positive or negative direction) in the past. More importantly, these records are for students to reflect on their overall performance in different aspects, and set personal goals.
I thought having such a tool could provide more data for reflection, versus relying on memory and how stakeholders “felt” the student performed.
Thanks for your comments!
David William Price 10:56 am on November 30, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Elevator pitch assessment
Carmen – PROspectiveLMS
First Impression: no face, no voice, music over slides, way too fast to read, focuses on a very low percentage number but that number has nothing to do with the product or service, market, etc. too much text in a tiny strip at the bottom, hard to follow along quickly, don’t hit proposed solution until 55s out of 60 and goes over time limit
CEO Credibility: The CEO does not appear at all – no voice, no image or appearance. I have nothing to judge CEO credibility on. I might take a negative inference based on the fact the CEO is unwilling to appear and be heard.
Management Team: No team is mentioned, so I have no way to judge. I might take a negative inference based on the fact the CEO is unwilling to talk about the team.
Venture Concept: Apparently something to do with adding analytics to an LMS good idea about analytics but doesn’t really explain who uses it (are teachers and students supposed to change behavior based on the graphs? How do they know what to do). No discussion of how social analytics work or track record.
Opportunity Space: No discussion of the intended market or pricing or revenue.
Market Readiness: No discussion of what systems may currently be used by intended market or what the switching or implementing costs would be of this system.
Competitive Edge: No indication of how analytics make this solution different. Khan Academy has a video about integrating an analytics backend with graphing based on a question by question basis. Their video shows how it works and it may be offered for free, so this idea is out there.
Exit Strategy: No indication of their target market, its size, or how they will capture it.
Overall Investment Status: I don’t see the CEO or the team, I don’t know who the targeted market is. I don’t know the intended pricing. I don’t know how this will be marketed. I consider this high risk and would not pursue.
carmen 11:14 am on December 2, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Thanks for your comments, David. You have laid out very clearly what is missing in my pitch, and made me reflect on my approach to this project. I was too absorbed in finding a solution to the problem that I want to solve and the possibilities of making it happen, rather than on selling the venture idea to potential investors. A lot of time was spent on convincing myself that this will actually work.
If I have the time to redo this pitch, I will elaborate on what it can do for teacher and administrators and how they can use the tool. I will definitely review these comments and our class notes to make it a better pitch.
Jay 2:02 pm on November 30, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Carmen,
As Julie pointed out I found that you focusing on the number 58 throughout pitch was an effective method of emphasizing your point. I think the pitch could have been stronger had you moved into your idea for fixing the problem a little bit quicker. More focus on your solution rather than the problem.
The problem-solution was clearly identified in the venture pitch. While it may not have been evident in the elevator pitch, after reading your venture pitch I was able to understand that PROspective would be a tool used in helping educators and students understand areas that could be improved upon. The three cases also provided examples of the tool in use.
Before I would consider investing in this venture I would like to know a bit more about the market and the competitors. In particular I would need to know what sets you apart from the competitors. Do you offer something they do not?
One more concern I would have is how much time is required for teachers to submit data to be analyzed. I wasn’t clear in this (but perhaps I missed something). Evaluations are time consuming for teachers and the pitch argues that this will allow teachers to plan more effectively. I would want to know how data is input since this could become very time consuming for teachers to ensure continuous feedback.
Upon satisfying responses to the inquiries above I would likely consider investment into this venture.
Thanks for the interesting project.
carmen 11:18 am on December 2, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Thanks for your feedback, Jay. This venture aims to analyze students’ academic, collaboration, critical thinking skill and work habit, using three analyic tools. It’s competitors only offers a single tool (ex. SNAPP provides information on student interactions, Signals identifies at risk students mainly by their grades). Combining these tools can provide a more complete picture of how each student is doing.
How much time is needed for the tool to provide data is a great question. So far as I have not experience SNAPP myself, I am assuming that something similar will be able to provide data at the end of every day/ week when the system take in the data collected and do a calculation? The ability of this type of program to provide timely data can greatly affect it’s potential use… I’ll need to look into this in more detail.
Thanks for the great questions. 🙂
ashleyross 2:40 pm on December 1, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Carmen,
I too really enjoyed the combination of humour and percentages in your EP which led me to explore your VP. I think it’s important to provide students with more feedback throughout the year so that they have a better chance of knowing what and how to improve. I also think it’s a great idea to break up the student’s performance on soft skills and agree that it’s a great way for students to see their strengths and weaknesses. PROspective also seems to provide students with opportunities to set attainable goals for themselves and see immediate feedback, which I think would motivate them to improve in all areas.
Overall, I think you’ve done a great job. You seem to have a very strong team for the development of this product. The only constructive criticism I have for you, is that I would have liked to have read a little more about the marketing side of PROspective, in particular the market readiness. For instance, is it something that you are in the process of developing and how long do you think it will take for you to have it ready for users?
Again, great job!
carmen 11:18 am on December 2, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Ashley,
Thanks a lot for your comments. You are right on about the what PROspective has to offer, and have asked some very good questions.
Right now similar technologies (like SNAPP and Signal presented during the week of learning analytics presentation) is already in use, so it’s not impossible to develop such an LMS and to combine what they allow us to do. I truly believe that learning analytics will be more widely used in the future.