jarvise
Hi everyone, My venture focuses on improving communication for learning between parents and teachers to foster an atmosphere that is positive, practical and personal (PPP). Lots of money to be made in private tutoring; lots to be made in the DIY market. Combining them only makes sense. Enjoy! PPP Learning Elevator Pitch To see the […]
Continue reading A3 PPP Learning Posted in: Uncategorized, Week 13: Venture Forum Was just checking out with my Black Friday order on LandsEnd site, and I got a new record of ghostery stalkers: 15 popped up in the window at once! Since I was buying a pair of purple boots, I should start getting some interesting purplelicious targeted advertising soon… Emily
Continue reading New ghostery record… Posted in: Week 12: Social Analytics
Hi Emily,
It is wonderful be informed. I must admit that this course certainly informative. I guess being exposed to social analytics we can now be aware of our virtual environments. The information that is provided from the analysis can certainly be help to us. It wonderful to play with your new tool “ghostery”.
Well Emily – hope they are no purple ‘Barney’ type dinosaur advertisements in your inbox any time soon!
After examining the stalking tools – ahem, I mean, social analytics tools – out there, it is interesting that this seems to represent another level of disconnection. By this I mean, we are obviously so busy that we’ve gone from watching/reading the news, to reading blogs, to getting RSS feeds, to having the feeds focused […]
Continue reading Day 2: Darwin Awareness is nice, but Rotten Tomatoes is great! Posted in: Week 12: Social Analytics
Emily, I like your comment about stalking…ever since I read the readings for this week, I have felt a creepy sense of someone looking over my shoulder…not a good feeling. It also agree that we have come to a surface reading level through the RSS feeds, Scoop-it etc. instead of in-depth reading – and the fact that analytics is determining what I am going to read next is quiet disconcerting to me…Trending worries me
Brenda
Hi Emily and Brenda,
Agreed– it is worrisome. I found even more worrisome was the fact that we don’t get to control how google is filtering what we use. I have always enjoyed using google for its simplicity, but I think that that simplicity is in fact found in hiding from the user the ‘background’ of what’s going on.
What am I missing? It makes me doubt when I make statements like ‘everything I have seen lately’, or ‘I get a sense that…’, because those senses of things I have seen have been carefully censored and guided.
Kristopher
From all of your comments, it really strikes me that gaining this understanding of how social analytics works can really form a good base for teaching students how to conduct really good internet research, which as we know is such an essential skill. Perhaps we might even think of it as a key part of digital literacy.
Day 1 I am not engaged in m-learning in any large way outside of the house. I have an ipad2, but use it basically at home. The only ‘mobile’ element to my use of it at home is using it while on the elliptical exercise machine. It fits nicely in the magazine-holder shelf. I’ve watched […]
Continue reading tap…tap…1,2,3,4 Posted in: Week 11: Mobiles
Very cool idea!
I love the concept of giving parents a way to monitor what’s happening. The BrainHoney LMS provides for parental accounts (http://www.muhsd.k12.ca.us/Page/7523) as does the JASON Project, a complete science learning curriculum with a classroom management/assessment/forum backend that supports student, teacher, and parent accounts, each with a different set of access restrictions (http://www.jason.org/public/WhatIs/JMC.aspx).
How could you take this a step further…. and use mobiles to leverage parents to contribute authentic learning experiences to your students? What you’re teaching will have authentic applications in parents’ workplaces, hobbies, vacations, etc. How can you use their mobiles to funnel in those experiences, collect data in photos, audio and video, and collaborate in real time with voice conferencing for guest speaking?
I’m researching anxiety management applied to learning and I’ve found there are two main thrusts (which reflect habits in the real world as well). One path is to remove as many anxiety-causing elements as possible from learning environments. Many teachers are afraid to frighten students with Socratic questioning, or to have them do more than one presentation. The other path is to scaffold students in managing their anxiety… have them do activities that cause small amounts of anxiety but provide the tools they need to learn to manage those experiences, and build on them with multiple experiences and continuous improvement.
I think the whole banning concept is analogical. We ban things (avoidance in psychology parlance) to make our fears go away instead of embracing our fears and looking for ways to turn our fears into opportunities for new ways of learning. What do you think?
I have used many of the products in my own learning and with students – blogs and wikis especially. I think a great product that could be designed is also a simple one (in theory). Part of the issue in developing good PBL activities is coming up with a good topic/question/plan. Wouldn’t it be nice […]
Continue reading Final Post – Idea generator Posted in: Week 10: Product-Based Assessments
… with a nice rubric that noted the curriculum links and marked the assignments for us based on quality, sentence length, and use of colour? 🙂
Sarcasm aside, I like the idea. What do you think of applying the cube here? Something like: a market focus (public schools), the type of offering (service and content), the buyer (guide offering to the learner), the global target (quite a widely applicable audience assuming that the curricular links can be supported), the market status (supporting both content an infrastructure), and the competition (there isn’t a great competition here).
Thanks for the idea!
Kristopher
Hi Emily and Kristopher,
I think may be on to something. It’s worth fleshing out. 🙂
Kerry-Ann
I remember when I first started MET, it was my first exposure to a Masters program, and to this style of learning. I remember waiting for a prof to intervene in our discussions when we were trying to figure out how to do something, and the intervention never coming. I remember feeling frustrated. What does […]
Continue reading The MET PBL immersion Posted in: Week 10: Product-Based Assessments
Emily, thanks for the reflection and for pointing out both strengths and weaknesses of PBA. Like you, I think PBA has some significant up front costs that we have to keep in mind while implementing. I think the processes that you mention (planning, scaffolding and modeling) are worthwhile endeavours for designing a curriculum object and can be rationalized. However, the resource cost has to be given critical analysis to make sure that it works for all the stakeholders. Overall, it sounds like your thoughts point to a need (or possibility) for professional develop based around PBA. Have you ever been offered or thought about PBA pro-d opportunities?
cheers
Doug
jarvise,
I too can attest to those frustrating feeling and one professor even got irritated when I asked a few questions. It took me a while to adjust as this was totally foreign to me. However, with time I gradually started to learn about this new platform for learning and the reasons behind the professors’ absence from the foreground. My outlook on teaching and learning has changed since and I am on the verge of totally adopting this method even though I have been using aspects of it already.
Everton
Hi Emily
When I read your post, I quickly remembered the start of this MET journey. It was rocky one for me being not exposed to this style of learning and learning environment. It took me a month to adjust to this modality of teaching without a visible lecturer. I must admit that this way of teaching is an effectively way for students to master a particular discipline. I have certainly learnt at a lot from this degree program; I do not have to constantly refreshing my knowledge of concepts I learnt in the various course I completed in this program.
I hear you, Emily. I think I sometimes excel at creative tasks, but I really desire knowing my exact boundaries. Also, when I have a question, I want an answer from the instructor… pronto! A clear answer, too – nothing vague that forces me to find my own meaning. I have most likely been trained to please by the education system and two teacher parents.
I have shared many of your same frustrations in this program, as well as many of the same highlights. Yours is an excellent point that resonated with me – it’s like the rhyme about the little girl who had a little curl, right in the middle of her forehead. I would post a link, but that would be too easy for us, wouldn’t it?
I am choosing to address the ‘information production’ issue, and to do so I am going to extend my personal experience and opinions to a larger population. I have recently discovered (in the last few years) that any inclinations I used to have of thinking of myself as ‘original’ are pointless, and that if I’m […]
Continue reading Discussion 3: new production techniques Posted in: Week 09: iPad Apps
Hi Emily,
Thank you for responding the questions. This is quite an interesting post. You have me smiling after I read the last paragraph of your post. I agree with you that there is a place to develop a better way to interact with our computers to get our ideas out there. I think if people were not so busy more ideas could be born and grew into wonderful projects. Most times, I realize that a feature could be added or removed from particular software but I can’t find the time act upon it.
Indeed, Ipads offer a new approach to the digital electronic world but the gradual technological advancement may cause Ipads to become obsolete in the near future.
The ipad has a lot of potential to individualize learning in very specific ways. A student can access a lot of supplementary, near-instantaneous information to assist them in their learning. If they need help reading or understanding a word or concept, this help is there for them. This immediate help can yield increased motivation and […]
Continue reading Discussion 2: Individualization Posted in: Week 09: iPad Apps
Dear Emily,
Nice thoughts. Especially on the theft issue as we are currently discussing that in our school now. However, I tend to think of the iPad as a personal learning tool. And although it would be great to have enough technology for all of the students, I know our school district is leaning towards supporting student devices rather than providing school ones. That’s not to say we don’t have technology in the school, but the reality of the cost of replacing obsolete hardware is in a budget that is rapidly decreasing.
I’ve also used the iPad with the voice to text feature. It works well for some students to get down their ideas but I think some of the software has to get better in terms of voice recognition and so on.
Thanks.
I agree with you on the use of personal learning tools for students, rather than providing class sets of things. It may make more sense to redirect financial support for those students who otherwise couldn’t afford to buy a device. That way, many more students have a tool that moves with them.
Emily
Hi Emily, thanks for sharing these great ideas on how promoting individualized learning through iPads. I have seen on different postings that knowing how to organize the use of these devices within a community is an issue to consider.
Angela.
Hi Emily,
You have included some great ideas on how to promote learning through the iPad. I really think that using this device is a great way to assist students with their individual learning needs and helps promote a more interactive, engaged and fun way to learn.
Jenaca
Emily, I really like how you brought up individualization. This is a very important thing for sure, the role of differentiated instruction is crucial. Not only can it help slower learners, but tools like tablets allow outlets for gifted learners, which is just as important.
Blogging offers lots of benefits, but the ‘getting started’ learning curve can be intimidating (even if its not). When I talk to other teachers about blogging, they say that its something they are interested in, but haven’t had time to investigate and learn about it enough to get started. I think a great product geared […]
Continue reading education blogging market… Posted in: Week 07: Blogs
Hi Emily,
I think your template idea is a great one – it sounds much like how the MS Office suite has different templates for different kinds of documents.
I also agree with you that there can be a really steep learning curve for blogs. Not only technologically (e.g. how do i get this thing looking good), but also in learning how to effectively write for the web (short sentences, short paragraphs, content-rich).
Allie
True about effective use – I often think that its a matter of people not knowing where to start. Sometimes there can be too much information out there to quickly wade through. Consideration of your purposes can help a lot; something beyond ‘i want to get kids to write more…’
Emily
Hi, Does anyone know what tool was used to create the ‘perfecting your pitch‘ presentation that we watched earlier in the course? This is a really effective tool for having a ‘face-based’ presentation along with graphics and media. Anyone know how to do this? Also: The service I’m thinking of pitching is an intermediary between […]
Continue reading thinking about A3… Posted in: Questions & Answers
in Ontario, if a parent gives written permission for a third party to communicate with a teacher (eg a doctor with medical information, a private tutor hired by a parent, there are no legal problems. In the opposite direction, the parent permission allows for 2 way communication, although the parent always stays in the loop – the conversation between the 3rd party and the teacher is never kept from the parent. As for the perfecting the pitch question, I will view the presentation and see if I recognize the tool.
Thanks a lot, Brenda!
Emily
Before you publish your posting, please make sure that you select a category (eg. Introductions) as well as assign some meaningful tags (keywords).
Kristopher 12:10 pm on November 28, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Emily,
Excellent idea! There is a huge market that can be cracked into in large chunks (at a minimum entire classrooms instead of individuals). I very much like the idea. While I had some challenges with quality of video (pretty sure it is my system), I was curious about your decision to use Prezi. I am a huge fan of Prezi, but opted out of it because I didn’t want the viewer to have to click through. I quite liked your balance of a self-playing video, with additional information available through the prezi format.
Kristopher
jarvise 11:35 am on November 29, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Thanks for the feedback. I wasn’t going to use prezi, and had made it in powerpoint, but then realized that you can’t (or I can’t) export powerpoint with animation. What’s up with that? Anyway, I had to re-think how to do it, and prezi seemed like a good idea. I wanted to have the video playing throughout with images and words coming through at the right times (but still able to see video). I never found a satisfactory tool to do it. Crazy.
Jim 6:35 pm on November 28, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Emily,
I really like your idea of a kind of managed, value-added tutoring service… once that provides that tutoring itself but also the coordination of that service. Having been a tutor myself during the off hours of the first ten years of my teaching career, I was curious to know how this would look in your elevator pitch. I think one way you could strengthen your elevator pitch would be to highlight clearly by concisely why your service is unique. That might involve explaining the three Ps – positive, practical and personal… how does your service accomplished this better than traditional tutoring services? Why, as a prospective parent, would I be willing to pay a little more for your value-added tutoring service than a run-of-the-mill tutor?
jarvise 11:37 am on November 29, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Jim,
Thanks for the feedback. I found it very difficult to select what to highlight in the elevator pitch. I wanted to give a quick idea of why this is needed, what it is, where the market is, and how it could make money. A lot to fit in. I spent a lot of time cutting back on product description, thinking that the goal was to draw in an investor to take a look at the venture pitch, where the product would more fully be described.
Emily
Everton Walker 8:54 pm on November 28, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Jarvise,
I like your line of thinking as you didn’t take on the obvious. To include those critical stakeholders and improve communication is paramount in today’s learning environment. However, I just wanted to know more about the mode of delivery and any added value the service will have. We are in a competitive environment so I know you will be innovative in what you have planned to capture a share of the market and maintain it.
Everton
Juliana 9:11 pm on November 28, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Emily,
Your venture really opened my eyes. I knew that there was a tutoring market, but I would have never thought of cracking it in the way that you suggested. I also liked how you laid out the ask, the marketing and the return. I think these are all important parts of the pitch and they can help to sway an investor. I also liked how in your venture you decided to personalize things not only for the student, but also the parent.
I like in your presentaiton how you made everything look like a chalkboard, but I thought the panning was a little distracting. Also in your elevator pitch I thought you spoke a little fast. Although I can understand why…you only have a minute and you need to get everything in. I will admit how you were able to say everything that you wanted to say in one continuous take. When I was doing my narrations, I was stumbling over my words constantly (along with hacking and coughing), so it took me a while to put everything together.
Juliana.
jarvise 11:42 am on November 29, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Juliana,
Thanks for the feedback. Narrating the video was very difficult. I have many, many takes. It got easier as time went on and I got more comfortable in front of the camera. I’m very shy, so I had to pretend that I was an actor playing the part of an empassioned entrepreneur. If I approached it as myself, I was too uncomfortable. I think my acting was OK. Funny, eh? I also realized after a number of takes that you can crop your video from either end, so I didn’t have to sit posed waiting to push the start button. I just acted normal, pushed start, then got myself composed while taping. This assignment took a ridiculous amount of time. Thanks for the positive response!
Emily
Juliana 5:54 pm on November 29, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Emily,
I can totally understand how you felt about the narration. It can be especially difficult if you are a shy person. Kudos to you for doing a good job! I never got the sense you were shy at all. In fact you exuded a confident presence.
I do remember reading somewhere that if you are going to present or give a talk somewhere, what you need to do is get into the mindset that you are a host and your audience are a bunch of people coming to your house for a dinner party or get-together. By putting yourself in the mind frame of the host, you take on the role of being a caretaker of your audience and it is supposed to alleviate any pressure or nerves you feel and allow you to give a better speech that allows you to connect to the audience.
I thought that was an interesting way to do a presentation. I think I will try it the next time I have to speak in front of a group of people. I couldn’t do this for this project because I felt so sick I just wanted to get through it without hacking up a lung 😉
Juliana.
Allie 6:11 pm on November 29, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
“In fact you exuded a confident presence.”
I totally agree with juliana!
schiong 11:49 am on November 29, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Emily,
I am familiar with the concept of tutoring. My partners and I franchised Enopi (similar to Kumon). This is why I was curious about your project.
I reviewed both the elevator and venture pitch. I want to make sure I don’t miss any good stuff.
There were few questions in my head while reviewing the pitches …
a) How do you intend to implement this?
b) What would make your product different from a tech savvy tutor who might use blogs, Moodle, or any other open source platforms?
c) I believe most ideas are unique only for a moment. Once the idea goes public, others would imitate. So, what would be your next step once you get the funding? how do you keep the business alive?
Overall, I love the presentation and the concept.
cheers,
Stephen
jarvise 9:09 am on November 30, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Stephen,
thanks for the comments. I think that what sets this business apart from other tutoring services is that there is no tutor, per se. The idea is basically that we are providing support to parents to do the work with the kids themselves. One of the key ideas I came across in research is that parents who seek tutoring continue to spend more time on homework with their kids than others (generally). So by providing focus to the time they are already spending, they can save money and time.
As far as implementation, the plan is a completely online business, so basically once a parent hires the company, we would go about initiating contact with the teacher, etc. One weakness I have thought on extensively is what to do when a teacher is unresponsive. One possible way around this is to have a parent send in a copy of the most recent report card, since this should be itemized by outcome anyway. Part of getting teachers on board is to warm them up in an initial contact describing our service as an extension of their efforts to help their students, and to position them as the ‘experts’ – we are just providing some extra work based on their recommendations. I know I would have welcomed this as a teacher; but there are definitely those out there who would be threatened by it.
Emily
Allie 6:09 pm on November 29, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Emily,
I think this is a really intriguing concept, and nicely presented too. I had no idea that tutors were so prevalent – why do 20% of parents who want tutors not get them? Is it a $ thing? Just from your EP I was thinking three things. I think that the video is maybe a little too jampacked. Maybe the opener about parents wanting to spend time with kids and changing modes of assessment could be taken out to save time? I wasn’t sure how they fit into the overall concept. I was also wondering what the tech would look like and how it would work. if schools would be subscribing to this service, I’m wondering about the relationship between schools and tutors; is it a positive one? I’m just thinking, if institutionally subscribe to a private tutoring service to facilitate communication with parents, does that turn (public) schooling into more of a public private partnership (the other ppp…), with tutors having a greater role in pedagogical concerns? The question I have as an EVA is about whether the broader community would be warm to that. In BC, there’s a lot of concern about moving public services to P3s – especially when it comes to essential services.
jarvise 9:14 am on November 30, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Allie,
Thanks for the comments. The idea is not for school subscriptions (I don’t think it would fly, since essentially we are extending into what would traditionally be considered teacher’s duties; unfortunately, the reality is that teachers don’t have enough time to create personalized extra work for every student based on what that student and their parents prefer…). The idea was to have parents subscribing to the service. I don’t think that most traditional schools would be open to paying for this. The idea was to target parents, who have already shown a willingness to pay extra for education.
The whole ‘parents want more time with their kids, and don’t understand the school system’ part was to position the product as something that is marketing to parents based on these needs. The second (alienation from the school system) has been an impetus behind seeking tutuoring. The first, though, is basically what differentiates our service; through having the parents working directly with their kids on the material, they are getting more time engaged with their kids, and are not spending additional time taking them to external tutoring services.
… I thought of the ppp connection too… 😉
Emily
Tamara Wong 6:56 pm on November 29, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Emily,
Great concept! I’m not very familiar with working with children but from my limited experiences with this market, your idea seems valuable. Your pitch was very well researched and persuasive. I had no idea that the tutoring market was so large! I also liked your use of the prezi as your elevator pitch. It enhanced your you tube clip well. Your venture pitch was great and the use of the chalkboard theme is clever. While I was watching your pitch I kept thinking of questions and as soon as I thought of one it was answered. It was just -in- time information for me! The only question I was left with was how do you plan on getting the teachers on board?
I liked the way you approached the making of your venture pitch. I too struggled with making mine. I didn’t think of trying to act, it is a great solution. You sound confident – like you know what you are doing and I didn’t get any feeling that you were a shy person! The only problems I had where your talking was a little fast and with a cold in my head I had some difficulties keeping up.
jarvise 9:19 am on November 30, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Tamara,
Getting teachers on board has been an ongoing concern of mine as well while thinking this one through. I think that by initiating contact with a message that basically posits them as the ‘experts’ who are overworked, we send the message that they are a valued part of the process, and that basically we are just looking for a few seconds to click off which outcomes need more work. We will then support their efforts in the classroom through supplemental targeted exercises out of the classroom.
I was thinking that for those who are resistant, there is always the route of asking a parent to send in the last report card, which would have itemized outcomes on it anyway. In addition, students standardized assessments (and any other assessments) should be available to parents from the school if they ask. This is another possibility. It would, however, add time to the process.
Emily
Kristopher 10:05 pm on November 29, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Emerging Venture Analysis: PPP
In order to analyze the potential of the PPP venture, we will consider both the internal and external positives and potential negatives.
Strengths
The PPP venture is a clear product which is flexible to the needs of the varied relationships and types of students; it brings together already existing relationships that are typically segregated due to time constraints. It facilitates the conversion of good intention of the parents and teacher to action. This venture has clear goals for the future which enhance the pitch substantially. In addition to these strengths, it also maintains the learning experience throughout the summer.
Weaknesses
This venture relies on the existing players (parents, teachers, and tutors) taking on additional tasks in order for it to be successful. This inherent reliance on others may increase engagement of those players, but it is still additional task, meaning that the success of the service itself lies in the uptake of the users—a large variable.
Opportunities
This venture fills in a need that exists in all parent/teacher relationship. As parents wish to become more engaged in their child’s education, it is important that that channel be facilitated; an obvious application of modern learning technologies. As well, as tutoring grows (5% per year in the United States), there is a huge market that is currently untapped. By making that engagement process between teachers/tutors/parents easier, this venture is able to tap into that market.
Threats
This venture relies additionally on the growth of private tutoring; according to the pitch, there are many other private tutors appearing with strong client based (Kumon, Sylvain, etc.). The tutors already have established processes, so will be in direct competition.
Based on the changing nature of parent engagement and increasing connectivity, I would recommend this venture for investment.