khenry
Hello all, Chat bout is a mobile and internet language learning app that delivers specified instruction to speakers of two languages, the main objective being to transpose between dual languages that exist within a country. In Jamaica the focus will be how to transpose between Standard English and Patois (the native language of Jamaica), the […]
Continue reading Chat bout – a mobile language learning app Posted in: Week 13: Venture Forum This experience is designed to create an analysis of the current market for Learning Analytics Ventures. Its purpose is to help you understand critical information in the analysis, design and evaluation of a social/learning analytics venture. Multiple roles are presented: students, educators, instructional designers, venture analysts, entrepreneurs, and investors. You may respond to one or […]
Continue reading Activity 3 – Week 12 (Analysing Learning Analytics – Investors/Venture Analysts) Posted in: Week 12: Social Analytics
As Brenda mentioned in her post already, I think it’s a great idea to have a tool that analyzes that the data (e.g. graphs, tables, and digrams) represent.
If I see social analytics in a student’s point of view, it doesn’t seem that useful as an educational tool because I probably wouldn’t understand what those data (e.g. graphs, tables, and diagrams) represent. As an investor, I wouldn’t invest my money if I believed that students in general wouldn’t think it to be a helpful tool. As mentioned in ‘Limitations of Social Analytics’ (in Week 12 blog), “social analytics requires skillful analysts to statistically test findings to determine their significance, and to offer meaningful interpretations and explanations of them”. In other words, audience in general is not familiar with social analytics.
However, by adding the analysis of the data, audience would be able to understand the importance of social analytics and use it more often to monitor their interaction with others.
Deb
Hi Deb,
thanks for your post. I couldn’t agree with you more. As an investor I wouldn’t want to invest in something that I didn’t believe that my clients wanted. I completely agree that by educating (if you will) your clients about the importance of social analytics than they are more likely to be supportive. My one issue is that perhaps due to the inquisitive and personal nature of social analytics than perhaps clients can possibly be turned off from investing in this technology. Of course this is just a potential outcome, I believe that yours is far more likely.
thanks for the post.
David.
This experience is designed to create an analysis of the current market for Learning Analytics Ventures. Its purpose is to help you understand critical information in the analysis, design and evaluation of a social/learning analytics venture. Multiple roles are presented: students, educators, instructional designers, venture analysts, entrepreneurs, and investors. You may respond to one or […]
Continue reading Activity 3 – Week 12 (Analysing Learning Analytics – Entrepreneurs) Posted in: Week 12: Social Analytics
Data is essential for good decision-making. Unfortunately, data alone can result in poor decisions. We tend to focus on data and interpretations that support our preconceived notions, and ignore data that conflicts with our ideas. Even when it comes to analytics for the web, there are search engine optimization specialists who have to analyze the data and make reasoned suggestions to clients on what to do with it to achieve certain goals.
The value of analytics is in collecting data on real behaviours because people lie. They don’t necessarily lie maliciously, but they do lie. They will say something is a great idea but when it comes down to the moment of paying… suddenly things can change very quickly. I’ve seen businesses built on ideas that seemed to make sense and that generated lots of enthusiasm and investment, but in the end customers weren’t willing to pay for the products. Somehow the product managers and executives and investors got lost in a filter bubble and never accessed the data they really needed to identify and capitalize on a problem that people would be willing to pay to solve.
We do the same thing in learning. We believe we are “working hard” when reality shows we are wasting time daydreaming, surfing, Facebooking, reading news clips. Analytics represent a way of helping us gain insight into the reality of our behaviour. I remember a major corporation brought in a consultant who had employees record the time they spent on each task. As a lawyer, I had to do the same thing. That kind of discipline can make you highly aware of your efficiency (or lack thereof). Think of students who insist they read the textbook or the instructions and yet fail to understand the basic requirements. Think of how long it can take to read journal articles when you are tired, anxious and distracted, and how quickly they go by when you can skim them effectively.
How much of our time is really used effectively? How might insight into the time we spend teaching or learning things help us recognize the value of changing our strategies? How might analytics help us identify where most of our time is going, and how efficiently we are using it? If we connect analytics with learning outcomes, how might this information help us change the way we study, the way we teach, and the kinds of activities we use to reinforce learning?
Analytics could help balance our preconceived notions and provide more real-time feedback about our approaches than end of term exams. The more we get real time feedback on performance, the more control we can feel about how we choose to do our teaching and learning.
The next step is to connect the analytics of behaviour and learning outcomes to practical advice. Imagine this kind of assistance:
“You seem to spend 10 minutes reading each page of the journal article. The time you spend causes you not to be able to finish your readings. You tend to be unprepared in class and ask or answer few questions. You could improve your performance with some simple reading techniques: (list, scaffolding through using them)”
As an addendum, I’m wondering if we might say that people mis-represent, rather than lie about the time they spend on task; part of lying is intending to deceive, which I don’t think is true in all cases.
But the broader thing I find quite interesting about this is the notion that we might develop learning analysis tools for students to help them enhance their personal productivity as learners by helping them identify what their optimal conditions for learning are (such as time of day, or environment). That is something I haven’t yet seen. There may be something within the non-learning tech marketplace (certainly there are enough productivity apps out there and apps that restrict one from visiting websites during certain times of day) that could be used as a model for something learning oriented.
very interesting post, David. I like how you emphasize the importance of connecting analytics to learning outcomes – something I don’t think is especially well represented in the social/learning analytics marketplace at present, with the exceptions of those products that are specifically designed for teachers and learners to use – such as School of One and Socrato.
This experience is designed to create an analysis of the current market for Learning Analytics Ventures. Its purpose is to help you understand critical information in the analysis, design and evaluation of a social/learning analytics venture. Multiple roles are presented: students, educators, instructional designers, venture analysts, entrepreneurs, and investors. You may respond to one or […]
Continue reading Activity 3 – Week 12 (Analysing Learning Analytics – Educators/Instructional Designers) Posted in: Week 12: Social Analytics
Learning analytics would be helpful as they provide a huge amount of information in regards to how the learner is interacting with the internet. There are of course limitations, the biggest of which is falling into the trap that that type of data collection can be used exclusively instead of combining that type of information gathering with other assessments.
As an instructional designer, I would use this type of information to note what learners are doing, so that I could cross reference with what learners should be doing. This would give me a sense of where the content/activities are lacking relevance or excitement.
In addition, analytics can help us to understand the context in which the learner is operating. By understanding the context, we can improve the relevance and engagement of the learner with the content. Again, the same pitfall (that we may be relying to heavily on one set of data) exists.
Kristopher
I did an experiment with learning analytics in my ETEC 511 final report. I used the Social Network Analysis (SNA) software to analyze the course discussion groups and found the results very interesting and useful from the perspective of future instructional designs for online training for the workplace.
During my investigation of this technology I found research by Shen et al (2008) that directly related a student’s perception of community on an online environment with their interactions in the discussion forum. The social network analysis (SNA) was seen to be a valuable tool for exposing the interactions. Shen et al’s key argument is that of the ability to determine optimal learning environments, density of network, centrality (# of ties, how inter-related the nodes are, how close to the centre). I think that the effective use of the technology requires the active involvement of the instructor to see if learners are either lurking or dominating in discussions and to take proactive action to encourage discussions where everyone participates.
The challenge with the technology was that it could only be used within controlled discussion forums and didn’t take into account alternative communication channels or social networking applications. So, I agree with Kristopher’s perspective that it shouldn’t be used exclusively as it can only provide part of the picture. However, it still could help the instructor from a monitoring perspective.
Reference:
Shen, Demei, Nuankhieo, Piyanan, Huang, Xinxin, Amelung, Christopher, Laffey, James. (2008). Using Social Network Analysis to Understand Sense of Community in an Online Learning Environment. Educational Computing research. Vol. 39(1). 17-36, 2008.
It would be neat / useful if, in a course that was being monitored this way, a student could input the sites / channels / avenues they would be communicating in so that everything that “counted” was recognized.
As an educator, I have been reflecting on the use of social analytics to personalize and target instruction. I’ve been thinking a lot about the TED talk presented, and struggling with the benefits of personalization on one hand, and the drawbacks of restricting query results to those areas that have been identified as important. There is an ethical issue to targeting a person’s learning preferences based on what they have done in the past. If a tool is targeting information and activities to our past behaviour (I keep hearing Dr.Phil’s voice: “the best predictor of future behavior is past behavior…”) then how do we have the opportunity to change and adjust our habits (in other words, to learn new behaviors)? When working within the realm of education, we often focus on learning about our students preferred learning styles, and making sure that our teaching incorporates activities that target them. However, within a classroom, there are often so many learning styles that all students would be getting exposed to different avenues for learning at some point – not just the ones they like the best at the time. If hidden analytics are individualizing an activity, then how do we have the opportunity to consider other ways of doing things; to gain exposure to how someone else may approach an exercise? When it comes to tracking a whole site (or a whole course), and using the information to improve the usefulness of it, I don’t see the dilemma. When it comes to targeting people, though, it seems restrictive. Sometimes I love that Amazon can predict what I want, but other times, I’d just like to see a bird’s eye perspective on what is out there and what is popular (and not just popular with people like me…).
Emily
Thanks for your thoughtful response, Emily! It seems to me, and please correct me if I’m paraphrasing you incorrectly, that your primary concern with social/learning analytics as used to guide personalized learning plans (as with School of One) is that it risks being too individualizing? Like, a classroom would be full of, say, 30 little learning silos but no social learning happening between them?
I think that’s a really interesting point and critique of personalized or 1:1 learning – especially since much online learning environments seem to depend on the sharing and social building of knowledge.
The TED talk made a great point that may be getting lost. It’s not that Google is doing anything differently than we already have. We’ve always had curation. There’s too much information to understand and we need trusted curators. Even within a classroom, we tend to rely on the professor as a curator. We are willing to pay vast amounts of money to have people curate knowledge for us… essentially that’s what role specialization is all about. We take recommendations from friends and family instead of doing research ourselves. The amount of information available is staggering.
Re “learning styles”, try Googling “neuromyths learning styles”. It’s an example of an educational “trend” with blinders on and the trend seems perfectly related to the concept of getting lost in a filter bubble. People are still talking about left-brain and right-brain activities long after the concept has been thrown out the window in neuroscience.
indeed, human perception itself is a curatorial act of sorts as what we actually see when we’re looking at something is filtered in culturally specific ways.
Social analytics could help me identify students who are disconnected from social network. I can also identify high and low performing students. I can see who has been interacting with whom. By identifying them before marking their work, I can plan interventions so that I can help them increase their participation.
Moreover, I can monitor students’ posts (e.g. the total number of posts per student). This can help me monitor their participation level.
Deb
If you do Google searches for ideas, you don’t get balanced results. Say you want a review on a product you’re considering. If you Google for “product review” you often get a lot of highly positive results. When I was shopping for a car many years ago, I found you could get endless glowing reviews of new cars and their features and capabilities, even from reputable car magazines.
So what’s missing? A simple word: “problems”. Try doing the same searches for reviews but instead of “product review” search for “product problems”. Suddenly that fabulous car you’ve been reading great things about doesn’t look so good at all. Suddenly that amazing computer monitor seems like an overpriced, flaky chunk of frustration.
We get absorbed in hype and trends. People honestly chase optimism. It doesn’t mean they are necessarily malicious, calculating or controlling.
How could analytics help us? Analytics could be a performance support to ensure better critical thinking and more balanced design and teaching by tracking “problems” and “issues” and “controversy” even while they are not trending large in pure numbers. What if analytics were a sidebar on our search engines, tracking the pitfalls and challenges and concerns behind our searches? It’s like a friend who taps you on the shoulder and says, “I overheard you talking about X. X has a lot of good features, but did you know it has pitfalls A and B?”
How do we apply this to learning? I think the whole left brain, right brain, visual-auditory-kinesthetic learning styles trends are a good example. A number of articles came out a few years ago that basically said science does not support these concepts. Many teachers and instructional designers use techniques that have no scientific basis or worse have been proved ineffective. Analytics could provide an ongoing balanced view showing trends in scientific research vs. popular trends. Popular trends tend to trail science by years if not decades. Perhaps analytics could provide corrective information by plotting the scientific directions vs. the popular direction and you could see divergence much faster and follow up on it.
Hi David,
Great points. I love your tracking ‘issues’ idea. This would be very valuable. The only issue I see arising from it is how strongly we value a negative review over a positive one. When I’m reading reviews from 10 people about a pair of snowshoes, even if it has been rated 4 and a half stars overall, I’m still hesitant to buy them if there is one bad review. I can’t let it go. You’re right that we chase optimism (like a herd, really), but we get swayed by pessimism very easily as well. We are so swayed by anecdotal evidence as it is – it seems like we may be stoking the fire by providing such ready access.
How many of us got flu shots this year? Consider the reasons.
Emily
This experience is designed to create an analysis of the current market for Learning Analytics Ventures. Its purpose is to help you understand critical information in the analysis, design and evaluation of a social/learning analytics venture. Multiple roles are presented: students, educators, instructional designers, venture analysts, entrepreneurs, and investors. You may respond to one or […]
Continue reading Activity 3 – Week 12 (Analysing Learning Analytics – Students) Posted in: Week 12: Social Analytics
I could see a display of trending / current topics as a way for me to discover some related research classmates are using, ideas they may be talking about / searching. It might be a neat and quick way for me to see what’s going on without asking every single person or reading every single message.
I could use learning analytics to know how my level of participation has been, if I have missed something. Also it would be useful for tracking what is going on with all the members of the class and the topics of the course. As Stephen mentioned it would be very useful for not needing to ask everything.
Angela.
Clearly, I could use learning analytics as a tool to keep track of my progress and that of others. Through this, I will avoid the traffic of sifting through many posts to locate exactly what I want to see. Also I would be able to keep track of my fellow classmates’ topics of interest and what they are doing and discussing.
Everton
Socrato is an interesting concept which personalizes learning on a different level. Customizing learning compliments the learning process – I could certainly use this in analyzing how I was doing and where my deficiencies were.Tracking my progress would assist on focusing my efforts. I have never used analytics before but certainly could see the benefits of having a personalized tutor to guide me.
In addition to the responses above, I could use learning analytics for social networking. I could keep track of my communication and that of others and use the information I gather from others to generate new information again.
Deb
Hi Deb,
I would also use the learning analytics for social networking, personal progressive tool as well as the others listed above.
Jenaca
For me, it’s not just knowing what people are up to. Social networking is supposed to do that but I don’t find that it does. I think the lack of anonymity causes a lot of filtering and posturing in social networking which skews the “data”.
I would like to identify my own research interests and use analytics to find out where the most conversation on those topics is happening, and what the direction of those conversations is. By direction, I mean where they are going with an idea. We may all be researching a concept, but taking it in different directions.
Analytics may also identify historical trends. In my research, I’ve identified waves of studies over the years. Analytics could visualize those waves and help me zoom in on trends and characterize them. This is something we end up doing anyway, through hours of queries and readings, but it would be nice to get a quicker context, an advance organizer almost of research.
Day 3 – M-Learning Venture Problem – Time to review all students work, meet with students individually and provide personalized assessment, diagnostic checking and remediation activities. Affordances: Mobiles can allow for increased accessibility and support of e-learning or mobile activities as well as provide immediate response capabilities. Learning Theory – Constructivism (self-paced and self directed […]
Continue reading Days 3 and 4 – M-Learning Venture and Mobile use in the Classroom Posted in: Week 11: Mobiles
Interesting concept!
If I understand your idea correctly, you would have a learning management system that monitored student performance and automatically prompted the set-up of interviews to follow up with students having problems.
Take a look at the Khan Academy video where Khan describes a complete monitoring backend that tracks student performance on a question by question basis so teachers can see which students need help with which questions.
Hi David,
Your summary captured the salient points indeed. I visited the Khan Academy (thanks for the suggestion) and their backend reporting shows elements that I am indeed interested in. The additional component I am interested in is the personalised and self directed element from the students end and the ability to link and book tutorial sessions and remedial activities directly from quizzes et al.
Kerry-Ann
Hi Kerry,
I think post is very informative and as result I have copied it with the intention to share it with my colleague at my institution. You have made some great points. I like the information you shared on mobile solutions.
Thank you Conroy. We should collaborate further on this.
Kerry-Ann
Day 2 Good m-learning device? If I were to use the Koole (2009) framework my mobile phone would be considered a good m-learning companion. However, I only use it for that regard if I have to, which is practically often. However, I use it more for reading and answering short blogs or responses. For responses […]
Continue reading Day 2 – M-learning devices and apps Posted in: Week 11: Mobiles
Interesting that you use your mobile for answering short posts and reading. What kind of reading do you do on it? Which mobile do you have? How might you use your mobile to encourage learning out in the “real world”… interacting with real life problems and collaborating in groups to apply knowledge previously learned through more traditional methods?
Hi David,
Great questions. The readings surround navigating web/blog sites and hyperlinked material. I have a blackberry. Availability for on spot research is a significant area that i would encourage, particularly in problem solving and using social or messaging networks or groups to brainstorm or checking references
Kerry-Ann
Hi Kerry Ann,
I enjoy reading your post. It is very informative. I too have a blackberry which I find very useful for on the spot research. I constant use it when observing a student during his or her teaching practicum to matriculate for the diploma in education.
I do as well. On the spot research, recording sessions, comments, thoughts and action lists. Also for grading and setting follow up acitivities/new activities within courses.
What, when, where and how are you doing m-learning now? I have very long days and so I use my mobile phone to access sites (including our blog page, when possible) to use time in between classes and rehearsals to keep up with work involved in all areas. Right now I am using my mobile […]
Continue reading Day 1 – mobile learning, filling the gap Posted in: Week 11: Mobiles
Wow – it seems like you are very mobile and use your device to the best of its advantages – good for you. I have not quite got the hang of it yet – m learning is still a very young concept to me.
deb
Thanks for your post
It seems you rely heavily on your mobile for its convenience factor – you always have it with you, and it helps you take advantage of tiny pieces of time to do bite-sized tasks (reading short blog posts and commenting, videos, twitter, social networking).
How do you think you might take advantage of your mobile’s affordances to create a different kind of learning… where you collect authentic experiences in the world and share them with others and collaborate on interpreting, analyzing and evaluating? How might that be integrated into a learning venture?
I have used e-portfolio, blogs, and wikis. I like the affordances of reflection and authorship. However, although they have proven quite effective, I would like if the assessment could be in a form that was directly related to the product. For example, a wiki and blog seem so far removed from Mathematics in so many ways. For this, […]
Continue reading Week 10 PBA – Final Post, assessment related to product Posted in: Uncategorized, Week 10: Product-Based Assessments The MET program is definitely centred on PBA in that students are heavily involved in creating a product, which forms the basis of assessment, versus the use of a tool to show learning. This is one of the positives of the MET program in that, being product centred, the program creates skills and tools that […]
Continue reading Activity 1: MET and positive PBA Posted in: Week 10: Product-Based Assessments
Hi Kerry-Ann,
I have never completed so many projects in all of my studies prior to this MET. But I must admit that this program allows me to clearly understand the concepts on technology and helps to develop creativity. Thus I support your point that PBA allows for creativity, innovation, authorship and independence.
I think this journey I have embarked on to complete this degree in educational technology (MET) has proven so far to be a very good choice. I have learnt a lot from the products I have created. The created products have allowed me to become competent in the use of technology. Hence, I also support your point that this MET program is worthwhile, fulfilling, and practical.
Hi Conroy,
Same here. My experience has also sold me on including more PBA in my course design, delivery and content.
Hi Kerry-Ann,
You noted that reflection is pervasive in all courses in the MET. I think that the encouragement of reflection is directly connected to PBA. As others have mentioned, PBA is authentic and (can be) frustratingly engaging. We invest so much into these assignments that it’s hard not to reflect on them as we walk away from them at the end of the day. This could become a strong selling point as one of the huge benefits of PBA as a venture.
Thanks for the post!
Kristopher
Hi Kristopher,
Hmmm….Can PBA exist without reflection? Is reflection rather at the insistence of and within the course design/instructor focus? Can future ventures therefore somehow integrate these two features seamlessly and within a larger structure of design and assessment?
Kerry-Ann
I agree in the importance of reflection. This is one of the cornerstones of e-Portfolios, and at this time we may consider e-Portfolios to be arguably the most marketable venture in PBA. It also stands to reason that I’m guessing that reflection will be the most significant portion of our ETEC 590 e-Portfolio project (for those of us that take that course).
The irony is that I’m not yet sure how reflection works out when assessing a PBA assignment! In many cases the reflection will be a small part in terms of size, but a large part in terms of learning power. I guess I’m getting a bit off-topic now, but it’s an interesting thought.
cheers
Doug
Hi Doug,
I totally agree with you and I don’t think you are off topic at all. I have similar questions as to how reflection and PBA are linked and whether or not reflection is inherent in PBA. As I said to Kristopher, can such important elements within reflection and PBA be seamlessly integrated within a larger structure of design and assessment?
Kerry-Ann
I think it can be integrated, yes. I can see things like this eventually becoming part of a larger SIS (student information system), or part of a LMS. There are definitely opportunities out there!
Before you publish your posting, please make sure that you select a category (eg. Introductions) as well as assign some meaningful tags (keywords).
Juliana 11:32 am on November 28, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Kerry-Ann,
I am afraid I had some issues opening up your venture pitch. Can you please email it to me at sjc.met@gmail.com?
Thanks,
Juliana.
kstooshnov 1:25 pm on November 28, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Kerry-Ann
Me too, but it is more to do with my old-fashioned laptop (only came out in 2006!) not being able to read .docx files. I will be able to download it off the school’s computer when I go there on Tuesday.
Looking forward to reading more about chat bout,
Kyle
khenry 8:35 am on November 30, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hey Juliana and Kyle,
Juliana I sent you an email with a new (97-2003) format. I also changed the version in my post to reflect this new format. Hopes this helps. If you still have problems please let me know.
Kerry-Ann
Kristopher 11:48 am on November 28, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Kerry-Ann,
Very interesting venture! I have always found it so interesting how different forms of English develop into their own, without considering the repercussions of being outside of the mainstream. To improve on your pitch, I would have liked to have seen some mock-ups of how you imagine the product looking/feeling. It would be helpful to envision people using the product.
Cheers,
Kristopher
khenry 2:16 pm on November 30, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Thanks for your comments Kristopher. This is indeed valuable and I did try to get screen shots for a few examples but they proved problematic. Perhaps in lieu of that, apart from the email contact, I could also have provided a link to view examples since the shots were not apparent. However, given the knowledge of context of the app, I played on the confidence that targeted investors and partners would have enough cultural knowledge and would have been piqued enough to request a meeting or further info.
Kerry-Ann
Jim 5:17 pm on November 28, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Kerry-Ann!
I learned something from your elevator pitch! I was not aware of the difficulties that some Jamaicans have learning standard English… I think your idea is great. In the elevator pitch, which I thought was very well produced, sometimes there is not enough time to read everything on the screen. But, then I thought, instead of lengthening the video why not cut out some of the information in the elevator pitch? The info about the CEOs is great but perhaps better for the longer Venture Pitch? I think if you briefly describe how it would work, how it would help (which you do) and how it would be a valuable investment, then I think you are good.
khenry 2:34 pm on November 30, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Jim,
Thanks for your comments.
I agree with you and did think of that when I ran it but here was my philosophy: I watched quite a few pitches and thought, ‘if i’ve never heard of you/your credibility why would I even give you a second thought’. So I gambled that the pitch would have been engaging enough and that all information would have there so if they wanted they could go back and perhaps freeze frame if they really, really, needed to (had to keep it in one minute). Does that seem plausible? I debated with it for a long time. I went over it a few times after viewing your comments and I will try another option.
Kerry-Ann
Everton Walker 8:06 pm on November 28, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Kerry,
Loving the chat bout concept. I am ready to invest as our students are failing to make the distinction between the two languages. I think like seriously, we need to come up with more innovative ideas to combat this problem as it is prevalent at the tertiary level too.
Everton
khenry 2:35 pm on November 30, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Thanks Everton. So true. It’s something I have been thinking about for a while now and it is something that needs to be addressed in a new way indeed.
Kerry-Ann
Allie 5:23 pm on November 29, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hey Kerry-Ann!
Awesome. What a terrific concept, narrowly defined and eminently doable. I’m wondering who might be buying the app? school boards? schools? national level? individuals? Like Jim, I had a little problem reading all of the text; I think he’s right that maybe some of the info could also be reserved for the VP?
cheers, A
khenry 2:39 pm on November 30, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Allie,
Thanks for your comments. You can scroll up too see my comments to Jim (rather than repeat here). I did also include in the VP. Thanks.
That’s the great think about the App. It will be accessed and purchased by both individuals and schools. It has the potential to be a national initiative indeed. Thanks.
Kerry-Ann
Tamara Wong 8:33 pm on November 29, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Kerry-Ann,
I really like the Chat bout concept! Like Jim I had no clue that some Jamaicans had difficulties learning standard English. Your elevator pitch was enticing and made me want to learn more but as others said there is a little too much information and not enough time to read it in your video. It could be eliminated from your elevator pitch and put into your venture pitch. In your venture pitch I really appreciated how you explained your reasons for using cell phones and the various plans you created for your app. It seems as if you thought of everything in making this accessible to your market, including partnering with cell phone companies to help with texting costs. I think your usage of text messages is brilliant, it has the potential to provide students with authentic materials every day. Your approach lends itself to constructivism. After I finished reading your venture pitch I realized that you could expand this market from Jamaicans to all English users with some changes! Your market size would grow exponentially and from an ESL teacher perspective would provide an opportunity for students to use English everyday! I love you concept and would like to know more about it!
Tamara
khenry 2:43 pm on November 30, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Tamara,
Thanks for your comments. I agree with the wordiness of the CEO slide, the philosophy of which I shared in my reply to Jim above, please scroll up. I would like to hear what you think about it.
I did think of the expanded market indeed. Thanks for adding the theoretical and contextual concepts and applications.
Kerry-Ann
carmen 12:08 pm on November 30, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Great job on the pitches, Kerry-Ann!
Interesting idea to go into the non-smart phone market to target at risk groups, where improving their education can improve their quality of life . Going mobile allows learners to review short lessons on the go. It sounds like you will have to first convince a mobile provider to be your partner. I wonder if there are similar existing business partnership models that we could refer to.
khenry 2:49 pm on November 30, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Carmen,
Thanks for your comments.
The 60/40 share revenue split is part of my ‘pulling factor’ for the mobile partners. While there hasn’t been anything of the nature of what I am proposing, they have engaged in partnerships in which they typically use a 65/35 share revenue scheme. However, I have and will continue to search to see if I find anything reflective of the desired partnership.
Kerry-Ann
verenanz 10:31 pm on November 30, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Kerry-Ann!
Well done – I couldn’t see the Elevator Pitch as I am in China…but your analysis was very well done. I question what makes it different form any ohter translating App…but it seems to be its educational focus on “strict” language? Good job.
khenry 4:50 am on December 3, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Thank you Verena. Great job yourself! Good luck with your venture. Hope it is going well.
Thank you for your question. The app is different from a translating app. A translating app says the meaning in one language to another. This app indeed looks at strict language but also identifies common mistakes and corrective mechanisms through understanding the difference between uses and contexts within the two languages.
Does this provide further clarity?
Kerry-Ann
Juliana 6:49 pm on December 1, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Kerry-Ann,
I had a look at your venture pitch and I thought it was pretty thorough. I also liked the fact that you chose a medium that would work well in Jamaica and the Caribbean. I thought that was a great idea. So many times software or ventures have been created without thinking about the audience. In addition, you also have some numbers to back up your venture too. I also like the fact that you were looking to fit all the different phones out there. That is my biggest pet peeve with having a BlackBerry. Everyone goes on and on about how apps are the greatest thing in the world, but there is nothing really made for BlackBerry. It looks like you have thought of this and are making efforts to make sure that your venture will fit the different mobile phones out there.
Thanks,
Juliana.
khenry 4:54 am on December 3, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Juliana,
Thank you for your comments. Interoperability is indeed an essential consideration in the venture. I also have a BlackBerry and I feel the same as you :-). There are also users who do not have smartphones who are even more out of the loop in accessing such products and services.
Kerry-Ann
Allie 5:21 pm on December 2, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
After reading your venture pitch, I remain convinced that Chat Bout is an original and wonderful idea. if it can effectively improve language performance in English, I’m certain that many people will want to use it – and that many schools and government and corporate training programs will also want it for students (in the case of schools) and professional development. Your figures on mobile use in Jamaica convince me that the potential market is vast – and that this is the ideal technology to deliver learning to them. You have me convinced on the three crucial things…
is there a need? yes
is there a want? yes
is this the right technology for the context? yes
Fantastic! In my investor role, I say, let’s make this happen.
As an investor/reviewer, I find I’m wanting to know more about the content of the lessons – my sense from your pitch is that the problem isn’t the amount of lessons the students already get, it’s that their delivery and design perhaps needs to be re-thought to work more effectively. I want to know how these lessons on chat bout might work – what are the language learning and instructional design principles that you’re drawing on; how do they best take advantage of the affordances of mobile technology?
As an investor/reviewer, I’m also wondering – are there any models we can built off of? Are there successful similar technologies that we might emulate features of – or things we might want to avoid?
As a Canadian investor/reviewer, I’m wondering if maybe you could use US dollar figures throughout? (I say USD because it seems to operate as a kind of gold standard, and is perhaps the most easily grasped by international audiences).
Lastly, there was a book published a few years ago titled something like ‘the fortune at the bottom of the pyramid’. the title sounds pretty exploitative, but I think that the overall idea has to do with developing ventures that genuinely enhance life for the 80% who make up the bottom of the global economic pyramid; this is a viable market to cater to. That work may be useful for case studies, strategy development, or interesting reading.
best regards, Allie
khenry 4:58 am on December 3, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Allie,
Thank you for your comments and questions which will add further weight to my proposal. Great questions. These will definitely be answered in a longer proposal. I will definitely include converted figures but my initial pitch was aimed locally.
Kerry-Ann
David Berljawsky 7:55 am on December 3, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Kerry-Ann,
Great, great idea and pitch.
Things that stood out for me: Your research was excellent. It was obvious that you had a passion for the product. Your paper was organized in a way that was easy to read, and easy to find the relevant information. I liked the fact that you included media in the paper, this made the venture easier to understand and by providing a visual it made it seem more real to me.
Your elevator pitch was well designed with a great voice over and music. My only critique was that there was too much information in there, I did the same thing for my pitch. It’s really tough to narrow things down.
I thought that it was a great idea to target Jamaica, and concentrate on the needs of students there. It provided me with more of an understanding of the project this way. It seemed to be more influencial this way.
Excellent project!
David;
khenry 8:37 pm on December 3, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi David,
Thanks for your comments. I agree that the elevator pitch had a lot of information. I battled with how best to include ‘the essential’ elements and the best way to present in the given time. In the end I gave in and hoped that there was enough hook that persons would either watch again and freeze frame or contact anyway. I wanted to be safe rather than sorry and at least have ‘everything’. After such great analysis and comments and watching everyone’s pitches I have some new ideas on how to improve this.
Thanks for taking the time to review it.
Kerry-Ann
themusicwoman 7:52 pm on December 3, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Dear Kerry-Ann,
Wow. Great concept. Like it. As others have mentioned, had no idea about the issues Jamaican people would have with English language. Your elevator pitch was very rich with information and I was a little overwhelmed with it but my engagement level was high so I simply watched it again! You certainly had my attention.
As for your venture pitch, what a fabulous professional document. It was easy to find sections as they were clearly laid out. You have identified a product, explained it, and laid out the niche that it is to fit into. You’ve identified the need and it is clear for me as an investor, that there would be a demand for it. Of course, that would be if I were a Jamaican investor! As it is, I bet there would be some North American companies that would be interested 🙂
I enjoyed the visuals employed in your venture outline. Again, the clearly organized sections are to be commended. I think you’ve hit it bang on in three areas: great application with a clear solution to a problem, a very clearly organized pitch and the fact that the technology that is available here and now to implement it.
Thanks.
michelle
khenry 8:43 pm on December 3, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Michelle,
Thank you for your comments and taking the time to review my project. And thank you for rewatching the pitch and letting me know that it had a hook that encouraged you to look at it again to recap anything you had missed. As I said to David, I battled with how best to include ‘the essential’ elements and the best way to present in the given time. I did think it may have been too much information but hoped there was enough hook that persons would either watch again and freeze frame or contact anyway if it was too quick or too much. I really appreciate your comments as they and others (along with viewing other pitches) have given me more thoughts and insight on how to improve it.
Thanks
Kerry-Ann