Jon Barker, President and CEO Desire 2Learn, an engineer, innovator, and pathfinder who following an unsatisfactory experience in his undergraduate years, decided to do something to challenge the way teaching and learning has been perceived and conducted. Jon studied engineering in theUniversityofWindsorwhere he laid the foundation of what would today become an innovation in learning. […]
Continue reading Desire2Learn Posted in: Week 04: Entrepreneur Bootcamp 
In 2008 Livescribe released its first smartpen, The Pulse, which records what you hear and connects it to what you write. You can playback your lectures by taping on a particular note in your notebook or on the uploaded version on your computer. The Eco, which was released in 2010, featured a new standard USB […]
Continue reading Livescribe Smartpen Posted in: Week 04: Entrepreneur Bootcamp
Hey Ashley,
This is a really interesting device you chose. I have never seen this pen before and am definitely interested in learning more about it. I agree with you, I think the LiveScribe SmartPen is a great invention and is something I now want to buy!
The founder of the company definitely is credible and has been in the business for a very long time!
Thanks for the great post!
Jen
You’re welcome. I highly recommend trying it out.
I noticed on their site that with the purchase of any smartpen, you get a free year of Evernote Premium. Interesting connection to our previous week!
You’re right, that is an interesting connection to our previous week. Thanks for sharing. 🙂
This is very intriguing and different. I would really like to experience this pen. Do you think this venture has the potential to be really successful? Even though I like the idea I am not sure if I would invest in such a venture. Even though business is all about taking risk, I would chance this one. Could you please elaborate on the experience you are having with the smartpen.
Yes, of course I can elaborate. I would invest in this venture; I think it has the potential to be really successful. As a hobby of mine I work with students who have learning difficulties, so I’m always on the lookout for technologies that will help them succeed in their education. This pen is great for anyone who has difficulty taking notes or wants to be able to go back and listen to specific parts of a lecture or meeting. For the students I work with, most have dysgraphia or a learning disability, which makes it really difficult for them to take notes. Using this pen they don’t even need to take any notes, they can write one word down or even draw something to make an important point they’d like to go back and listen too. The pen also has a ‘star’ feature on the notebook that they tap if something their writing is important.
I also tested this pen out during my undergraduate degree, to see how it actually worked in a classroom setting. I had large lecture halls with 300+ students and small classes with less than 30 students. It picked up exactly what you hear in a classroom, usually I sat in the front to middle of the classroom and it worked great, the odd time if I came in late I would sit in the back and it still worked. Obviously the closer I sat the front the easier it was to hear the professor but that’s the same when you sit in any classroom/ lecture hall.
Did I answer your question? Let me know if you have any other questions. 🙂
I am more familiar with LeapFrog product. It is an excellent learning supplement.
I have heard of Livescribe last year from a colleague. We were discussing about the “evolution” of cheating during exams.
Yes, the evolution of cheating during exams – is an interesting one. During an exam I would imagine you wouldn’t be able to use the pen even if you were just using the pen to write. Are you also referring to a student who records a class can memorize exactly what you say and regurgitate it back to you on an exam… would that be considered cheating?
I believe that this venture has great potential. We have purchased them as a pilot study for our students with special learning needs and they are proving to be very useful. Easy to set up and very easy to use…the founder is really on to something great here.
I think this product is great for students with special learning needs. You’re right, the product is very easy to set up and use.
Thank you for the information. This is a tool I look forward to explore very soon.
Keisha
You’re welcome. 🙂
Dr. Elliot Soloway  Dr. Cathleen Norris  Introduction GoKnow Inc. was founded in 2001 by Drs. Elliot Soloway and Cathleen Norris, both of whom are considered leaders in the fields of education and technology. GoKnow offers curriculum applications for computers and handheld technology including advanced mobile learning environments with the aim of increasing student engagement […]
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I really like this venture and more-so the benefits as they seem to cater fully to 21st century learning and teaching. I clearly understand your point of concerns if you were to start such a venture. Great ideas without resources will equate to “great ideas”.
Hi Everton,
Resources are crucial indeed as you correctly point out. These venture are definitely a multilayered/multidimensional process in which not only must the entrepreneur possess strong qualities for entrepreneurship but also have resources (personal, investors, institution supported), a strong team (advisors, workers, leaders, partners, innovators, research and development) and a strong and sustainable product (original value) and business model (whether for profit, non-profit or social enterprise).
Kerry-Ann
Curt Allen, co-founder, President and CEO of the learning venture Agilix Labs, Inc. AGILIX LABS, INC Agilix Labs, Inc., founded in 2001, has since 2009 developed and hosted(2) a web-based classroom management system called BrainHoney that includes course authoring, drag-and-drop mapping of state standards, a gradebook, and a student portal.(3) The basic account is […]
Continue reading Curt Allen’s BrainHoney at Agilix Posted in: Week 04: Entrepreneur Bootcamp
Hi David,
Thanks for your detailed post. I appreciated your discussion on Boards of advisiors and networks and relationships of the CEO. I did not find any board of advisors information for my venture however the CEO and founders have strong relationships with boards and the education sector. I wondered therefore at their funding, research and development and business advice/management.
Your discussion on identifying personal strenghts and weaknesses and developing experience and/or relationships/networks highlights essential processes in paving a path or action plan for us as desirous entrepreneurs. From your post and from my research I was taken aback at how many YEARS and research CEOs and Founders spent in the various fields and heading a number of other companies and/or departments, plus for some reasearch and development (10 years in my case study and $20 million) before stepping into their own venture.
In today’s culture the concept of time is such that 10 years and 29 years seem like such a long time. For many who are now transitioning to learning technologies it may also be rather daunting and somewhat disheartening as the reality is that the Bill Gates’ and Mark Zuckerbergs are the exception not the norm.
Kerry-Ann
Very true. An easy mistake is to focus on the big wins of entrepreneurs, movie stars, authors, etc. and ignore the long trail towards their “overnight” successes. I have learned a lot by reading early works of master authors, seeing early films of award winning auteurs, and learning about the histories of business leaders. It provides a much more realistic perspective and highlights learning, persistence and passion as essential characteristics.
Hi, David.
Sounds like a positive outlook for yourself, based on some good self-awareness and planning! I had heard of Agilix before, and not BrainHoney, so that’s what drew me to your post.
To be honest, out of all the program / background / team / skill info, two things stuck with me the most. On the program side, “drag-and-drop mapping of state standards” – it had me dreaming of having a page of draggable outcomes from one of my courses all laid out in front of me, and enabling me to match them with activities or marks in our school’s grading/attendance/records-keeping software. On the entrepreneur side of things, what stuck for me here was the ability to make and maintain relationships – a very useful skill that turns into an intangible asset… a storehouse of go-to people to draw upon when needed.
Steve
I’ve noticed that people take their teams with them from venture to venture, building their networks over time. A key skill seems to be to assemble those teams (and be one of those key team members). I think part of that skill comes from being able to truly define yourself in terms of core skills and passions.
Read Naturally was founded in 1991 by Candyce Ihnot. The program is meant to help students become better readers by building their proficiency through five essential components of reading, Phenomic Awareness, Phonics, Fluency, Vocabulary and Comprehension. It uses three main strategies to achieve this, Teacher Modelling, Repeated Reading and Progress Monitoring. There is a large […]
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Hi David,
Thank you for your post. It shows how ventures can arise through courses of study and research, for example at masters and doctoral levels, and are somewhat attainable. Many of the ventures I looked at are a lot more complex and seem to have founders and CEOs with many years of research and development as well as held CEO/head positions in other firms, departments, et al. prior to their venture.
This type of venture seems more practical to the educator and new and/or ‘small-time’ entrepreneur. That being said I would like more info on her partners if any, advisors if any and just how her venture is being sustained. On a side note, please include a link to the site.
Kerry-Ann
This venture is right up my street. I get really excited whenever I see anything about literacy. However, I need more information about this venture. Does it work with all age group and spans all the major languages? How long should a student be exposed to this technique before competence is usually developed? Is it more suitable for beginning readers?
This is an excellent innovation. It seems very practical and caters to the needs of almost every learner. Reading is an essential part of one’s life and any innovation that attempts to help people to become better readers is an excellent one and is sure to be successful.
Keisha
EarthWalk is a learning technologies company that focuses on developing and delivering high-efficiency, cost-effective learning technologies to classrooms, government and businesses globally to enhance learning environments in a cost and energy efficient way. The company was started by founder and acting CEO Evan T. McConnell who “saw a real need to improve computer and Internet […]
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When it comes to labs of computers, energy efficiency is a big deal – electricity costs not only to run the lab but also the air conditioning to deal with all the heat. But reviewing the website, I see your point.
Interesting collection of cabinets for lab and tech equipment. Not a space I knew existed. Thanks for sharing it.
So what are your personal reflections?
Hi Jay,
Thanks for the link. My arts college is relatively small. We have one main computer lab for the general campus and another, mostly reserved for the Visual Arts students. I have advocated for the use of a mobile lab but my IT department did not really bite on the suggestion. I believe that I will go back to them with this link.
Of interest to me in your post, as in my research and a few others read, is the wealth of experience, whether in venture leadership and/or computer science and/or education, that these CEO and founders take to the table. How do you see or position yourself/your success/needs as an entrepreneur in this milieu?
Kerry-Ann
Hi, Jay.
I recently was given a set of ten laptops in a cart for my class. I’m curious to see how well they will work (once the computers actually arrive). The power-saving slant def. got me thinking… I was already starting to write some kind of test project proposal in my head… to get a cart of tablets or something for our school to use in place of the lab… see how much we could actually save or save & benefit… something to think about. Thanks!
Pixton Pixton is a tool that capitalizes on the capabilities of the web and its users to create, remix, and reuse one another’s creations. Â The primary function is for a simple-to-use web-based comic creator that ‘gives anyone the power to create amazing comics on the web’. Â The value of this product is reflected in the […]
Continue reading Pixton Pixton is a tool that capitalizes… Posted in: Uncategorized, Week 04: Entrepreneur Bootcamp
Hey Christopher,
Great find!!! I just made a toon foff Pixton for my ETEC 511 class! I searched several tooning sites and found theirs to be more user-friendly. This site is awesome and offers a variety of ways to make different visual creation!!
Thumbs up!
Jen
Since 2008, MathTV.com has provided video of their math instructors demonstrating the processes of solving many varieties of math problems. They offer free videos as well as video content for university-level material which you can pay for or get a six-month subscription for with the purchase of one of their textbooks. In addition to their […]
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Hello,
I had a similar feeling about the fact that there was little information readily available about the companies on some of these sites. I was interested in looking for Picassahead, but the company info was challenging to get to. When we talk about critical thinking and assessing the information that we take from the web, it was a bit of a wake-up call. Also a sense of ‘why aren’t they proud of their product’.
Cheers,
Kristopher
You’re right, Kris… I would think it (coming from an artsy science guy, mind you) to be just good business to have at least some basic resume-type info about yourself “out there” that would allow people to understand you better as well as link you to your positive achievements.
Hi Mcquaid,
MathTV seems like a good venture, it has prompted me to start a company of similar nature. I have always toyed with the idea of Math solutions for Caribbean Secondary Education Council Examination (CSEC) and Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination (CAPE) students.
Edmodo is a social network and a private micro-blogging platform that is similar to the services provided by Facebook and Twitter. It is mainly built for teachers and students for them to use in their classroom. Edmodo is more secure than Facebook and Twitter. It provides teachers and students with the opportunity to conduct private […]
Continue reading Edmodo is a social network and a private… Posted in: Uncategorized, Week 04: Entrepreneur Bootcamp
Haha! I think I’ve been shown up! Nice info. You went way more in depth than i did I think. As a user of edmodo, I’m glad to see someone else profile this and plan to use it!
Thanks for sharing this innovative tool. Reading your post makes me want to explore more about the tool and see the possibility of using it with my courses. About your reflections, I agree with you that today there is a high demand for skilled and educated people in diverse areas of our society. However, I am not sure that all innovative ventures about the integration of technologies in instruction will be successful because of this. For example, I have experienced how some really innovative technologies that can promote learning in many ways become underutilized and then without selling because of lack of training programs to teachers on how to manage the tool. With this, I am trying to say that there are other variables that can affect the success or failure of a venture.
Angela
I have been to presentations at various conferences that highlighted Edmodo as a successful tool used in many schools and districts. They have filled a void that exists in schools where the filters are so restrictive that in-house solutions for social networking must be used, but who has time to create them? Edmodo fills that void..I see Principals using it as a networking space for teachers and I see teachers using it for the interaction in the classroom when exploring outside the district server space is restricted.
How do they make money?
Thanks for the bio, it was interesting!
I tried to sign up for Edmodo but it seemed like I had to associate myself with my school – as an individual, I’m not sure I have the right to enter my school into the Edmodo system.
For non-US educators, do you have concerns with student data being kept on servers in the USA? This is surely an issue with the Patriot Act.
cheers
Yes, you need to be associated with a school. It is a useful software for students and teachers.
Before you publish your posting, please make sure that you select a category (eg. Introductions) as well as assign some meaningful tags (keywords).
carmen 11:10 am on October 5, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
I’ve used Moodle and Desire2Learn, and I think the two are often being compared. Since Moodle is free while Desire2Learn has a $30 license fee for every full time student, Moodle is developing very quickly. Because more and more people are using moodle, it is easier to get technical help from the internet/teachers around.. As far as I know.. what the two LMS’s have to offer are similar.