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 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?
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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.