Skoolbo is an interactive game that is targeted at K-7 students to improve their core literacy and mathematical skills. Skoolbo has been built for student use with its easy to navigate menus and enjoyable plot. With the use of exciting mini games, Skoolbo is sure to be a hit in a classroom, at home or […]
Continue reading Skoolbo is an interactive game that is t… Posted in: General, Venture ForumToggle Comment Threads | Keyboard Shortcuts
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Jonathan
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Jonathan
Learning A-Z Several teachers at our school have been using Learning A-Z products for reading recovery purposes. I’ve known about it for some time but this year, I’ve decided to take the program on and give it to the majority of my primary students. As a result, I couldn’t think of a better product/service to […]
Continue reading Learning A-Z Posted in: Week 04: Entrepreneur Bootcamp -
Jonathan
Value in Ed Tech Predictions?
ZDNet’s Top 10 Education Tech predictions for 2011 provides a brief look at some possible trends in the upcoming years. I believe this article provides more “food for thought” as opposed to a solid launching platform for venturers or organizations to base their purchasing decisions off of. The list compiled by Adam Garry, Dell’s manager […]
Continue reading Value in Ed Tech Predictions? Posted in: Week 02: The Edtech Marketplace -
Jonathan
Hello from Richmond!
Hello all — I’m going to give a good sigh of relief (like Ken). Got the first full day of teaching out of the way, now I can settle down to a little quiet with MET. My name is Jonathan Tang and I’m currently teaching a Grade 2/3 classroom in Richmond, BC. This is my […]
Continue reading Hello from Richmond! Posted in: General
Paula Poodwan 12:00 pm on November 27, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Jonathan,
Your elevator pitch video is still private and also I can’t open your longer version neither. Looking forward to view them 🙂
Peggy Lawson 4:25 pm on November 27, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Same here. I’m quite looking forward to learning about Skoolbo!
lullings 5:38 pm on November 28, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
I was dying to hear more about the enjoyable plot of this venture Jonathan.
I am having the same problems as Paula and Peggy.
Skool booo to it not working as I enjoy a good interactive game!!!!
Jonathan 6:35 pm on November 29, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Oh no. My apologies. I will make sure it is opened up. I think I have been pretty confused with all of the settings. It should be up now. Sorry it took so long!
Peggy Lawson 7:53 pm on November 29, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Elevator pitch looks great Jonathan – you had me looking forward to the venture pitch, but I’m afraid the link to that isn’t working.
manny 4:40 pm on November 30, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Jonathan,
The idea of video gaming in education is an exciting phenomenon that I am sure will spark some interesting debates as its implementation progresses. I was unable to open your venture pitch but your elevator pitch was really well done and provided a great overview. My only concern is that you offer 20 free hours of game play to new members as a way to entice them into signing up. I thought that this may have been too much time and would turn an investor off as revenues would take a hit with that model.
Jonathan 1:21 am on December 1, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Manny —
Upon further thought, I think I would have to agree with you. Skoolbo itself is already in existence and I have a feeling that their current model of providing the game for free is probably the way to go. I was looking for an active way to interest investors (but I may have done the opposite).
If I were to revise the project, I may keep the game free and look to the value added projects (ie. digital books, teacher resources) for more revenue.
Thanks for the feedback Manny.
My apologies for not having the extended version working (I’ve been playing with the links endlessly..)
Suhayl Patel 6:44 pm on November 30, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Jonathan,
I really like your idea. I think the gamification of education is a great tool to leverage to increase engagement. I’ve only viewed your elevator pitch and am not able to access your venture pitch.
Patrick Pichette 8:26 pm on November 30, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Jonathan,
I also agree with many of the others in terms of the excitement generated by using games to teach. The concept is interesting but I wasn’t quite sure that giving 20 hours was quite right. I know quite a few games that I barely make to 20 so you’re pretty giving users all the usage they want out of it and then they may just opt to put it aside feeling as though they barely have anything left to gain out of it. I’d likely say that 5-10 hours is more than sufficient to determine the viability of a product and whether it deserves my hard earned dollars. Anything more is just a bonus in my end. As such, I likely would shy away from investing but would likely follow the venture to see where it leads.
Jonathan 1:27 am on December 1, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Thanks for your feedback Patrick.
I was trying to figure out how I could increase revenue, but as I think about it more — developing the core product is really important. As I was mentioning to Manny, I think the way to go is to leave the game free. I hear what you say about 5-10 hours and shortening the game — but with the 20 hours I wanted to give enough opportunity for both teachers and students to try it out. Either way, upon some reflection, I feel that a hard cut off would be a turn off to educators and students. As I mentioned in a response to Manny — I think building upon the core product would be important to ensure that students continue to return.
Thank you for your feedback!
Jonathan 1:15 am on December 1, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
I’ve had a lot of difficulties posting up both my Youtube and my documents. I hope it works now, although I’m thinking that it is too late. Thank you all for trying to view my submission.
jhodi 8:37 am on December 1, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi,
I think that you have done a great job creating an elevator pitch that is simple and provides key points of interest for me to want to further explore your venture. I, like others, was a little surprised by the 20 hours of free gaming to start as I feel like that is a lot and students may lose interest after that or if a school uses it, 20 hours may be enough time to use it without actually paying for it. I would probably shorten it to 5 so that they can get a feeling for it, but not get to use it for the completion of a task.
Jhodi
Jonathan 6:46 pm on December 2, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
20 hours is quite generous amount. The creators of Skoolbo actually have allowed this game to go for free. To me it isn’t clear how they are funded currently, but I do believe the way to go with content now is to provide a solid experience and monetize on products afterwards.
Build a product people can’t live without and then they will be happy to pay for it. Try before you buy, I feel is extremely important.
Thanks for your feedback!
Peggy Lawson 9:01 am on December 1, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Jonathan –
Glad the tech issues were worked out with posting. I didn’t mind the wait and was happy to see your final product. I liked the quality and general content of the elevator pitch, but with so much competition in the educational gaming market today I didn’t really get enough in the brief pitch to sell me I’m afraid. I caught the pain point, but felt the solution could have been expanded upon. I’d like to know more, right up front, about what you mean by intricate story lines – some quick examples perhaps, that are intended to keep the students engaged. So I would have some concerns regarding how you would stand apart from the competition. As a potential EVA, I would be interested in seeing what you’ve got for me once you’ve got some samples to show me.
Jonathan 6:44 pm on December 2, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Peggy !
It’s interesting that you say you didn’t get a good sense of what the product was about. I remember right at the beginning of the course we were tasked with watching a lot of pitches and thinking the exact same thing.
As we headed into doing our own project, I remembered trying to balance out how much about the game I should talk about and how much about the general direction of the venture. It feels like a fine balance because we were definitely suppose to keep it towards the investors. But one could argue that the investors need to have a good idea of what is going on in the product. I have quite a few ideas about how to redo the pitch and I think it would have to include some gameplay. I may be crossing over into copyright issues though if I do this as it is a real product.
Thanks for your feedback, Peggy!