kstackhouse
I was really challenged by this course and I greatly enjoyed the many avenues we were able to explore. Thank you to all of the teams that presented and the high quality of materials that were provided. Two components that would help me, and possibly others participate more would revolve around communication and collaboration. In […]
Continue reading Participation Portfolio: Team Pitches suggestion Posted in: General Ken Write is a fictitious bluetooth device that allows multiple users to collaborate in real time with a SMART Board from their desk. It offers Multi-touch and multi-user collaboration which promotes inclusion and engagement. Here you will find my Venture Pitch: Reflection: I must admit that this is one of the assignments that I have […]
Continue reading Ken Write Posted in: Venture Forum
Hi Ken,
I really like your Ken Write venture and thought that you did a great job in putting together a professional elevator pitch. As well, I think the concept behind such a product could have a lot of potential and wonder if this is something you are actually going to (or already are) pursuing?
Julie
Thank you Julie. I think it is a great concept. I am not sure about the technical aspects of it though. I know that there are bluetooth dongles that can support 7 devices, I am not sure if the technology for more users and multi-touch is actually available at this time or not. I could see issues with lag if there were too many people at one time trying to use the problem. I guess that is where someone that is capable of building the product would have to answer.
Ken
Hi Ken,
Great job on your elevator and venture pitch! In your elevator pitch, I got a sense of who you were and what you were pitching. As well, you had an “Ask”. I think that there is a need for this product because of the reasons you have stated. Too many times I have seen only one or two students come to a SMART board to work on a problem or answer a question while the rest of the class sit there watching, not engaged. Good idea to use Bluetooth to connect SMART boards to individual devices. I am assuming that “Ken Write” can be used on other interactive whiteboards as well. Or is this just a SMART board product?
Here is some constructive feedback on your venture pitch:
• I liked that you had a “Ken Write” logo and website (that’s something that I did not do myself).
• The Prezi was easy to follow and included videos.
o Instead of the links to the Inclusion report by McKay or the SMART board information, I think you should have maybe done a summary of these facts.
• You included the pain point – 2 million SMART boards in use with limited abilities for multiple users and network issues (WiFi or restricted WiFi).
• You included the solution – “Ken Write” a Bluetooth device which allows for multi-use, multi-touch, and collaboration.
• You did include the competition, but I think you could have stated why your product was better than these other products. You may have wanted to do a little blurb at the end of your “What are Some Other Options” section to state this.
• Marketing – You did state the market size for SMART boards (2 million boards with 6 million users in 175 countries), but I would have also liked to know how the buyers were going to be reached. PR, ads, commercials, social media, etc…
o As well, who will your major market push be towards?
o Will you target schools or school districts that have established BYOD programs? I know that in my school district we have SMART boards, but I don’t think any of the schools are utilizing mobile devices; therefore, I’m not sure my district would invest in “Ken Write”.
• Will students be able to project any of the work they do on their mobile devices onto the SMART board screen using “Ken Write” or is it just to get whatever is on the SMART board onto their devices?
• I’m not sure if I got a strong sense of the strengths and weaknesses of “Ken Write”. What are some of the issues that may arise?
You did a great job on your elevator and venture pitch. Depending on who you were targeting, I could see a need for this product.
Lisa
Thank you for your feedback. You are right, providing a summary of the reports might have been beneficial for an EVA. I was worried that an EVA might not be in Education but rather an investor and they might not want to hear about the reports but know that they the push was there. As I admit in my reflection, I am not a business person, so when you mention some points and even after I started looking at other venture pitches I do see areas where I could have made my case stronger. Thank you for the feedback. I appreciate the constructive criticism.
Ken
Hi Ken,
After watching other people’s pitches, I also saw where I could have done better. I didn’t do a very good job at the ask and return. Also, like you, many people added a logo or showed their product which I didn’t do. I also found this assignment quite challenging, but after reviewing everyone’s work this week, feel I actually have learned from this experience. Good luck next semester.
Lisa
Love it – great idea, I would definitely engage with you to discuss funding.
One of the best prezis I have seen. I have more questions but all are a positive and exciting reflection of your idea and a want to explore more.
A major question I would ask would be how do you limit the confusion on the smart board if everyone was engaging with it, all at the same time. Also the health implications of having so many bluetooth connections in one room. But these are further exploring questions – you have already gotten my attention for investment.
Nicely done –
Stuart
Thank you Stuart. I am not sure what the health implications would be. I think that the Bluetooth signals being sent are all around us most of the time anyway. In a regular school, mall, or home there is Wi-Fi and bluetooth being used all the time. Maybe it would be an issue in a such a confined space. Great question, because I hadn’t even considered that. Your point about confusion at the board is also valid. One way to do this would be to have a user tag hover above the cursor, such as is done in a Google Doc. At least this way it could be seen by all who has making changes or accessing the screen.
I think having a team working on this would help raise questions such as these before trying to take the idea to investors. I appreciate the feedback.
Ken
Thanks for the interesting pitches Ken. I was quite intrigued and your passion for your product came through – good points for CO credibility. Very nice production values, especially with your venture pitch. It’s clear you’ve worked through the key details of your venture. I liked that your elevator pitch focused on a few key aspects, notably identifying the pain point and the solution. I have some questions about the viability of parts of the solution – how would it work to have a classroom full of children simultaneously collaborating via their personal device on one smart board and the technical realities of that. However I’m willing, during only 12 weeks of development time, to give some leeway to some specifics and actual viability.
I liked your information on marketing and your advantage and distinctions from the competition. You provided the ask but not the return, but David had mentioned some forebearance with money aspects.
So despite some minor reservations about the product, I liked your pitches. I’ve some other pitches to ponder, but I did enjoy your venture.
Hi Ken,
Your pitches were very clear and concise. The Ken write is a product that seem viable in the educational market. My only concern as an investor was the reliance on bluetooth versus Wifi. It seems as though your venture emphasized the advantages of having global collaboration via smart boards but didn’t quite explain what this feature that already exists ties in with your product. I like the fact that all the students are engaged with your device as a student is working on the whiteboard. If students are connected to the whiteboard via bluetooth, can you have multiple users on at the same time? There are a few things that need to be ironed out but overall, I enjoyed the pitch and would consider investing.
I think that this is a great idea and a great product! Both of your pitches are highly engaging and informative. You were able to gain my attention initially through the elevator pitch, which made me want to read the venture pitch.
Your venture pitch does a good job of stating the pain point of inclusive education and how your device will help provide a solution. With current trends in education pushing inclusive education, I think that your device is very marketable. I think that I would have liked to know more about how your device compares with others in the market and what makes yours superior to the others. I also do wonder which part of your CEO team would take care of the marketing aspect of the company. It seems as though you have plenty of experience to cover the educational aspect and the applicability, but the marketing and selling may be a little more difficult. I also appreciated that you provided an ‘ask’ and informed me what you would do with that investment and what your future plans are for the company.
Overall, I really liked the concept and the pitches. I would invest in this device because I think that there is a definite market and demand for such a technology.
Jhodi
Here is my new Vehitar look. I received a few quizzical comments from other avatars on my choice to be a car. This was particularly funny to me since one of the avatars questioning me was a monkey with a goat head and wings…and I was the odd one? 🙂 The image below is the […]
Continue reading Ken’s Avatars Posted in: Week 12:
Hi Ken,
Great choice with the car! I wonder though (because I too am still a beginner to Second Life) does choosing a car over a person minimize certain abilities in your actions? Does it change how you enter and move around inside somewhere?
Julie
I didn’t have any issues driving or flying about…I didn’t spend time trying to figure out how to dance though. Maybe being a car would have caused some issues?
Just wanted to let people know about this free online conference that is coming soon. I did not participate last year but heard through a colleague that it was a very interesting experience. Here is the link if you are interested: http://www.globaleducationconference.com/page/2012-conference Enjoy!
Continue reading 3rd Annual Global Education Conference Posted in: Announcements
Thank you for sharing.
Nureen
Just the other day I noted in a reply that a simple example of AR can be found on most computers now. PC and Mac have applications like Photo Booth (Mac) that can add AR to your pictures. My kids love taking pictures of themselves and distorting their face. I took this pictures just now […]
Continue reading Photo Booth & Action Movie Posted in: Week 07:
Great example of how we use AR and do not even realize it. Although, your kids are just playing around they are still gaining a skill. Just as you mentioned your students can use what they create and incorporate it into their projects. Therefore, it may not be a direct tool for learning but it can definitely used as an assisting tool.
Nureen
Your picture Ken really reminds me of blue screen, a technique used for quite some time in TV/Movies – the weatherman, for example, where it’s now realitively easy to put a second scene, or video, into the background. The actor stands in front of a green or blue screen – a very distincitve blue or green colour – and the computer is able to mat that colour and lay a second video layer that shows through. I’ve had my high school students create such videos with relative ease. Perhaps that what AR primarily is (but on a more high-tech level)?
Peggy
I think there is a place for AR in our schools. The potential to use AR in projects where they can bring to life places and people from the past and future is amazing. The use of AR promotes many of the 21st Century skills students need such as creativity and innovation, collaboration, communication, media literacy and ICT skills.
I think that Education’s adoption of cloud based services is inevitable. As mentioned in this week’s OER: they reduce the cost for schools, IT departments, and users. The concern that many people will continue to have is in the protection and privacy of the individual users and the intellectual property created and stored. Once people […]
Continue reading Week 6, Activity #9 Posted in: Week 06:
Group 6 did a great job for me of distinguishing between the 3 major categories of Cloud Computing – SaaS. IaaS, and PaaS (http://cloudlearning.weebly.com/what-is-cloud-learning.html). In my own school division, I’ve seen increasing use of Saas, but I know that many school divisions have really moved towards that direction, using Google Apps, Microsoft services, or other cloud tools as critical players – for example for providing all students and sometimes staff with email and other essential services. I can see this becoming more prevalent. While I’ve personally heard of few divisions using the cloud for infrastructure or platform, and my own job is on the instructional, not infrastructure side of technology, I can certainly see huge economical benefits for doing so, under the right conditions. One obstacle, I think, will be that getting over that reluctance of giving up local control (not withstanding the security and other cautions listed by Team 6).
Peggy
After reading this weeks posted information and articles it appears that “the future
is cloudy”.
This weeks group provided an excellent summary of cloud technology and identified the fundamental components to a better understand how it is integrated into the complex world of technology and the current issues related to this new market. There appears to be both advantages and disadvantages of cloud-computing. The benefits are cost and efficiency, being closely intertwined. For an organization the capital costs can be reduced with the implementation of cloud technology through buying virtual server time and storage space, IT departments transition into an operational role and the physical space and expense of housing servers no longer exists. For students cloud-computing increases accessibility, adds mobility, improves availability and integrity of software applications, research materials and storage capacity. For faculty it provides accessibility to virtual space for delivery of educational curriculum, customization of individual courses and provides department and campus unity. For administration it will provide standardization of resources and data management, reduced costs, reduce the need for IT staff, and supports greater virtualization. Of course, there are liabilities with the cloud market and its development being in the early stages. Lack of definitive standards, the concern of lock-in of data, confidentiality of data, where cloud servers reside and regulations, licensing and cost models. The implementation of could-computing in the near future will be linked to organizational decision-makers and the organization’s level of technology awareness.
Catherine
Grockit, Founded by Farb Nivi. This is a Social Learning Company that is sure to continue to succeed. Grockit offers a wide variety of services and has a strong management team…
Continue reading Grockit, the Social Learning Company Posted in: Week 04: Entrepreneur Bootcamp
I appreciate reading about companies, founded by educators for educators. I see that there approach is to provide a review for specific tests, what appears mostly are university level, with some 7-12. In your research, I was wondering how the social aspect functions within this environment?
Secondly, as seen in other posts. I appreciate people from the education world, going forth with their ideas, teachers helping teachers, instead of non-educationally formed companies trying to cash in on our already limited budgets. What are your thoughts regarding the potential success of this company? Are they providing a unique service, or simply an old service packaged in a new way?
Thoughts?
Tom,
I think the biggest social aspect comes in the form of the group study sessions, collaboration, and competition as students work through the materials. There are SAT prep materials and other standardized assessment. There are grades k-12, Virtual School materials, included AP course materials.
So far the company is looking very strong. Their latest launch, Learnist, looks to be a Pinterest style of learning. I have not loaded the app yet, so I can’t be certain. The company lists some of its investors here: https://grockit.com/about_us. They claim to be the world’s fastest growing online test prep for students.
There have been other test-prep services in the past. I think that Grockit is trying to take a new approach at the way test-prep has taken place and trying to match the social focus that has been surging in the past few years.
Thank you for furthering my understanding regarding the service, greatly appreciated.
As well, you mention “competition”… What does that look like inside of Grockit?
I’m not entirely sure how this looks. I did here in the video that students can earn points, badges, and connect with Facebook. I think in this sense and maybe in the quizzes or study sessions they may be able to compete. Again, I am not certain how this works from a user standpoint. Hope this info addresses your question.
More than addresses, thank you for the information. I realize, it is not what we are entirely supposed to be focussing on for this portion of the assignment. It is just that my inquisitive nature took over.
Well, well – this is an intriguing product! I took time to view your posted Grockit video. Very impressive. The product seems to offer so much it was difficult to keep track. A long elevator pitch, but well produced and I had to watch it all. My biggest concerns I guess, for deciding whether I would invest in this product or not – you mention that the company began in 2006. It is now 6 years later, and I have never heard of Grockit before now. Why not?
Peggy
Good point Peggy about the video…it was actually a marketing commercial so it was longer than an elevator pitch. I’m not sure how popular it is in Canada since many of the standardized tests may be for university entrance in the USA. It is funny how ed tech works, I have been teaching in Canada for almost 10 years and I only heard of Moodle last year. Of course now I know how huge they are. It is always surprising when we find out about a technology and it already has millions of users. That just proves how big the market really is.
Ken
The NMC Horizon Report: 2012 Higher Education Edition aims to provide an overview of the top trends of today and predict what will be coming on the ‘horizon”. The report was completed with the help of the EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative and the EDUCAUSE Program. The use of the report is granted under a Creative Commons […]
Continue reading The NMC 2012 Horizon Report Posted in: Week 02: The Edtech Marketplace
I find the comment you made in your final paragraph, regarding the speed at which some of these technologies are adopted by districts to be very powerful. For myself, districts are both an educational, political, and legal entity, all of which sometimes bogs down the system creating a delay in the large scale implementation of these services. Conversely, teachers within those districts could implement change more quickly, but might run the risk of creating controversy with either fellow teachers or the district itself, if they adopt unsanctioned technology.
Furthermore, the speed of implementation in some cases is so great, that by the time the technology is adopted, it is usually out of date, which creates further implementation issues for other technology initiatives.
Thoughts?
Great point. It seems that while the advancements in hardware and software may be increasing according to Moore’s law, our educational infrastructure is having a hard time meeting demands. It seems to all come down to funding… Or perhaps it might be the fact that Moore’s law has been turned into More law by the corporate giants through a design for the dumps approach to satisfy consumer demands. Take a look at this video to find out how: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sW_7i6T_H78
James
I thought that this report gave a great overview of several technologies and broad technological ideas for implementation in education. it also gave excellent examples of the educational use and purposes of such technologies and provided great specific examples of technologies that are in current use or are being developed. I very much agree with you that this was an easy read that provided a lot of information and in the future can be used by educators such as myself to get quick access to ideas in time for the technology to be relevant.
I greatly appreciated your review of the NMC Report. I also reviewed it, and felt it was eye-opening. Like you, I started to follow links and started to download apps. Are there any things that you are already using or know that others are using? I’m trying to find a good way to keep track of all the links that I pursue in readings and even categories for new apps. Perhaps there is an app for doing that? I sympathize with your last comments, since many public high schools will likely not adopt many of these things. The same goes for higher ed. However, I do believe that there are elements of this report that can be implemented in small-scale ways, (especially apps).
Thanks Eva,
I have used Delicious as one way to track links that I like. I have even created a Google doc for my own use where I copy & paste links and ideas. There are other ways to find similar links as well. You can use Twitter and follow other educators that you know have similar interests or concerns. This may help you as you build your list of resources to check out. The problem is that there is always something new, that is why I think this report and others like it are so important.
Very good review. I agree that many of us tend to rely on other teachers and ed. tech. specialist for information on the ed. tech. market. This is only natural; other teachers and ed. tech. professionals in our circles are great resources. However, as you have pointed out, reports like this make the search for information easier. It also provides us with additional credible ammunition. As a decision maker, a valid concern in this technologically dynamic environment is purchasing technology now that will become obsolete within the next second. While this report does not solve this concern and this maybe nothing will, it is provides decision makers with a tool that they can consult. Great that it is under a Creative Commons License.
Thanks Sophiabb, I think that the investment and length of time the technology will be in use is a major concern for the purchasers in education. The course ETEC 520 is a great course (if you haven’t already taken it) to help one deal with how these decisions are made.
After reading your post, I took a closer look at the NMC Report and had to agree that this was an easy-to-read report that could come in very handy for future technological requests. I also thought it was useful how they had created a “Relevance for Teaching, Learning, or Creative Inquiry”section that helped relate the projected technologies to these ideas. I found when reading through some of the research reports or market projections many of the technologies were interesting but I couldn’t always think of a way I could use them in my teaching.
You stated in your last paragraph that many school districts were behind in technology movements. Sometimes, even within a school district you will see a big discrepancy. My middle school is 4 years old and we have a lot of new technology within the building. We have also asked for certain things and have gotten them. A colleague of mine recently moved to a high school within the district and she couldn’t believe how many devices they didn’t have. I guess there are different priorities and use of funds at various schools.
Thanks Lisa,
We have the same issue in our district where some schools have and some do not. We also have the problem where we have some schools that have allowed certain products (Apple computers as an example) and other schools being told that they won’t be supported by the same centralized IT department. Very frustrating.
I agree that the “Relevance for Teaching, …” section was a nice feature.
I thought I would share a link to some videos I discovered today. I was looking at the Creative Commons site for some material to use in another course. On their home page they had an ad to watch the winning videos for their “Why Open Education Matters Video Competition”. Here is the link to […]
Continue reading Open Education Resources Posted in: General
Nice video, thanks for sharing!
I liked the video but I am still curious how schools that do not have the funds to purchase the materials such as laptops, mobile devices, etc. are able to provide access to the students to these open programs. Am I missing something? The students would still need Wifi wouldn’t they?
I’m not entirely sure how this will work or look for schools that are lacking in tech resources. I think it will at least be a support to the educators that can use the ideas and resources in their own class after gathering them from the “OER” site(s). Great question though. Maybe someone else has more insight to this. It is new to me.
I am very excited to see what this course will bring. Currently I am working on courses 8,9, & 10 of this crazy thing called MET! Some of you might think I am crazy for taking three courses right now…maybe I am. I am actually enjoying an education leave that is allowing me to focus […]
Continue reading Ken in NB Posted in: Week 01: Introductions
Nice meeting you, Ken! Three grad courses in one term is not an easy task, but I wouldn’t say that you’re crazy. Well, maybe a bit. But that’s what we need to make it in this crazy world!
James
Great to meet you Ken. I have found that the MET program has opened doors for me even though I have not completed it yet. Good luck with your course load.
Hi Ken,
It appears there are two of us ‘crazy’ people; I’m taking 3 courses, too!! I have a lighter work load for the upcoming months, so I’m hoping I will survive. The subjects you teach are ones where many technological tools can be incorporated; I look forward to learning from how you have integrate them.
Best of luck with your three courses! Here’s to finally graduating!!
Adriana
Hi Ken,
Good to share another course with you again. I felt like I was crazy for trying to take on 2 courses with work, but maybe 3 courses is a bit crazier. Kudos to you. Looks like this is the homestretch for you!
Jonathan
Nice to meet you again Ken,
I believe that we did ETEC 565 together and I was impressed by your work. I know that if anyone can handle three courses and excel it would be you.
I wish you the best and look forward to working with you.
Patason
dude…looks like you got it good.
My apologies for not writing back to your welcome messages…I have checked back here today but have only just seen the replies at the bottom, I’m not sure why they weren’t visible before. I am glad that I see them now. I was beginning to feel like nobody was reading them. 🙂
Ken
Before you publish your posting, please make sure that you select a category (eg. Introductions) as well as assign some meaningful tags (keywords).
 | joeltremblay on Week 11: Voice |
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| adi on My last participation :-( |
| adi on My last participation :-( |
manny 1:59 pm on November 29, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
I would agree with the discussion component of the course layout and its limitations. Upon beginning the MET program, vista was the platform for most courses and it worked like a charm. It was easy to log on and easily locate your discussion threads and respond to comments that colleagues have added. This blog roll format does work but makes finding and posting discussions and replies a tedious task. I noticed that complex threads didn’t really evolve within this format as they had in the past with courses offered through vista. The connect platform is not any better either. This is the interesting thing with technology, just because something is newer, doesn’t necessarily make it better. The old saying “If it aint broke, don’t fix it,” is something designers should keep in mind. Then again, if that was the case, they would be out of a job.
jenbarker 2:36 pm on November 29, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
As a note, I know that UBC is moving to a new system called Connect, instead of Vista. Having used both I find Connect much more cumbersome to navigate than Vista. It only shows one post at a time and you have to use arrows to click/scroll through conversations. At least through the blog I don’t have to click on each person’s post to read what they wrote. Just my two cents.
Peggy Lawson 6:02 pm on November 29, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Thanks for the post Ken. This is the 2nd course that has used a WordPress blog instead of Vista or Connect. I know it can take time to adjust to something new, but I’ve had some experience now and as you said trying to follow threads and new posts is almost impossible and consumes far too much time trying to locate new posts (I didn’t like the RSS method much, either). I’m sure I’ve missed replying to comments on my own posts which I hate to do. As Manny said, the rich and complex discussion threads that, to me, are the real heart of a MET course are very difficult and almost non-existent with WordPress blogs.
Collaboration on the venture project is an interesting idea.
Doug Connery 7:32 pm on November 29, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
I also agree about using the Word Press Blog format, this is my second course as well, and the discussions have not been as rich as it is hard to keep track of them. These courses are all about learning from each other through the postings, so I believe we could have learned a lot more in this course if it was hosted in the normal Vista platform where the discussion threads are better managed.
The other comment that I would like to make which is even riskier as the final grades have not been posted, however it is a specific constructive suggestion, is we have been discouraged from continuing discussions once each group’s emerging market analysis week is complete. In other courses I have been in, continued discussions were allowed throughout the course, and I remember one where they were still going 7 days after the course was completed! I do not see a fault or danger in this, only positives as small groups of students are able to discuss topics to great detail and on a wide array of related topics.
Doug.
jameschen 11:06 pm on November 29, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Good suggestions, Ken. I would also really like to see future iterations of this course to have the venture pitch assignment structured as a collaborative project because I found it disengaged my learning experience from the collective while I worked through the assignment myself.
James
rebeccaharrison 6:49 pm on November 30, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
My other 3 classes are currently in Connect and I think there are benefits to both. I have one course where our discussions happen on connect and we do assignment posting through wordpress. I dislike going through the extended process of “clicking” and collecting on connect, but it is easier to tell what you have already read.
I think that you are right, Ken, that it would be great to collaborate on an idea, however, I can see that being a bit difficult to coordinate, particularly for those who want to work on a special project/venture that they are actually wanting to launch.