I am pitching a new software, Instant One-Sheet, which is a cloud-based software that allows the user (film producer or student) to create a high quality and aesthetically polished one-sheet and extended web-based proposal. To learn more, please see my Elevator Pitch Venture Pitch (password: etec522) Thanks and looking forward to your feedback, Eva
Continue reading I am pitching a new software, Instant On… Posted in: Venture ForumStarted Posts Page 14 RSS Toggle Comment Threads | Keyboard Shortcuts
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Eva Ziemsen
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Mike Rae
Up2date Learning is a high school e-Textbook company that produces customizable resources designed to align with individual course curriculum that receives annual updates every year, and sends email alerts to teachers giving them options for updating their course throughout the year when events and breakthroughs occur. Here is my elevator pitch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AiVXcnQAfn8 Here is my […]
Continue reading Up2date Learning is a high school e-Text… Posted in: Venture Forum-
jkotler
Hi Mike,
After watching your presentation, I think venture concept addresses a real need in education and offers a good and viable solution. In particular, I really liked the updates feature and especially the up to the minute updates as I believe it would be a valuable resource to many educators.
One thing I was curious about (and don’t recall being specified in the presentation) is what subjects the e-textbooks would be designed for?
As well, in terms of the presentation itself I felt that it was somewhat difficult to hear you at times in addition to clearly seeing the power point. Thus, I think had the quality and design been given a little more attention it would have made the overall presentation and sell of the venture that much stronger.
Julie
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Mike Rae
Thanks for the feedback Julie, I agree with you that it didn’t turn out as well as I had hoped, and I definitely could have done a little more with the presentation. My idea was trying to mimic doing a pitch in front of people, and then tape that. But when it gets taped and is viewed electronically, it definitely loses some of the effect. After watching some of the other venture pitches, i found myself saying “damn, I wish I had done that” a bunch of times…you live you learn though right?
I may have had to cut the subjects from the presentation, but my main focus was on Social Studies, Business, and Science. Subjects where breakthroughs and events tend to happen that updates would improve the course.
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Kent Jamieson
Hello Mike,
Great elevator pitch. It made me want to watch your venture presentation. You have a natural ability to sell.
Your information was good, and had many of the aspects that the assignment was looking for. I like that you demonstrated how your etext would work, and the updates idea is great. I also agree with textbooks being outdated and that this idea can satisfy a need and has validity.
In saying that, however, I found that your venture pitch seemed a little stagnant. The motionless camera fixed on a slideshow made me feel like I was back in highschool trying to stay awake during a lesson. I also found myself wondering about the way we teach – or at least the way we ‘should’ be teaching – these days, and worried that your lecturing style of presenting your textbook based venture didn’t seem very ‘up to date’…even though your final message to us all was that you’re behind the times if youre not ‘being up2date’. Just a thought.Finally, I’m a bit worried about competition you mentioned. They are huge companies. It seems as though many of these competitors would offer ‘updates’ that link to curricular needs?
Overall, i like the pitch, but it didn’t quite allow me to open up my cheque book.
Kent
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Mike Rae
Thanks Kent,
Yeah the stand and deliver in hindsight may not have been the best approach. If I could go back, I would have broken that up with graphics, slides from the powerpoint, etc. instead of doing it all at once.
Those big companies are the scary part of the venture idea, might be a better option to patten the update feature and then sell that idea to the big guys.
thanks for your thoughts
MIKE
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Ranvir
Mike, I liked the way you prepared the venture pitch – posing in front of the camera and explaining your venture concept, I wish I could have done that too…
I like your venture concept and agree that e-textbooks have lot of potential in terms of making education more affordable and up-to date as you mentioned. This is the reason Amazon, McGraw Hill and other publishers are offering online versions of their books that can easily be accessed on smartphones and tablets. I myself have stopped buying paper copies since I bought my iPad earlier this year.
I however have some questions for you –
1. As an investor, one would like to know who your competition is in this market? Are you planning to compete with Amazon and the likes?
2. How to you plan to market your product?
3. How and when can an investor expect to get a break even and start making profits on the investment? Typically schools have shallow pockets and have faculty have limited PD budget. Is that a correct assumption?
Ranvir
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Ranvir
On second thoughts, please disregard question 1 and 2 as you have sufficiently answered them in the venture pitch.
I buy supplemental text for my kids from Amazon although I would appreciate if a company could offer variety of content focused on K-12. I think the market is there and I wish you luck with your venture.
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Mike Rae
I agree Ranvir, the shallow pockets is a hurdle to overcome. It is hard to say when investors would start to see a return, because the e-textbook market in high schools is in such a early stage. So it might take a year or two to see some return. The idea is that a start up company like this one builds up and then eventually sells out to one of the bigger dogs in the ring, making profit for the investors.
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Colin
Hi Mike, I agree that having up to date textbooks is a good idea as I still have some textbooks that refer to 2004 as in the future. Though I am trying to understand if you will be writing all the textbooks yourself or whether you will be taking existing textbooks and then just updating the information as needed. I believe right now when you get an e-textbook subscription that you always do get the newest version but a new version could be coming out every few years. My only concern would be having to have textbooks continuously updated and republished could be costly. Also writing a textbook that teachers want to purchase would be an issue as it is a very competitive market. My last issue would have to do with the fact that right now most classrooms don’t have access to laptops or computers to read the e-textbooks. Otherwise good presentation and idea.
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cunnian
Hi Mike,
I quite liked both your elevator and venture pitch. This is a new angle on this emerging market and it addresses a clear need in the educational system. I appreciated the detail with which you explained the product, clearly differentiated it from what is currently out there, identified your market and specifically laid out what you need from your investors and what you plan to do with it.
While this is an innovative product and one that I think warrants further development, my concern as an investor is that you are going against the giants of the publishing industry. If this is an idea that truly revolutionizes this industry, I would be concerned that the ‘big dogs’ will quickly catch up and run you out of the market. While you might have a head start, they have large client bases and very deep pockets for development. As such, you would need to somehow patent this idea.
Another concern is how you will create your ‘base content’ for your e-textbooks. The idea of having up-to-date information that a teacher can customize is awesome, don’t get me wrong, but you still have to provide some sort of ‘base material’. As such, is your team going to write e-texts from scratch? Is that part of the development costs?
Again, I think that you did a great job. Well done! -
manny
Hi Mike,
You have a brilliant idea and I could easily see it being used in education. Your pitch reminds me of textbooks we have in our library, some of these books such as “challenge of the west” are the same books I used back in highschool. There are big competitors in this market (Mcgraw-Hill) and I think your ultimate goal would be a buy out from one of the giants mentioned rather than competing with them. Another competitor is the free RSS feed feature that teachers in courses such as social studies can use to stay up to date on current events by creating their own news feeds. Great wrap up and catchy final logo “If you’re not up2date, you’re behind the times!”
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rebeccaharrison
Hi Mike,
As said by others, I really like the idea, especiallly with respect to the up2date current content. I am also concerned, just by watching the elevator pitch, about the competition, as I have been using online textbooks for course content already. How is this different? That might be the most important point for me because I think the rest of the idea is an easy sell. Good pitch!
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jhodi
Hi Mike,
I think that you have a great idea here and one that does address a common concern in schools. However, my worry with such a technology is how it would compete with major publishing companies that could use already made textbooks, put them in e-text form, and continuously add to them. I also wonder about the practicality of keeping information ‘up-to-date’. I wonder how many people you would need to employ, how much legislation would need to be passed for each piece of information to be added, and how quickly all of this could be done to give the information to students. It seems like a very large task to keep say a Social Studies textbook up-to-date, whereas a Math textbook may be much easier. I also wonder which classes this would be intended for.
All said, I think that you did a great job. I really like how you presented this information and I liked that you made it personal by putting yourself in front of the camera. I did read your reflection as well and it is too bad that you had to cut part of your video out because maybe that would have answered my questions. I think that with a little more work, this would be a venture that I would be very interested in.
Jhodi
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adi
Hi Mike,
Sorry for the late post. I have had sleepless nights completing other assignments. I do apologize and mean no disrespect.
I loved your pitch. You spoke well, with good stress and intonation, and touched upon just enough detail to create curiosity. I also enjoyed your longer pitch, though I would perhaps make the deck (slides) more graphic and with less text.
I think your idea is great and there is a market; however, as a textbook author myself, I know the competition is fierce because there is a lot at stake; the textbook market is huge and profitable. You would also need a large team of editors and writers making these updates, and there would be issues regarding who gets royalties for what. Nevertheless, you raise a valid point and there is a need, what I don’t know if going it alone without the backing of one of the textbook publishing monsters would be feasible.Adriana
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Peggy Lawson
Hi Mike –
Of all of the pitches I’ve viewed, yours is focused on one of the greatest needs I think, and you’re elevator pitch sold that very well. Loved your enthusiasm – you held my attention as you did a great job of covering the pain point. It was unclear to me, however, in the evevator pitch, if the updates were meant for eTextbooks produced by other publishers (and I had no idea how you would manage that) or if your company would create the textbooks. So I followed up with your venture pitch. While this question was answered, and if I needed to be sold any more on eTexts you continued to do a great job, what conerned me was the potential quality of writing for the eTexts – quality curriculum writers come with a cost, which must be passed along to the consumer. This will make it very difficult to compete with the Big Dogs; I’m concerned about your competitive edge. This will be a huge challenge I think. Other than that, I thought the pitch was well done – you’ve thought out the marketing plan. I had faith in your credibility (but may have omitted your mention of your failure in securities sales).
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visramn
My fictitious venture is for a specially designed educational tablet that is customized for use in schools. This tablet will be geared towards pre-school and elementary school students, as well as for students with special needs. This tablet will have all the capabilities needed to ensure students have access to multiple educational tools that are […]
Continue reading My fictitious venture is for a specially… Posted in: General, Venture Forum-
Paula Poodwan
Hi Nureen, your elevator pitch is private so I can’t watch it. I also tried to click the link above the video, still no luck 🙁
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visramn
Sorry about that. . I am surprised the download didn’t work. That is odd. I have changed the settings. I think it should be ok now.
Nureen
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Paula Poodwan
Hi Nureen,
You did such a wonderful job for both of your pitches. You managed to get a lot of info into the 1 minute pitch, good job! Your voice is enthusiastic and very professional too. The graphic and music are also perfect.
Your venture pitch is thorough. Even though you didn’t give much detail about the CEO and the team, somehow I still feel your venture is credible; it could be because you provided a lot of backup research and statistics. I think you covered many important points investors want to know like marketing, future growth plan, and competitors. Especially the detail in how Nabi 2 differs from other tablets which is one of my biggest concern whether to invest or not. You did answered that question. “Nabi 2 tablet school edition is better than the rest because it has the same capabilities as other and also has the best processing speed”
It is a good venture concept and I am very interested in it but because there are so many tablets out there already so I wouldn’t feel confident to invest at this point, sorry. Otherwise a very well presented pitches and I really enjoy watching and reading it.
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visramn
Thanks Paula. I appreciate the feedback. You are right there are a lot of tablets on the market. That is why I wanted to gear this to the educational market and make this product specifically for educational institutions by equipping it with a build in LMS system and master and slave capabilities.
I was actually drawn to this idea because I see my nephews and other kids around me wanting to play with digital devices and I can’t help but think these kids are going to grow up surrounded by these devices so why not make these devices conducive to their learning. It will be interesting to see what the future has in store for these kids.
Thank you so much for reviewing my work and for your helpful feedback.
Nureen -
lullings
Hey Nureen, after the elevator pitch I was feeling many things. Due to its speed I was a little bamboozled and panicked, but not really in a bad way, more in a way that I wanted to look for you and just find out more and I felt I needed to do it immediately!!! I think your passion came through on the delivery very much.
With the venture pitch I found it difficult as there was so much information. For me I would not invest in your venture as the market is over saturated already with device offerings but also because it represents a massive investment into one device for school districts. So I don’t think the device route is the way to go.
Saying that I think that your concept is excellent and that there is a gap in the market for a classroom based facility such as the one you describe. I would be more inclined to invest if this was the main focus and you concentrated on the delivery of that by providing the software apps for all the other devices. This means that students could bring their own if the app was on them but also the school board could get a cheaper version of the physical device and purchase your software to fill the gap the market. If it was possible to have different brands of devices talking to each other and the teacher through the one app it would, for me, be a winner.
Just my two cents –
Cheers
Stuart -
visramn
Hi Stuart,
Thanks for the feedback. I too think there is a gap in the market for devices/software such as these that can be used in the classroom.
Your idea would be ideal. It would be very beneficial for BYOD supporting school districts.Nureen
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Lisa Nevoral
Hi Nureen,
Good job on your elevator and venture pitch. You are obviously passionate about your idea. During your elevator pitch, I found the speed of your delivery too fast. When I was just grasping one idea, you had already moved three points ahead. I liked the idea that you wanted to make a product that would be interactive and provide individualized instruction for pre-school and elementary school students, as well as for students with cognitive and developmental disabilities. Differentiation is a very important aspect in teaching so you had a good idea and solution for that pain point.
In saying that, I have to agree with Stuart. For schools or school districts to buy these devices would be very costly, but if you could produce the software that could be used on many different types of devices, your product could potentially be a marketable item.
Good job!
Lisa
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visramn
Thanks for your feedback Lisa.
Nureen
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manny
Hi Nureen,
Your venture proposal for a personalized tablet specific for children has good intentions but may be too little too late. Your elevator pitch was very fast and it was difficult to discern what the product you are proposing is. The one-minute time limit was definitely the hardest part of this assignment. It seemed as though you attempted to fit everything in within this time frame but you may have been better off just sticking to a few key points and slowing down your narration. For the elevator pitch, we need to remember that less is more. Although I think your product is something moms would buy for their children, I do not see school districts adopting it and would not invest for the following reasons.
1) Production costs – To produce a whole new tablet specific for child use would require an astronomical amount of money.
2) Competitors – The tablet market is highly competitive and there really isn’t much room for newcomers. If this device offered something different than other products it could have a chance. However, it does not offer anything specific that other tablets can’t do already and also restricts other features that mom or dad may want to use.
3) Users – I understand that this product attempts to fill a specific niche within the tablet market. I feel that this niche is very specific and way too small to justify the huge startup costs it would take to get it to market. I do not see high school or post secondary students using this device so it becomes restricted to early childhood years.
On a positive note, it is durable and half the cost of the competitors ($250 price range). I would purchase it for my 3 year old to play with but can’t see it as an investment that would yield substantial returns.
Thanks,
Manny -
jhodi
Hi Nureen,
I found your elevator pitch to be packed full of information! I did however have a hard time collecting all of the information the first time through. Perhaps limiting the amount of information and focusing on the key points in your elevator pitch would have allowed me to retain more information as I was a little bit overwhelmed. That said, this is a good learning experience for me as I have had similar issues in the past as well and sometimes have a hard time with the less is more approach. Overall, this seems like a very good idea and something that I would want to use in my own classroom. I was just having a discussion with my students today about the tablet that I use to teach with and how I would like to be able to have a tablet for each one of them to use that is linked to mine. WIth that said, the tablet market is saturated with devices. I would not invest in you venture because there are too many large company competitors that could easily (and I think probably will shortly) create education-specific tablets. Additionally, although $250 is mid-range, this is a device that I think a lot of schools would hesitate purchasing due to the high quantity that they would need, which would be very expensive.
Overall, I thought that you did a great job of your pitches and that they were both very informative and hit the major points.
Jhodi
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Patrick Pichette
Hi Nureen,
Although I can tell you are very enthusiastic about your pitch, I found it impossible to understand what you were saying as it is just too fast for my mind to process. I would need to download your pitch, put it in VLC and then slow down the playback speed to a more human speed. 🙂 I understand that you were trying to maximize your elevator pitch but sometimes less is more and that would be my only real recommendation at this point. I have faith in you but I’m just not sure what you’re pitching.
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Suhayl Patel
Hi Nureen,
I thought you did a really good job on your pitches. Especially your elevator pitch. There was a lot of information packed into that minute and although some may find that it is too much to take in a such a great in such in a short time, I thought it was a great idea to make it a fast pitch. People are busy and can’t afford to spend extra time in listening to a pitch that they might not be intersted in, thus wasting a couple of minutes. I think the way you did your quick elevator pitch, really got the information across without wasting time. It was straight business!
Good work
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C. Ranson
Hi Nureen,
You have a good idea but I too think a little late given the market is saturated with tablets and the implementation of BYOD might also impact the success of this venture. I do appreciate how your tablet with be tailored better to the educational environment but I wonder with all the software programs and learning management platforms can this be addressed. Your elevator pitch address all the components of a pitch but was difficult to follow because you spoke so fast, I am confident a slower version would be exceptional. The prezi presentation was also well done but I believe you could have made your pitch with less information.
Catherine
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pcollins
I am pleased to share my pitch idea for the Virtual online opened learning platform. A full list of video credits and references are available on my ubc blog. A complete transcript of the pitch is also on the blog. I hope you enjoy, and I certainly appreciate any constructive feedback. Elevator Pitch: Full Venture:
Continue reading I am pleased to share my pitch idea for … Posted in: Venture Forum-
jenbarker
Hello,
I really liked your Elevator Pitch. The music and graphic visuals caught my attention. The text went a bit fast at the beginning and I had to read quite quickly. Generally though you shared enough information that I wanted to know more. Your venture pitch was outstanding. It covered ALL of the critical tenets needed in pitches. I think your venture is original and addresses a pain point. Your venture plan is well thought out and sound. You clearly demonstrated what you were asking for from investors and stated the sequence of your plan clearly. I liked your idea of a free trial too! I thought you did a terrific job. Thanks for sharing, Jen-
pcollins
I appreciate the supportive feedback Jen. Its great to know that the research that I had done actually managed to come through in my presentaton. I tried my best to generate any of the potential negatives and then address them pro-actively. It would be a neat venture to see fully realized.
PC
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avninder
I think the elevator pitch was great. Although you may want to consider changing some of the colors so that the white text against the white moving images in the background doesn’t become difficult to read for some viewers.
I do not know much about home schooling but this seems like a venture that is very worthwhile. Good explanation of what v.ool is and what it is not. It made me think about all of the other online technology that home schooled students could take advantage of.
You discussed how this process will enhance the students’ experience, which was great. To gain more interest you could also touch on how the students’ currently work to emphasize what this new concept means for those who otherwise have limited interaction. Although you did mention the research of online courses having a high attrition rate which was a great tie-in to the venture.
You touched on many success factors for an online learning environment including participation, 21st century learning principles and collaboration. Plus your detailed plan for presentations, researched statistics and financial information contributed to a solid pitch.
A demo although I know would not be easy to create, would have been great to see for potential investors to see. Thanks for sharing.-
pcollins
Oh my goodness having access to someone who knows game programming would be amazing. When I first started the project, I thought that I might actually have to come up with something tangible to demonstrate – which would certainly have helped. Albeit fffffaaarrrr outside of my realm of expertise.
Thanks for the feedback.PC
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joeltremblay
The elevator was great and the venture was informative. I do wish that some of the pizzaz you applied to the elevator would have been applied to the venture although I don’t think that affects the marketability.
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pcollins
I couldn’t agree more Joel,
Actually – I really toned it down for the venture pitch…. as I tend to be quite a twitchy and loud kinda girl. I wanted to play it subdued and well researched – but maybe I erred on the side of being boring!
Not something I am usually accused of in real life but certainly I can see it when I rewatch the presentation.PC
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Mike Rae
Awesome job Patricia. When I was watching your venture pitch, there were a lot of things that I liked. You had good enthusiasm in your voice and you conveyed that this is a good idea that could make money. Your projections seemed reasonable, and you clearly did your homework (or at least sounded like you did) on statistics. If the BC ministry did sign off on it, of course it would be a hit. I guess the I would have liked to hear more about how you were planning to do that part. Overall though, real strong pitch.
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pcollins
Thanks kindly Mike,
I did try my best… even though this was a fictional project…. to include realistic and well researched projections. I’m glad it came through to the objective viewer.PC
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visramn
Hi,
I think you did a great job on your pitch. It was informative and engaging.You did a great job of catching my attention and interesting me in your product with your pitch.
I found that your venture analysis covered all the parameters needed in an analysis. You showed excitement in your product which was evident from your facial expressions and your tone of voice. It was apparent that you are knowledgeable about your product and that you have belief in it, which makes viewers feel more drawn to it. Overall, I think you did a great job. The only thing that I would suggest is maybe making the analysis a little bit more interactive or engaging. Although you did a good job of covering all angles related to your project it was hard to stay focused because there were not many visuals. It is hard to concentrate when someone is talking for a longer period of time without some sort of visual component.
Thank for sharing. This is definitely a very good idea and I personally think there is a market for your product. .
Great work
Nureen-
pcollins
Much appreciated Visramn,
I couldn’t help but notice that myself – that there needed to be something a tad more visually stimulating. Not “glitzy” as Dave had pointed out but eye catching. At first I thought about eliminating myself from the equation all together and having a production that was, well… more polished. And then my concern was it would detract from the product and it’s potential rather then add to it. Perhaps a misjudgement on my part?PC
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visramn
I think your presence was powerful because of your expressions and body language. Hence, you were right in your decision. After veiwing some more pitches I am think maybe I was wrong in my initial opinion. Sometimes it better to keep it simple because then you are not detracting from the essence of what you are trying to say. Sorry, I am new at this and needed seem more exposure.
Nureen
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sophiabb
Hi,
Great elevator pitch. The music and graphic did an excellent job in capturing and holding my attention.
Your venture pitch came across as well researched and this added to the credibility of your venture proposition. You clearly addressed the pain point and your solution in both pitches. The venture pitch did a great job in addressing the marketability and financial feasibility aspects. I would have loved to see more graphical representation of your points but all major points were covered in your presentation. Well done on both pitches.
Sophia-
pcollins
Hi Sophia,
I am really quite aware of the pain point that exists because I work with home schoolers on a regular basis and have seen first hand how they would benefit from something similar to V.ooL. And yes, now that I am looking back on my venture, I can’t help but agree it was a bit dry. I have been told that I tend to be a bit too academic in my productions for the courses, and this would definitely be an area that I should work on.Research I can do! The marketing is an area that needs to be addressed – if this was the real world I’d probably have to invest big bucks to get a company to do the appropriate polish for me. Ha!
PC
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C. Ranson
Hi Patricia,
Well done, the elevator pitch was a little busy but cool and in keeping with your theme of gaming and learning. I agree with above, the white text was difficult to read at times but still intrigued me to continue to watch on. Your venture analysis presentation was very comprehensive identifying your target group, the investment details and return on investment. The 30-day free trial is a great idea and your revenue projections seem reasonable. What is the age of your target group, I know you mentioned that it wasn’t age specific but would the older learner be attracted to this platform? Very interesting idea.
Catherine -
jenniferschubertubc
Nice job on the elevator pitch, PC! 🙂 I know that it can be tough piecing all of that together, especially getting everything you need across in text on a moving video. It was a lot of material for that amount of time (and did go by a bit quickly), but I always say that it’s better to have more info than not enough. After all, that’s what pause is for! You engaged me quickly and left me wanting more, which is the whole point of an elevator, so mission accomplished.
I also agree with Catherine as to the value of a 30 day free trial. It is often hard to get new users on board anything these days without at least some small concession. This is a very fair one which provides just enough of a glimpse into the value of the program to “hook” your users. Great idea.
I would have liked to have seen more graphics in your venture pitch, but I know how hard it can be to incorporate your ideas, yourself and also accommodate for illustrative elements. You presented a wealth of information very well, addressing all of the points of a successful venture pitch. Very well done!
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frank
Patricia,
I think you have a potentially great idea.
Because of its novelty, I see your idea more as a R & D project in education tech, require several experiments/iterations.
As such, what you might want to pitch how this idea can create great value for already existing education tech providers and ministries. And present a 1-year plan on how you would go about developing and testing the effectiveness of your program in the next year.
Ideally, you’d have a big sponsor with already established programs that is willing to take a bet on this project in the hope that it might pay off with some direct/indirect results. The advantage of working with them is you’d have access to greater resources and funding for R&D work. The trade-off is the ownership of your project; though if you were instrumental in developing it, you’ll always have status associated with its outcomes and you could earn a good living off of it as long as it is successful. Something to think about it perhaps.
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frank
Assignment 3: Venture Pitch DolFin
It’s been interesting and, i have had my share of technical difficulties. I tried about 20 different permutations of technical fixes while recording this pitch, but couldn’t get it to come out both a compressed and, well not an art piece. If anyone has suggestions on tech support, I can repost if it works. […]
Continue reading Assignment 3: Venture Pitch DolFin Posted in: General, Venture Forum-
kstackhouse
Franc,
I tried to view your video but it looks like the link you sent is for the location within your video. You might have to update the link to show the url for the video outside of your video manager. Also, you can embed the video directly into the blog if you wanted to. Just click on the youtube button and paste the video url into place. Hope this helps.
Ken
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lullings
Hey Frank,
The youtube link doesnt work as it is linking to your videos you uploaded page rather than anyone in particular. This just brings me to my video upload page so cant see yours at all.
The Prezi is giving me an error as well.
You said that you were having trouble with the export. Lash me off an email with details of what program you are coming from, what OS you have, and what you recorded it using and hopefully I can help.
Cheers
Stuart -
Ranvir
Frank, the YouTube link does not work..
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Kent Jamieson
Not to sound too redundant, but I can’t view your video or prezi either.
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frank
Hi Guys, I did a complete re-install; try this now:
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Lisa Nevoral
Hi Frank,
I can see your YouTube video, but not your prezi.
Lisa
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jkotler
Hi Frank,
While I too was unable to find your prezi, I did watch your elevator pitch on YouTube. From that I think you have a great concept but it was somewhat unclear to me if the key features or purpose is to teach users about finance, create a budget for them or both? As well, I saw there was mention of users interacting with one another and I would have liked to know more about how that would work.
Julie
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Kent Jamieson
I agree with Julie that your concept seems great, as i think there is a need for this type of learning, but it was a little confusing knowing exactly what ‘Dolfin’ does.
I’m sure your venture pitch will add greater depth, but i’m not sure with the limited information gained from the initial pitch that investors could go any further.Do you explain where the 500K goes as well? I may be off base, but that number just sounds huge for the application you’ve explained.
Thanks,
Kent -
frank
Hello,
Thank you for your feedback. The Prezi is embedded in the Youtube video, so I did not post it separately.
DolFin is a LMS/CMS Platform that brings together budgeting tools, financial education content and social applications to make financial learning simple and fun. It can be utilized by teachers and and education providers as an all-in-one reservoir to draw from for tools, content and connectivity, so that they can focus their efforts on facilitating the learning process.
The budget is further laid out in the Venture Pitch; and the $500K covers both the Pilot and Alpha Launch development. Since you have $1 Million to invest on this, Investing in DolFin will allow you to fund something that’ is uniquely different and innovative, while having $500K left to invest in an another venture as well.
Cheers! -
rebeccaharrison
The elevator pitch is intriguing, but I don’t think it provides enough information for who would use it and what they would use it for. People are typically private about finances so I’m not sure whether that social media bit would be a good thing (as it would encourage sharing of ideas, etc.), or whether it would just turn people off. Finances are an area that everyone has interest in, but just based on the elevator pitch I would not invest further.
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Peggy Lawson
Hi Frank – An interesting venture idea. I think there is a market for people who would enjoy online classes in financial education, based on their needs. For evaluating the brief elevator pitch, I like focusing on these guidelines, realizing that the brief elevator pitch likely won’t touch on all aspects:
* Pain Point: the market gap or problem the venture is addressing;
* Solution: the new product or service that resolves the pain;
* Differentiation: the reason someone will buy or use this new product or service, versus the alternatives;
* Marketing: where and how buyers/users will be reached;
* Championship: the competency of the venture’s leaders and advisors;
* Competition: an overview of competitors and partners;
* The Ask: how much money, etc, is required to take the next step; and
* The Return: how much and how soon will an investor be recompensedYou managed to touch on most of these during the brief pitch which I found impossible to do – well done. However, for me I would have liked to have been drawn into your vision a little more deeply; perhaps spending a bit more time highlighting a few of your more essential or engaging aspects, rather than briefly covering many of them, would have attracted me more towards your venture. With my limited ability to fund ventures, I may have to pass on this particular one. But I wish you success, as I do think there is some potential here.
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manny
Hi Frank,
For some odd reason, when I click on your elevator pitch it goes to my videos in my personal video manager for youtube. The prezi also doesn’t seem to work, I get a message of ….
The presentation you wanted to join either did not exist, or it has already ended.
Please check the URL and come back!Thank you for your patience,
The Prezi team -
frank
Hi manny, please see my post: frank 8:48 pm on November 27, 2012
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jhodi
Hi Frank,
I think that you have a very marketable venture here. As a math teacher that teaches finance to high school students, I am always looking for engaging resources such as this that would help students learn in practical situations. I watched your elevator pitch and read what you stated would be in you venture pitch. I would like to invest in this venture, but I would want to know more about it first. I would like to know exactly how it works and what the future plans are for this venture.
Overall, I think that you did a very good job creating your pitch and have caught my attention!
Jhodi
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adi
Thank you from the Week 12 OLE team
On behalf of this week’s group, we would like to thank you all for being a part of our OLE. An OLE should promote hands on experiences, self-directed and mediated learning, learner autonomy, personal inquiry and divergent thinking. You all embraced the challenge in different ways and held different opinions regarding the various platforms and […]
Continue reading Thank you from the Week 12 OLE team Posted in: Announcements -
David Vogt
The Home Stretch!!!
Hi everyone – Just to say THANK YOU that the Venture Forum is now live with all of your pitches, and you should feel that you`ve now accomplished the lion`s share of your work for the course, so BRAVO! Via separate email you each should have received your review assignment for this week – the […]
Continue reading The Home Stretch!!! Posted in: Announcements-
Doug Connery
Thanks David for a “random list” of great pitches.The hardest part will be choosing three best to do detailed comments on.
Doug.
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Peggy Lawson
Thanks for the reminder Doug. I do recall reading somewhere our procedure and tasks for reviewing the pitches, but a refresher would be helpful or pointing me in the right direction as to where I saw that information before.
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tomwhyte1
Three? I was under the assumption, that the expectation was all?
Thoughts?
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Doug Connery
Hi:
Under 4 Launch there is a dcoument that states quick comments for 7 and in-depth for 3. I was refereing to choosing 3 for the in-depth review. Hope this did not cause too much confusion!
Doug.
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tomwhyte1
See that now… opps… Oh well, I have done a detailed write-up on 9 of the 10… Yours and Peggy’s are part of that…
At least I got a bit more practice… 🙂
Thanks for showing me that.
Have a great night.
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Peggy Lawson
Thanks Doug. I knew I had seen it somewhere. In hindsight it seems to be the obvious place for instructions for this venture project, but I’ve never fully been comfortable with the blog format as an LMS
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visramn
Participation Portfolio: Suggestion for potential changes in this course for the future
One suggestion I would make is that maybe A1 or A3 could be shared on the weblog prior to submission. This way, individuals could view each other pitches and provide feedback. Thus, creating a tool that can be learned from and allowing for improvement in the skills being learned during the course. I am currently learning a lot […]
Continue reading Participation Portfolio: Suggestion for potential changes in this course for the future Posted in: General-
kstackhouse
I agree, it was easy to miss parts of conversations due to the blog set-up. It is much easier to follow the threads in a Vista forum posting. This is especially true considering how many groups presented and all of the external sites that were created where we were asked to participate in other locations.
Ken
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tomwhyte1
I really liked the idea of a collective approach to the development of either or both A1 and A3. And for a lot of people, this may have increased value. My only caution, is for those potential students who truly want to use this class to help them develop an actual service/product. For these individuals, that collective environment, would reduce any chance of that product ever coming into existence, or intellectual property battles, if it becomes successful.
For myself, I would like the option of working in groups, or individually.
Thoughts?
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kstackhouse
That is a good point to bring up. As you said, offering the option to work alone or in groups would be a good solution.
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sophiabb
I think sharing our A3 on a weblog prior to submission is a very good suggestion. I have learned a lot for the collective feedback to my A3 as well as to others. I welcome the feedback from peers at this level; that feedback could make the difference between a good pitch and a great one.
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sophiabb
I also think that we could post our A3 ideas in a general pool. This could facilitate a team work approach for students with similar ideas.
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kstackhouse
Participation Portfolio: Team Pitches suggestion
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-
manny
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.
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jenbarker
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.
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Peggy Lawson
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.
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Doug Connery
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.
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jameschen
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
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rebeccaharrison
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.
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jameschen
Participation Portfolio – Suggestion for A3
Hi all, I think having people to vote for and give marks to the available pitches for assignment 3 would be improved with more detail that explains the achievement for the number of stars assigned. The written comments are more useful and accurate at getting the points across. Perhaps having an explanation for each set of […]
Continue reading Participation Portfolio – Suggestion for A3 Posted in: General-
jenbarker
I didn’t mind the peer assessment bit, but felt the specific aspects we were asked to rate could have been expanded a bit to reflect the multiple facets of pitches.
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kstackhouse
Great idea, a rubric for each component would help in deciding the scores for the pitches. It would probably make the evaluations more consistent if we were all going on the same criteria.
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adi
I actually found grading and commenting on other people’s work very useful, it helped me reflect on my own work and how I could have improved it. The feedback everyone gave me and others was also very useful to learn from.
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David Vogt
Everyone should have their final grades for all assignments in ETEC522 via email by now. Please let me know immediately if you haven’t got yours. Questions welcome. It was a pleasure getting to know you all, and I’ll enjoy even more being kept up to date on all of your ventures going forward. I realize […]
Continue reading Everyone should have their final grades … Posted in: Announcements -
Patrick Pichette
Quick tutorial for those of you trying to locate your contributions
I went ahead and created a short tutorial in case it might be helpful for a few of you trying to locate your course contributions to submit as part of your A4 assignment. If it helps just one person, it was worth the minute to make it. 🙂 Keep in mind that this tutorial allows […]
Continue reading Quick tutorial for those of you trying to locate your contributions Posted in: General-
Peggy Lawson
Great tip Patrick! I’ve been copying and pasting some of my posts as I’ve gone through the course because I dreaded having to go back at the end and try to hunt them down. Your solution is excellent – thanks for taking the time to create & share the video.
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sophiabb
Thanks Patrick.
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C. Ranson
Thanks Patrick.
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Patrick Pichette
You’re welcome.. looks like it helped a few people so even better.
Cheers 😉
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Lisa Nevoral
Participation Portfolio
I think it is good for MET students to try different platforms. We can use that experience to make educated decisions when trying out LMS for our students (if we are educators and we so chose to). What platform did we like? What lay-out or organizational plan would I want for my students? Do I […]
Continue reading Participation Portfolio Posted in: General -
David Vogt
Adaptive Software
As brilliant as most software and apps might seem, they are still severely awareness-disabled, meaning they don’t know and can’t respond to simple user contexts such as who I am, where I am, what grade I’m in, what class this is, what level I’ve achieved, what my learning style is, etc. The objective of Adaptive Software is […]
Continue reading Adaptive Software Posted in: Emerging Markets Poll-
jameschen
I think this goes hand in hand with personalized learning and augmented reality.
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teacherben
I met some folks at an electronics show in Hong Kong last year that make adaptive hardware, such as a mouse pointer that is controlled by the tongue and by sucking air in and out of a tube. Neat stuff. Since many countries have legislation in place and public monies available for the purchase of these technologies, there is a lot of opportunity to make big profits. When your customers are government funded organizations, it seems like you can charge whatever you want.
There was a guy in one of my MET classes last year that was designing ‘switch games’ with his students using flash. the idea behind these games is that you have people who are cognitively normal, but physically challenged. You want to make a game for them that can be played with some sort of simplified input device, but make the game interesting enough to keep them entertained. No simple task.
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Ranvir
This is aligned with the thought that robots/ AI software could replace teachers one day. It is very interesting thought, one that would be really valuable and could provide personalized learning experience based on one’s learning context and skill level. Bold thinking!
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David Vogt
Digital Identity
The backbone of Digital Identity is the ability to employ a single, private, secure identity system as the key to enter any number of applications and environments you might have access to. In broader strokes however, especially in education, it can encompasses the ownership (by the learner) of the learning experience and the authority to broker the […]
Continue reading Digital Identity Posted in: Emerging Markets Poll-
Kent Jamieson
Does this mean i won’t have to have 26 login names and passwords to remember??? Or am I misunderstanding this concept?
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jenbarker
I am not sure I understand the concept fully either. However, if as you say, you could have one login name and password to access everything, that would be outstanding.
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visramn
That would definitely make life easier if that is the case.
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Jonathan
I’m envisioning this one as important as building a “brand” for yourself online. I’m thinking of the YouTube personalities that have garnered a large following and promote their products. In particular I’m thinking of musicians that have used YouTube as a launching platform. But imagine that you had created enough of a following on Twitter that you were able to use that to leverage to building a product of sorts.
Think I’m on the right track?
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longworth
I thinks this may create more of a transparency to who you are and what you are accomplishing ie. My marks, transcripts, schools, interests all streamlined. May be interesting to start to view oneself in this manner…
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David Vogt
Augmented Reality
A capability that has been around for decades, Augmented Reality, is shifting from what was once seen as a gimmick to a bonafide game-changer. The layering of information over 3D space produces a new experience of the world, sometimes referred to as “blended reality,” and is fueling the broader migration of computing from the desktop […]
Continue reading Augmented Reality Posted in: Emerging Markets Poll-
jameschen
I would rank this as number one on personal opportunity poll because I am very interested in learning how bringing technology such as the Google Glass into the educational setting can help learners engage with learning by interacting with the world outside the classroom.
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melissaayers
This is a field that I find extremely interesting as a software engineer but also like adaptive software something I find daunting. This is due to current time and cost it takes to create this type of learning environment. I feel it’s not something that many educational institutions can afford to develop and use in their current environments. I hope in the future these barriers are reduced and perhaps economies of scale
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David Vogt
Blogs
According to Technorati, the blog count reached 80 million last year. Even though a quarter of them are most likely bot-created spam blogs, the quantity of content ‘in the cloud’ is still staggering. Blogs give everyone a voice to communicate, teach, spout opinions, learn and network. And with RSS technology, blog posts are quickly pushed to subscribers […]
Continue reading Blogs Posted in: Emerging Markets Poll-
Kent Jamieson
I feel like i’m hogging the comment sections right now, but blogs have been – and always will be – instrumental in my class. Attached to our WordPress class website – which allows for students, parents, fellow teachers the opportunity to see ‘what’s happening in the class’ – blogs have given my students an outlet to express themselves, whether they’re in class or not. My introverted students enjoy the fact that they don’t need to be overtly social in class, and it also allows them to participate in discussions they would normally shy away from. Blogs….good.
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Jonathan
Blogs are the new journals. But they are so much more than journals. They turn the audience from just being the teacher to the world. It provides the authentic audience that was missing from many of the paper tasks given to students. Blogs extend the classroom and become the bulletin boards of the classroom in WWW format. Too many good things come out of blogs for me to turn away from this one.
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jenbarker
I would love to examine blogs in more depth. I think their value as ‘learning or e-portfolios’ is just beginning to unfold. Many teachers, including myself have been using blogs for students individual writing. This year I plan to try to have my students document their mathematical understandings through creating digital media (Voice Threads, Podcasts, etc) that they can add to their blogs. All subject areas can be represented on blogs as well as a component on assessment. I am interested in the idea of having student blog that would follow the student from K – Grade 7… no more paper report cards that get lost… everything in one place. As Kent mentioned I also agree that blogs provide a great format for communicating with parents, students, and the general public.
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longworth
I believe there is a lot of opportunity to help the students develop sound literacy practices using blogs. I also enjoy the concept of the public assisting the responses to the blogs (kind of like peer editing but on a bigger scale).
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David Vogt
Badges
An approach to alternative credentials, badges, are digital tokens that appear as icons or logos on a web page or other online venue. Awarded by institutions, organizations, groups, or individuals, badges signify accomplishments such as completion of a project, mastery of a skill, or marks of experience. Learners fulfill the issuer-specific criteria to earn the badge by attending […]
Continue reading Badges Posted in: Emerging Markets Poll-
kstackhouse
I;m not sure I want a Badge from a random website because I visited X times or made a certain amount of purchases. I do see the motivational value when associated with students. Everyone likes a sticker when they have worked hard, a digital one is just as good.
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cunnian
I’ve seen badges used in Edmodo… both students and instructors can earn them but I suspect that their impact on learning is superficial at best. It seems to be a digital token economy that might be an effective motivator for some students but likely not all most of them.
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teacherben
One approach that I have been looking at is that teachers can offer opportunities for students to present learning in more ways, provided the kids has demonstrated some initiative and competency already in that medium. For example, a teacher that usually gets kids to write an essay on a subject, could introduce video instead, but that may not be for everyone and it could take weeks to get all the kids skilled up. But instead, the teacher could say, if you already have at least your level 1 video-editing badge, then this is an option for you. That way, the kids may be inspired to take the time on their own to learn this stuff.
I am just getting started with this at my school but I am hoping to use this sort of a model to kickstart.
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Kent Jamieson
Good call, these seem quite ‘superficial’; however, it’s always nice to have instant feedback.
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teacherben
Good timing! My elementary school counterpart and I just spent the last 2 weeks designing and constructing a badge program at our school. We spent a lot of time constructing appropriate tasks and organizing learning materials. This is based around a growing list of skills that teachers seem to expect from kids and yet aren’t being taught–at least not to everyone. We are a 1 to 1 laptop school, so tech features quite heavily into everyone’s classes and yet there are a lot of kids that don’t know the first thing about creating a video or cropping a photo. We use ePortfolios and you keep getting kids putting HD videos and 40MB photos onto their web pages and are surprised when the page takes forever to load. So we have started with image editing, video editing, typing and search. We looked into a few products for setting up such a system. mozilla has a good thing going with OpenBadges, but there is a lot of server-side stuff that is a struggle to get access to so we are just relying on the honour system and emailing kids their badges. Thre is a company called ‘BadgeStack’ that runs an implementation of OpenBadges on their server (or yours, if you like) and they do a lot of the grunt work in setting it up for you. I emailed them the other day and got a response in seconds–eager beavers. It will be interesting to see how a company can turn this into a money-maker.
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tomwhyte1
As a middle years teacher, and as an adult, this basic behaviorist technic may seem outdated, or at times childish, but the simple fact is – it works. Why else would “Angry Birds” have 1 – 2 – 3 star rating system per level. Everyone wants three stars, why? Simply because it is more, a way to identify superiority. This is a technic that has been recently employed into the Khan Academy, and almost every game or game-based learning tool invented.
Therefore, should this be ignored because it is not cutting edge? Based upon that rationale we should never use a pencil or paper again, but luckily we do, because they, like badges, are a solid technology that has consistently proven itself through time.
Thoughts?
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jameschen
I think it comes down to the extrinsic vs intrinsic motivational factors in education. Whichever is more suitable for the learner would be dependent on the learning style of the individual learner.
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teacherben
Either way, it has a good chance to be successful. Some kids want the badge. Some kids want whatever their friends have. Still others will see the value in learning the skill and the badge might not mean much to them but it won’t hurt.
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jameschen
Agreed. It would be interesting to have the students design their own badges too.
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visramn
I think this system would be beneficial for some and not for others. Some people would discredit this form of acknowledgement where as others may be motivated to try harder to achieve this token of appreciation. It is all based on context and the individuals involved.
Nureen-
tomwhyte1
Are you thinking of all learners, K-12, or simply adult?
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visramn
I think this is the case with all age groups. Incentives can work with individuals of all ages if they buy into them.
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C. Ranson
I have just read through the posts about “Badges”, there seems to be some merit in using them in K-12 and their success or value seems to be related to how they are utilized in a program. Younge people are always looking for recognition for their successes. For adult learners if they were recognized similiar to credentialingof some sort and taken seriously they could be useful.
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longworth
I guess I’m a sucker for gold stars because I love this idea. (Maybe because both my parents were teachers) I personally need a bit of credit for my work.
I do agree that there is definitely merit to this type of system. I also think it works well for the type of person who isn’t generally vocal about their accomplishments. The badges can make concrete just how much one has accomplished. It’s always helpful to have goals to set and I think this system can help students map their way to their goals by meriting smaller accomplishments along the way (so the end doesn’t appear so distant).
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teacherben
Since I am currently trying to get such a program off the ground at my school, this is an area of personal interest to me.
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David Vogt
The Internet of Things
Companies like IBM are building “Smart Cities” based on distributed sensors in roads, pipe, etc, providing feedback to control systems. This is part of a general emerging market called the Internet of Things (IoT) where heretofore inanimate, mute objects are becoming part of an intelligent, active, behind-the-scenes conversation. So what about “Smart Schools”, where the all of […]
Continue reading The Internet of Things Posted in: Emerging Markets Poll-
Patrick Pichette
There are a few interesting technologies related to IoT that could become quite popular in the consumer markets but I’m not sure that they are entirely ready for the education market. I feel as though we are at least 5 years away from most of this technology but in the next 5 to 10 years there should be some benefits that become more apparent. In particular, NFC will likely revolutionize the way we purchase products as we begin purchasing items without the need for a cashier. We’ll likely begin seeing more ‘Costco-like’ approaches where someone verifies your payment to confirm that all items were paid for. There are also some interesting developments in object identification that look to be on the verge of making their way into the marketplace through cell phones, tablets and/or eyewear. This technology has strong potential in the education market but I don’t think it is developed enough to take full advantage of it. In short, it would involve looking at the screen of your phone and pointing the camera at various locations in the area. The phone would then detect where you are and pull up information regarding that particular building, street, or object. So if you point the phone at a hotel, the phone would show a description of the hotel, give you contact info, reservation options, current vacancy availability simply by pointing at the building.
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Jonathan
I feel we aren’t that far off of it being in our hands and it being practical. It will take longer to implement in our school systems though. NFC has become a reality. I was down in San Francisco and I was able to pay for my coffee using this technology. I had to go in a few times just to experience the benefit of it. But it was neat and a bit frightening at the same time.
How about this one? Using our iPhone to scan items out ourselves:
http://www.tuaw.com/2012/09/03/iphone-powered-scan-and-go-checkout-system-at-walmart-being-test/This stuff is around, but implementation will take longer for sure.
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Patrick Pichette
NFC is ready for consumer technology but I don’t think it’s going to be ready for education for another 5 years. The same holds for the other technologies I mentioned. I see great potential for it in the future and so it would be a very interesting topic to discuss as part of future emerging markets but they likely won’t have much impact on education in the short term. Then again, that’s just my opinion based on how our school is supposedly considered a leader in technology integration in the area but we are roughly equivalent to the technology used in corporate work world that I experienced in 2000-2005.
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teacherben
I just bought a class set of Arduino microcontroller kits for a new unit about physical computing that I am introducing in my grade 10 Technology class. This is certainly an area of professional interest to me.
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David Vogt
3D Printing
3D printing is the process of creating an object using a machine that putting down material layer by layer until the desired object is formed. Such printers use specifications generated by computer modeling applications or by3D scans of existing objects. This process of creating 3D models is much faster than many traditional methods of creating prototypes or replicas of existing […]
Continue reading 3D Printing Posted in: Emerging Markets Poll-
kstackhouse
This is a very interesting process. A teacher at my school has been looking into this as an option to be used in several courses. Very exiting and I think this has great potential. How affordable is affordable?
Ken
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teacherben
I am running a 3D Design unit at the moment as a test-bed. I will outsource the actual printing part this semester and hopefully, if all goes well, I will get the money in my budget to buy a machine.
I bought shares in 2 3D printing companies (3D Systems and Stratysis) less than two months ago and have earned over 35% on my money from each! That’s pretty good evidence of a market expanding.
I joined the local hackerspace here in HK and there was a group of folks who spent months trying to construct a 3D printer (an open source model called the RepRap) last year and got very frustrated with it. It was fragile, often failed and even when it worked, the models were sometimes warped and so on. So a couple of them decided to design and build their own and try to get it on the market. It’s called the MakiBox (http://makibox.com/ and http://www.makible.com/) and they hope to be able to sell it for $350 USD. Current ones start at a little over a thousand bucks, so that’s pretty amazing. They just had an open-house at their brand-new factory in Hong Kong last week. I think this will be an interesting one to follow.
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Kent Jamieson
I’ve heard about 3D printing but have never seen it in action…would love to. Your investments seem to be paying off on this technology, but i’m not 100percent that it will be monumental in my own personal practice.
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teacherben
3D printing will be a lot bigger than you can imagine. You may find yourself eating food that came out of a 3D printer. Like this:
or this:
http://www.gizmag.com/burritobot-burrito-printer/23026/
You may know someone who needs a transplant and their new body part comes out of a 3D printer, like this:
They used an open-source 3D printer designs (RepRap) to make new blood vessels. There’s a short video here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9VHFlwJQIkE
They made a 3D robotic exoskeleton for disabled children using a 3D printer here:
http://www.theverge.com/2012/8/5/3219685/wrex-robotic-exoskeleton-arm-3d-printing
In the future, it is likely most of us will have a 3D printer sittin on our desks at home. When we need a small, plastic widget, we won’t go to the store and buy it, we will download a pattern and print it. There will be big money in selling the 3D designs that we print. There are a couple of excellent primers about the new industry in the Economist from a few months back:
http://www.economist.com/node/21552903
and
http://www.economist.com/node/21552892
There is no question that these devices will be a part of our future and our students’ futures.
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Kent Jamieson
You are the man teacherben. Thx for the resources. I’m showing my 4th graders all this great stuff. Nice pitch!!
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Jonathan
Thanks Ben for the links. In a world where a lot of our tools are going digital, I think being able to produce our digital creations into real world physical objects is really important for us to understand and see what they’ll look like. Not just in the realm of the screen but to hold.
I remember reading the Steve Jobs Biography and going through a section where the Engineers built several moulded models of what their products would “look” and “feel” like in the hand. This can be of big help to our students.
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supatel
I voted for 3D printing because I have had the opportunity to use one to make a piece for my daughter’s drawer and it is absolutely amazing. Students can create a design using Autocad and ‘print’ a final product. With Alberta Education mandating that students complete 75 hours of Career and Technology Foundations courses, this tool makes for a great integrated math/sci/design studies project.
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teacherben
Since I am currently trying to incorporate 3D printing into my teaching program, this is an area of personal interest to me.
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David Vogt
Learning Analytics
Human interaction with information on the Internet, including consumption, creation and distribution, generates data with value that can be mined. Social media analytics, for example, is a red-hot market as organizations of all kinds seek to understand rapidly-emerging trends. Learning Analytics applies similar data-mining techniques to create value for learners, teachers, parents, and education systems. Opportunity […]
Continue reading Learning Analytics Posted in: Emerging Markets Poll-
Peggy Lawson
I know this won’t be a popular topic – hard to embrace cold, hard, numbers & stats – but learning analytics will play an increasingly important role in data-driven decision making. Without question, my prefered personal direction for Ventures.
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kstackhouse
I think you are right, Peggy. This will be an important tool in helping decision makers. I am not sure this is the topic for me though. 🙂
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Ranvir
Analytics can be very powerful if appropriate performance indicators and associated data is analyzed correctly. Very valuable educational technology for understanding learner behaviour and informing the teaching practices!
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melissaayers
I think this goes hand with adaptive software to some extent. You can not really have effective adaptive software without lots of data to base decisions on.
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David Vogt
Modern Learning Commons
The learning commons, sometimes called an “information commons,” has evolved from a combination library and computer lab into a full-service learning, research, and project space. As a place where students can meet, talk, study, and use “borrowed” equipment, the Modern Learning Commons brings together the functions of libraries, labs, lounges, and seminar areas in a single community […]
Continue reading Modern Learning Commons Posted in: Emerging Markets Poll-
bryan
Learning Commons are important as their seems to be a real push towards replacing traditional libraries with them (at least in BC–it appears that way). Is this a more effective and efficient way of facilitating learning than traditional libraries?
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longworth
I like the idea of this! Maybe this could be useful for schools. I mean I’d rather my tax money go to support public access to the internet and computers and have access to good current technology that we share rather than an individualistic approach. Free internet, free computer use, free software use… I support the concept of expanding spaces such libraries to facilitate a broader audience.
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supatel
As part of my role as a Learning and Innovation Specialist, we are currently working with a few schools on the L2LC (Library to Learning Commons) initiative. With the way learning is taking place nowadays, where students do most of their learning collaboratively along with the dominant use of web 2.0 tools, there needs to be a shift form the traditional-hush-hush-independent library experience. Changing the library to a learning commons provides more opportunity for students to gain a deeper understanding in a collaborative, social, and communal environment…..but it’s not just about changing the furniture in the library to call it a learning commons. There has to be a pedogogical shift as well 🙂
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David Vogt
Self-Guided Learning
Most people prefer to tackle the majority of their continuing learning objectives independently or informally in professional groups, as Self-Guided Learning. Additionally, the availability and affordability of qualified teachers and accessible learning environments can’t nearly meet the global demand for higher and better educational opportunities. Opportunity Statement Venture opportunities exist in a vibrant global marketplace to […]
Continue reading Self-Guided Learning Posted in: Emerging Markets Poll-
Shaun Pepper
I think that as we become more inundated with more information. Students will need to understand the concept of self learning. Most of what they will learn, will come from outside of school sources. I think it is important to foster these learning environments so that children can teach themselves and become informed when a teacher is not present.
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adi
Though self-guided learning is something people are not used to, and often lack the discipline, our fast changing world is definitely opening a market for it in both formal and informal learning contexts. Workers and professionals often require training on aspects of their job, and even someone who does not work may be in need of learning something that may not be learned in their vicinity.
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David Vogt
Open Source
A few years ago Open Source was a real buzz – the future of software well beyond education. While the movement is still very active, the breakthrough promise hasn’t been realized. Yet. There are many who believe that the critical mass of openness – including new dimensions such as Open Data, Open Licenses, Open Innovation, Open Educational […]
Continue reading Open Source Posted in: Emerging Markets Poll-
visramn
I think open source is a wonderful concept because it makes programs, etc, accessible to everyone. Thu,s allowing for more equity and removing access barriers. However, it is difficult to keep programs and software like this going without the generosity of people’s time, resources and donations. All of which are often hard to come-by.
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teacherben
Open source does not necessarily mean ‘coded by volunteers’. Many popular open source projects are almost entirely designed and created by large, for-profit companies who do the work in-house. Openoffice is a good example. At a big company like Sun Microsystems, it made more financial sense for them to design an office suite that suited their needs in-house rather than pay high costs of paying for licenses for thousands of workers. They had a number of other major players as partners (IBM, Apache…) that also contributed code and lowered costs but I don’t think their primary focus was particularly altruistic. (In fact, chipping away at the MS Empire could have provided some impetus as well.) Some companies offer an open source version of a product, then another that includes some proprietary code. Google Chrome is a good example (Chromium is the open source version). They get to make a contribution to the community, save some costs by crowdsourcing some of the technical work porting to other platforms and so on, and if anyone comes up with a really great idea, they can use it to make both versions of the product better (depending on the license.)
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Pat A Son
The interesting thing about open source software is that it that it has its roots in academia and as such it might expect educators to embrace the concept and products wholeheartedly. How this has not been the case because the prevailing conditions of the times did not support its widespread use.
First and foremost if one considers a purely Darwinian approach to software adoption then the traditional profit driven capitalist environment that we operate in may place open source software as the proverbial fish out of water when compared to its closed source for profit counterpart. For the most part the concept was new and the old guards i.e. the decision makers in were more comfortable with comfortable to go with what they were familiar with.
However in the that we are living the business is changing in some areas of the new cyber frontier and companies such as Google have proven that one does not have to sell a closed product to make money. Whereas Linux did not penetrate the pc world much android has taken a dominant place in the new mobile computing world. I believe that effort such as these become popular the world will be more comfortable with the concept and open source products will be accepted more readily than now. -
longworth
I think this is where one can learn the language and take advantage of it….we just have to teach ourselves and teach our students to understand….
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jameschen
Assignment 3 Venture Pitch: Knewton
Hi all, I chose an existing venture, Knewton, to build my role-playing elevator and venture pitches on. Please have a look and let me know what you think! ETEC 522 Assignment 3 Venture Pitch: Knewton Thanks! James Update: Sorry for not including my elevator pitch here on my initial posting. Here is my elevator […]
Continue reading Assignment 3 Venture Pitch: Knewton Posted in: Venture Forum-
jenbarker
Hi James,
Although I think you have a great marketing idea here, suggesting you bring Knewton to BC schools, I don’t see a new venture idea. In my opinion, you are using Knewton’s pre-existing venture but haven’t done a “makeover” to take it in a completely new direction. Perhaps I am missing something but when I went to the Knewton site I couldn’t see any difference between your product and theirs. Your website was well designed and easy to follow. I liked how you set up the sub-headings, addressing the many facets necessary in a pitch. Given that this was a fictional assignment, I might have added some fictional names and beefed up backgrounds to your management team. This would have given your venture more credibility.
Thanks for sharing, Jen-
jameschen
Hi Jen,
Thank you for your evaluation of my pitches. I felt that Knewton was already a well-established company going in the right direction (i.e. partnering with major publishers and doing trials with large universities), so my take on this assignment was to try to help potential investors see that there is a need in the public sector for Knewton’s Adaptive Learning technology and that such an investment will provide investors with a lucrative return.
Thank you for pointing out what I need to be aware of from the pitches I have made. I will keep your suggestions in mind when future pitching opportunities arise.
James
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avninder
I watched your elevator pitch and think that the “two minutes” comment was a good way to hook the viewer. For me to be excited about the venture, I think it would be helpful if there was more enthusiasm portrayed. I am guilty of not seeming very passionate in my own pitch, but I can see how it would make a big difference to a potential investor.
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jameschen
Hi Avinder,
Thanks for your feedback! I too feel that my lack of enthusiasm would deter potential investors from investing. Perhaps having a red-bull before doing an elevator pitch late at night wouldn’t be such a bad idea after all…
🙂
James
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joeltremblay
Hi there James,
I agree with Jen in that it’s not clear as to what the new direction is that you’re taking the software in? Also, with regards to return, it’s a little unclear as to how they will see a return on their investment beyond the philanthropic route. Otherwise very thorough and polished.-
jameschen
Hi Joel,
Actually, when I started this assignment I found it a bit of a challenge to think of something that would steer Knewton in a new direction because I felt that they were already doing very well. But then I thought that if Knewton can establish itself in the public sector early as THE platform for personalized online learning then there could be potential to make good profit because currently no other companies can offer what Knewton has to public school students. Public schools need to rely on teachers/IEPs to provide personalized learning content for students, and most teachers are overstressed with the workload they already have.
Regarding the return, I did not write how investors will get their money back in the venture pitch because I do not know the routes that are available for investors to take. I also have no idea about the numbers needed to calculate how long it would take for investors to get their money back. Perhaps another look at how to devise exit strategies would shed some light. From this perspective, “success” for implementing Knewton’s technology in public schools would mean having established Knewton infrastructures for personalized online learning across major cities in Canada. When this happens, Knewton can sell their Canadian public school infrastructure to companies such as BlackBoard or SMART Technology (ones that are already established in the public sector). Hope that makes sense 🙂
And thank you, Joel, for pointing out the points my pitch did not address satisfactorily. I will keep them in mind for future references.
James
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Jonathan
Hi James —
Good presentation. You got right to the point. It seems like a solid proposition although as an investor I’m curious as to how your company will differ from the competition. I think it might be beneficial to highlight one or two of the big differences that your take on Knewton would be different. Nice site to complement a good video pitch otherwise!
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jameschen
Hi Jonathan,
The differentiation of my pitch is that Knewton’s technology is the only one I know of on the market that can help teachers in their teaching by recommending content for remediation AND be incorporated into 3rd party learning platforms if one already exists. BlackBoard Analytics for Learn, for example, only analyzes user information. It does not let students know the fundamental concepts they are having trouble with and recommend the content that would address these challenges. I am, however, not sure if BB’s analytic technology can be incorporated into 3rd party platforms and so have assumed that it cannot, so in a real pitch this would need to be addressed by contacting BB directly.
In any case, thanks for letting me know of your concern, Jonathan. Much appreciated!
James
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Paula Poodwan
Hi James,
You pain point is outstanding in that it showed that you did your research; you pointed out the relevant percentages of the current learning and teaching situation in BC, so investors can see quite clear why Knewton is needed. However, I agree with the comments above that the return is not clear, (I think this is the most important part that investors want to know) and the credibility of your team is not that convincing.
Too bad that we can’t hear you well in the elevator pitch, However I think I can hear the passion you have for Knewton in your voice 🙂
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jameschen
Hi Paula,
Thanks for your comments! I think you made a very good point about the return being the most important part that investors would want to know before making an investment decision. As I’ve mentioned in my above response to Joel, there is some information I need to gather before I can come up with an acceptable plan regarding the return.
Regarding the credibility of my team, yes, what I have on my venture pitch is not enough to exude credibility of carrying out the plan. My notion is that since my pitch has been based on a role-playing approach, in a real venture pitch the people suitable for those positions will be identified before pitching my idea to investors.
Thanks for letting me know your thoughts!
James
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Mike Rae
Hey James,
My laptop has bad audio and with the elevator pitch it wasnt a great combo. thanks for the subtitles though. I agree with your pain point and it is one that needs to be addressed, perhaps knewton would be a good alternative to the status quo, but I don’t see the new idea. As a potential venture capitalist, I want something that jumps out from your product that maybe knewton doesn’t do or is lacking in.
thanks for the pitch!
MIKE-
jameschen
Thanks for your comments, Mike!
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C. Ranson
Hi James,
Your website is very attractive, and very easy to navigate. You have identified the problem and how Knewton could be a viable solution to better teaching and learning in BC schools. I agree you have identified the competition but why is Knewton a better product. You have taken this existing enterprise can you share how you are launching it differently as the new CEO? I am thinking you are improving the marketing and selling of the learning Platform!.
Catherine
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jameschen
Hi Catherine,
I tried to create a situation where the people with a limited budget can save money in the long run by investing in Knewton’s technology. My take is that by using what Knewton (the real company) already has and pitching for investment in the Canadian public school sector, the establishment of the company’s presence there will allow investors to make money from government funding.
If I were to launch the product from scratch, I would not do it differently from what Knewton has already done – by offering free trials of its technology to large universities and then using the user feedback to promote its product to large publishers, because publishers need schools to buy their product in order to make money.
Hope that answers your questions, and thank you for your input!
James
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frank
Hi James,
I like how you laid out your site; it’s beautiful 🙂
As others have mentioned, you’ve done a good job talking about the pain point, marketability and the solution.
And, I think for investors to get excited about giving you money, they will want to have a better handle on venture plan and the returns/exist strategy associated with it. Regarding the latter, I’d be careful about pitching your idea as a means to make money from government funding. Any government rep will immediately shut you down if they see that they could be implicated in a scandal in which public money was seen to be funneled into the hands of private investors. In this case, greed is not good.-
jameschen
Hi Frank,
I hadn’t thought about how pitching an idea to make money from government funding would have such negative effects. Thanks for letting me know this important point! I will be sure to frame my pitches so that potential investors know exactly how the money will be used by the company.
Thanks,
James
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jenniferschubertubc
Hi James,
First off, what a lovely site. It was extremely clean, uncomplicated, and easy to navigate, which for some strange reason is often hard to find nowadays! I applaud your design.
I found two subpages of your site particularly interesting: Pain Point and Competition. It was very clear that you did your research to come up with the numbers and narrative explaining the importance of a product such as Knewton. The Competition page was an EXCELLENT resource that I very well may bookmark for future reference. You can see the effort you put in to express the knowledge you have of the market here.
I understand that Knewton is not a new venture, nor are you taking it in any particularly “new” direction. It is hard to reinvent a well working wheel, isn’t it?! I do applaud your effort to explain the importance and value of the program as it currently exists however. I would have liked to have seen a more well-developed Championship page (even if it meant creating something just for the sake of the project). Championship is often very key to investors; a more well developed page would make the proposal much more effective.
Overall, I think you did a good idea showing us the benefit of Knewton; it would have been interesting to see it taken to a new level, though even I have no idea where to go from here! Good work.
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jameschen
Hi Jennifer,
Thanks for your feedback! I think my pitches did not do a good job of explaining the differences between what Knewton already has and what I will do differently if I were the CEO of the company. Perhaps this explains why I am not the CEO of Knewton… 🙂 In any case, I agree with your point about further developing the Championship page because why would investors invest in a company run by people TBD? I will keep these in mind for future reference.
Thanks again,
James
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Paula Poodwan 2:29 pm on November 29, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Eva,
Both of your pitches are so well done to the point that it felt like I was looking at a real, professional venture pitch instead of a fictional one that was made for an assignment. The CEO is so credible and that definitely helps assure potential investors that there is a real need for this kind of product.
Your venture pitch is very thorough, especially with the details of the Revenue Projections, market strategies and the Ask and Return. It is a good idea that you emphasized these areas because I believe most people — when looking at Instant One Sheet – will be concerned of the narrow market Instant One Sheet has.
Even with your well presented pitches, I’m still not convinced and I still think that the market of Instant One Sheet is quite limited. How often will one user use the product? It takes a while to produce one film so I will say the average client may use Instant One Sheet once or twice a year. In that case, is it worth buying?
I really enjoyed watching and reading your venture! I’m treating it as a real one because it seems extremely realistic and viable.
jenniferschubertubc 11:13 am on November 30, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Eva,
Well, you certainly can tell that you are in the industry! What a well-created elevator pitch. It provided just enough information to hook my interest and make me look forward to navigating the venture.
It is highly evident that you have done your research here. Such a thorough breakdown of investment allocation would put any potential investor’s mind at ease. I thought the use of conservative numbers in your projections only worked to your advantage, not diminishing your ask with a smaller market share, but enhancing it by reiterating the confidence that you believe you will reach more. That section was so very well-worded and presented, which spoke again to the confidence and belief in the product and venture.
Thank you so much for providing thorough descriptions at the very beginning of the pitch in terms that anyone, including those outside the industry, could understand. It seems a simple thing, but many people forget that their potential investors may not be knowledgeable in lingo of a particular industry. This can turn potential interest away.
I also applaud your efforts to provide both student and professional pricing! Students have so many fees and expenses to worry about. Affording them a little extra cushioning can really help. (A little goes a long way…) I think this would also perk up interest from institutes of higher education. Kudos.
I would definitely invest in this venture. Fantastic job.
Patrick Pichette 7:38 pm on November 30, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Eva,
I was truly captivated by your pitch. I honestly feel as though if I had $200,000 sitting around, this would likely be one of the only pitches I would invest in without any hesitation whatsoever. You show a clear path of entry into the market and your plan looks quite sound. There’s a definite potential for entry for a reasonable sized market and your pricing structure shows promise. My only question is in how likely it is that you could secure and keep this market. As has often been the case with online ventures, the first to market is likely not the one to succeed as others will imitate and improve on the existing models. Still, with everything appearing quite ironed out I think it leads to a very plausible venture. Are there any competitive advantages that you can secure to ensure a longer window of opportunity to secure this market segment?
frank 1:03 am on December 1, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hello Eva,
I don’t know enough about your industry yet, but this idea seems pragmatic enough.
A few suggestions:
I would not use IOS as an acronym for this venture. Apple will come to your house and they will take everything you have .. they will burn, pillage and destroy all that is precious and meaningful – did you see what they did to the house of the guy who found one of their phones pre-release?
That aside, your main issue is the weaknesses you mentioned: namely, replication is easy, but the price is high.
This is a show stopper. You can have one or the other, but not both.
If you think your product cannot be replicated, then you can charge prices.
My preference would be the other way around, to get this product into people’s hands as much as you (free 3-month trials etc), and explore other ways to make revenues from your software: getting content providers to pay you for advertising them etc.. I would look into different ways software is making money now, most people just don’t like paying for software, and there are different options to explore.
GL!
Eva Ziemsen 6:20 pm on December 1, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi All,
Thank you so very much for your comments and feedback. I truly appreciate your words of encouragement, first and foremost. As I am sure you agree, this assignment was very challenging and since I am not a business type (at least I realized I was not after doing this assignment), I am so very pleased that my idea and pitch came across. I found all of your suggests very valid and interesting. I am going to put these comments into my revision for another version. I will follow up on your comments individually.
Thank you again,
Eva
Lisa Nevoral 9:20 pm on December 1, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Eva,
Very good job on your elevator pitch. You were very comfortable in front of the camera and you had a good pace when you spoke. As well, your venture pitch was very organized. Your background spoke lots to your interest in “Instant 1 Sheet” and as a competent CEO. Although you seemed very knowledge about your product, I wasn’t quite sure what pitch material was (until I looked at your venture pitch) or why “Instant 1 Sheet” was better (while watching your elevator pitch). Additionally, I don’t know how big the market would be for “Instant 1 Sheet”. For those reasons, I wouldn’t invest in this product.
Lisa
Lisa Nevoral 9:22 pm on December 1, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Eva,
Sorry for writing Instant 1 Sheet instead of Instant One-Sheet. That was my mistake.
Lisa
C. Ranson 8:19 am on December 2, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Eva,
Your elevator pitch was well done and your presentation was exceptional. I don’t have very much knowledge in the film and media industry but your presentation provided an excellent introduction, it was very much real life, well researched and presented. Your have demonstrated your experience in the industry and your venture idea sounds like it would be successful as you presented a very comprehensive revenue plan and marketing strategy. My only thought, not really having a high level of understanding this industry is would this be a sustainable market and will it be limited?
Catherine
Mike Rae 10:36 pm on December 2, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Fantastic job Eva, I wish I had contracted you out to direct and film my pitches. Great Work!
I thought that instant 1 sheet is a solid idea that many people within the industry would be smart to take advantage of. You had a reasonable pricing structure and well thought out marketing strategy. Also, the confidence you display gives faith for a potential investor. Excellent work
MIKE