{"id":8023,"date":"2012-09-27T07:40:13","date_gmt":"2012-09-27T14:40:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/etec522sept12\/?p=8023"},"modified":"2012-09-27T07:40:13","modified_gmt":"2012-09-27T14:40:13","slug":"grockit-the-social-learning-company","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/etec522sept12\/2012\/09\/27\/grockit-the-social-learning-company\/","title":{"rendered":"Grockit, the Social Learning Company"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Grockit<\/a> was founded by Farbood Nivi in 2006.\u00a0 Nivi is currently the Chief Product Officer for Grockit.\u00a0 He is an educator and entrepreneur.\u00a0 Nivi worked with the Princeton Review as a teacher, trainer, and curriculum writer.\u00a0 In 2001, he was awarded with the Princeton Review\u2019s National Teacher of the Year award.\u00a0 Before working for the Princeton Review he started his first business, Vision Computer Solutions.\u00a0 Bringing his technological, entrepreneurial, and education experiences together Nivi created Grockit.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Grockit is a self described, social learning company.\u00a0 The company aims to make learning an engaging activity drawing on the benefits of social learning.\u00a0\u00a0 The company offers services \u00a0of individualized study plans, tutors, video courses, test prep materials, and allows learners to work and study in groups.\u00a0 Most recently Grockit launched their mobile learning app, Learnist<\/a>.\u00a0 This app aims to provide multi-media rich social learning opportunities to the user through the iPad and iPhone. [vimeo]http:\/\/vimeo.com\/21617463[\/vimeo]<\/p>\n

\u00a0The Grockit management team is made up of many\u00a0 impressive individuals.\u00a0 The CEO, Roy Gilbert, worked for Google and among his other work there he launched the business operations for Gmail.\u00a0 Grockit\u2019s Chief Strategy and Development Officer, Rusty Greiff, has many years of experience in social marketing and technology.\u00a0 He worked for the Clinton administration.\u00a0 He has held senior roles at organizations such as Educate, Inc., Hooked on Phonics, Sylvan Learning and more.\u00a0 Grockit\u2019s VP of Marketing, Aaron Burcell, has held several positions\u00a0 in the technology sector, including for Microsoft and Yahoo!, was recognized with the honour of being one of the \u201c1010 Youth Media Greatest Minds\u00a0 in Youth Marketing\u201d.\u00a0 Chris Henley, VP of Engineering worked as a consulting engineer for NASA and TSA.\u00a0 More recently he held a senior role at the Social Gaming Network (SGN) creating social games for both Facebook and iPhone.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Looking through the materials provided by the company and their strong team it is apparent that they are determined to work with the best in the business and provide the best solutions for learners out there.\u00a0 This is a company that I am considering researching for my Venture Analysis assignment.\u00a0 After looking at their employment opportunities it is clear that they are aiming to be a top company to work for as well.\u00a0 Including competitive salaries, health plans, and surprisingly catered lunch everyday and staff fridges filled with cold drinks (including beer).\u00a0 More importantly the company is looking at ways to encourage learners to support other learners.\u00a0 This type of learning environment is what I encourage in the courses I teach.<\/p>\n

References:<\/p>\n

https:\/\/grockit.com<\/a><\/p>\n

https:\/\/grockit.com\/management-board<\/a><\/p>\n

https:\/\/grockit.com\/jobs<\/a><\/p>\n

Image from:<\/p>\n

http:\/\/grockit.com\/blog\/main\/files\/2009\/07\/Farb-Head-SHot.jpg<\/a><\/p>\n

Video from:<\/p>\n