LearnBoost is a free all in one program for classrooms.  It provides teachers with a variety of apps to manage their classroom more efficiently.  The features include, grade book, attendance, lesson planning, reporting, parent and student access, dynamic seating, flexible scheduling, integrated calendars, multilingual and quick paced.  It is meant to be the all in one device for classroom management and organization.  This app can be paired with Google Apps for education to make sharing more seem less.  This app is geared for teachers although it can be used by parents and students as well.  It is a well rounded classroom management device to aid with organization.  The seed for the company was at $975,000.   LearnBoost was founded by three individuals, Rafael Corrales, Guillermo Rauch and Thianh Lu.  Although only Rafeal Corrales continues to be the CEO of the company, so I have chosen to focus on him.  Mr. Corrales attended Harvard school of Business as well as Georgia Institute of Technology.  He co-founded LearnBoost but is also an investor in Charles River Ventures, Pebble and an advisor for many other companies such as Mind Snacks.  LearnBoost was named one of the best start-ups of 2010.  He is continually looking for new ventures and ways to support other entrepreneurs.  He is an avid blogger and states his views on education and prides himself on being a start up entrepreneur.  He lives in the San Francisco Bay area.

Founders/Leaders:

Jeremy Friedman (CEO)
Ryan Hwang (Chief Product Officer)
Tim Trinidad (CTO)

Description:

Schoology is a online learning management system/course management system that was founded in 2009. It was originally designed as a platform to share notes for University students, however it quickly transformed into a social network for K-12 students as well as students of higher learning. Their goal is to engage students in a different platform of learning and to give teachers/educators the resources to be able to do so.

In 2013 Schoology was rated 6^th for top learning management systems (behind Moodle, Edmodo and Blackboard) and had 35,000 schools using its system and 2 million users (http://www.capterra.com/learning-management-system-software/#infographic)

Some of the services that are provided include: attendance records, online gradebook, tests, quizzes, and homework dropboxes. In addition to the organization aspect of the site, it also provides areas for discussions among a specific class, smaller groups, or an entire school. There are also enhancements that can be purchased, like text messaging notifcations.

Bio:

All three founders attended Washington University in St. Louis. Schoology was designed while the three of them were still undergraduate students.

Jeremy Friedman – Obtained a degree in Arts with a focus on Economics and Computer Science. Had held previous summer jobs as an analyst intern.

Ryan Hwang – is a web designer who leads product design, corporate identity and partakes in coding. Obtained a degree in Business with a focus on marketing and international business.

Tim Trinidad – Obtained a degree in Science with a focus on computer science and entrepreneurship.

Reflection:

Having used this product in a test run for a previous course, I was impressed with the functionality of the website and the dual purpose in creating both private communities to use with school related staff and students or in the public communities of practice. I think it makes an excellent use of fostering discussions in a non face to face environment As the site is very similar to Facebook in its design it was easy to navigate and keep threads and course products categorized and organized. Another function that I liked with this LMS system is that it also provides learning analytics to its users.

I believe this venture is an example of how taking a small idea like sharing notes can be transferred into something bigger. It is difficult to assess how valuable an idea can be until you start working on it and can see where it can take you.

Kimberley Munzo, Founder & CEO

ABOUT

AspirEDU is a company that specializes in  helping institutions of higher learning maintain revenue, decrease inefficiencies, and avoid accreditation challenges by improving student satisfaction and retention rates. Its Dropout Detective™ student retention software helps by bringing in a student’s relevant course data into one easy-to-use visual representation of the entire student body across all courses in which a student is currently enrolled. The software as a service (SaaS) platform, means that you have access to a cloud hosted solution anywhere, anytime and integrates with the existing learning management system (LMS). Student performance metrics are retrieved from the LMS through an automated API connection. The software then evaluates this data and calculates a “risk index score” for each student. The results are presented in an easy-to-use dashboard for administrators and staff. The real-time feedback on student performance means that administrators can pro-actively manage student retention by alerting them to behaviors and patterns that lead to high student attrition. Using this business intelligence solution  administrators can work in a targeted and efficient manner to support the students that need the most help.

ORIGINAL VALUE PROPOSITION

Unlike other solutions, Dropout Detective aggregates the institution’s existing data into one easy-to-use visual representation of the entire student body across all courses in which a student is currently enrolled.

FOUNDER BIO

Kimberley Munzo has over been involved in e-learning and higher education for over ten years. Dropout Detective™, was developed by her when she found that she was spending over half her day working on student retention. When she went searching for a software tool to help identify and manage at risk students there wasn’t one. It started off as a checklist on a piece of paper, migrated to an Excel spreadsheet, and has evolved into a software program in use by colleges and high schools that offer online programs.

QUALITY OF THE TEAM

Their team includes:  

• EVP of Sales with 12 years experience working with Fortune 500 companies.
• COO who has contributed to the development of several startup companies over the last decade.
• CTO who has been  a  software developer and project manager for 18years, which include 14 years at IBM, delivering projects globally. He also serves on a business advisory board for a local school district, blending his
• software knowledge and experience with his love of education.

PERSONAL REFLECTIONS

Even though I have no business experience, I have experience managing a classroom, and in various administrative responsibilities for community and non-profit organizations. There are times where I enjoy leading, but most of the time I am more comfortable acting in an advisory role. I know that under the right situation I could succeed as an entrepreneur, but I would need to be tremendously passionate about the project, put countless, thankless hours into it and surround myself with smart individuals with the same values, and who compliment my weaknesses.

Founded by David Martin and Nancy Knowlton in 1987. Originally, the company was the Canadian distributor for a U.S. projector company, and revenue was generated through projector sales. That revenue was directed toward the research and development of the SMART Board interactive whiteboard, which would combine the simplicity of a whiteboard with the power of a computer.

The SMART Board interactive whiteboard was the first interactive whiteboard to provide touch control of computer applications and the ability to write over standard Microsoft Windows applications. Connected to an LCD panel and a computer, the SMART Board interactive whiteboard brought interactive technology to classrooms, meeting rooms and boardrooms. Three patents were granted by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office in recognition of this innovation. Today there are more that 2 million Smartboards installed around the world.

In the early years, Smart Technologies struggled to financially until they gained a strategic partnership with the Intel Corporation. That relationship with Intel was one of the key building blocks in SMART’s history. The equity investment helped SMART’s hardware and software development activities. Perhaps, just as importantly, SMART staff felt something akin to a “seal of approval” for all of the pioneering efforts they had undertaken with the SMART Board interactive whiteboard and in trying to improve the way people work and learn. Over a 25 year period, the company has grown from a two-person start-up to a global company with annual revenues just under $800 million.

David Martin and Nancy Knowlton are a husband and wife team. Nancy has an undergraduate in business administration, she qualified as a charter accountant and she did an entrepreneurially oriented M.B.A. David was an entrepreneur prior to Smart Technologies as he already started up a few business, none of which were quite a successful. Upon the creation of the Interactive White Board Davud and Nancy insured their intellectual properties rights by receiving three patents for the hardware platform. David and Nancy have since left Smart Technologies and have started a new venture Byye Labs: http://www.byyelabs.com/home.html. Even though they have left Smart Technologies if in good hand as you can read in the executive bios: http://investor.smarttech.com/management.cfm.

Smart Technologies interests me for a couple reasons: use and location. I have always been a proponent of use of interactive whiteboards in classrooms and have expanded see the benefit of the use in business meetings. I currently reside in Calgary, Alberta and the corporate headquarters are located here on the University of Calgary campus. I have toured the headquarters a couple times and know a few people who work for Smart Technologies.