eSCiPi: The Student Communication Portal

Review - eSCiPi seems like an interesting idea. I’m not entirely sold on the fact that this is needed as compared to the other social tools in existence. I worry that administration of the platform is going to be a large cost to whoever is running it. Also it would have been good to know what the technology is going to consist of. Web and communication standards are constantly evolving and it could dramatically affect the viability of your platform. I was left wondering what the demographic of this venture is focused towards. I can see a wide range of uses throughout all ages but that might be too much to focus on for an initial rollout. Lastly, for a product like this, I feel that asking for VC should come after some initial R&D has been addressed. Since this venture has start-up written all over it, it should exist in some form before asking for the cash. Good job overall on building out your idea.

Ivana, as I wrote to Lane, please don't post a review until you've read the Venture Pitch. The purpose of the elevator pitch isn't to explain the project, it's to get you to read the the Venture Pitch. Students actually NEVER communicate with each other on school subjects in social media while being monitored by their teachers, and as such this is not just "another platform". @cbrumwell, your concerns are well-founded, and these are things I will have to answer going forward if I choose to really pursue this. Getting students to use it would have to come partly from the teacher, i.e. "60% of your geography mark this term comes from the interactions I see from you on Escipi". If government partners don't buy-in, this will never happen. It rests on some state or provincial government willing to take the risk to try this, in order to achieve the promise of 21st century ed.

FEEDBACK: I wave to agree with lane on this one as well. When I watched the elevator pitch I was also left confused as to the point the pitch was trying to make. I kept thinking to myself "students communicate all of the time time with eachother via social media and text messeging. Whats the point of another platform ?". However aesthetically the pitch was good. I think the pace was perfect, the graphics were great and you spoke clearly and confidently.

FEEDBACK: As a venture analyst I recognize the value of a service that allows students interact with each other across districts and provinces in a controlled and monitored manner that is free from the advertising and lurking of social media. The case for a service like eSCiPi is strong. There are definitely students who would see its advantages and make it part of their weekly work flow. My concern is that they represent a minority of autonomous learners who are motivated to look beyond their class environment to seek help and partners. Your venture would require a critical mass of student interest and participation over a specific investment period where you would have to demonstrate a trend in uptake and interest to your stakeholders. The risk that this may not happen, or that your government partners may not buy-in from the outset are arguments that you will have to convincingly address. My other concern is security: with all the provisions that you have made to avoid bullying and trolling, would your service survive an incident where eSPiPi became the initial contact point between victim and perpetrator? It is much more complicated when school boards and governments are promoting the use of such an platform.

Lane, you'd have to read the Venture Pitch to understand it; it is far too complex to explain in a 1-minute pitch. Danielle, if students can remember their usernames and passwords they can remember Escipi, and they could also bookmark it. As I mentioned, there are no similar systems so there is nothing to compare to. By "student retention", do you mean staying in school, or remembering information? Either way, I'm being real here and there's nothing like Escipi currently in existence, so I won't just pull facts, figures, or prices out of thin air. I mentioned in the pitch "After implementation, it must be studied for efficacy. This study would involve qualitative data drawn from teacher and student testimonials, and quantitative data in the form of comparative test scores". If students and teachers like it and their test scores improve, sending that information to other jurisdictions is the marketing strategy. Let's say P.E.I. signs on and their test scores increase, then I'd market these results to other provinces and states. That is the growth strategy. Also clearly stated is the fact that there is no team, just me and my idea, and there is no revenue model because the purpose is not to make money. The return on investment, as stated, will be "a dynamic, flexible, tech-savvy workforce" 10 to 20 years from now.

Review of EsCiPi Innovative way of relating the name of your product to S.C.P. however, as a side note, phonetic spellings can have a downside, people might not be able to remember the correct spelling when googling (EsCiPi, EssSeaPi,EssCeePee). Now for the review. Although this product seems very interesting, I would have liked to see more numbers supporting why this product is worthwhile investing in or even taking the idea under wing, even seeing numbers stating that a similar system increases student retention by x% would have added extra support to your pitch. The pain point is clearly identified and although I can see the interest as an educator, yet the pitches have not convinced me that the market needs such a service. The idea is clearly outlined and as an idea pitch there is no team mentioned, revenue model, marketing strategy or growth strategy. The idea is interesting and is very well backed by articles, yet to fully sell it I believe that numbers, potential market needs to be presented. The presenter is definitely very passionate about his idea and I wish him all the best.

Just based on the elevator pitch, I am unclear as to why we need our students communicating with others over the Internet. I struggle to teach my students to communicate with the ones sitting beside them! I'm sure you have a great venture lined up, but I was not able to get a clear sense as to where this is going from this pitch.

Thanks Maureen, Yes, it would have both static content and dynamic interactions. I think it's a good suggestion to get a foot in the door by starting it more simply with, say, 2nd language learning. Caleb, do you work in a publicly-funded school? I came up with that pitch after visiting a 1940s sort-of theme park in Nova Scotia this summer where (as I said in the pitch), I found that the classroom really wasn't much different from any I've seen in about 40 schools where I've either supplied or taught full-time in the Toronto District School Board, the largest school board in Canada with over 200,000 students. There are starting to be mobile labs, but like the desktop computer labs, they're usually housed in the library and rarely accessed by students. I'd say 1 in 20 classes has a Smart Board or Promethean Board. The dusty computers in the corner are literally that, heavy desktops with cathode ray tube monitors refurbished over and over since the 80s or 90s. Like most public school boards, the TDSB is cash-strapped. If there's any disingenuousness in my pitch, it would be the fact that I purposely avoided fair-use images of classes that had desks together in groups, and opted instead for the desks in pairs to go with the picture of the century-old classroom, even though about 1/2 the classes I've worked in do have the more student-centred set up.

FEEDBACK: I can appreciate the idea and find it an exciting proposition that students could be routinely engaged in discussing their education with others from around the world. I have one thing with the elevator pitch that you might want to look at. My classroom today looks nothing like the classroom I was in as a student, let alone 100 years ago. We have 1:1 Chromebooks, a MacbookPro cart that can be booked and a handful of iPads on demand. Your big draw initially is that "there are a few dusty computers in the corner" After hearing this, I checked out a little and then had to mentally force my attention back. All in all a quality pitch, and it was a great touch to feature yourself in the elevator pitch.

Hi Randy - Wow! This is one of the most ambitious pitches that I've seen in the forum. I admire your courage in pitching a venture with, in your words, "the current system" as its competition. I'm wondering, given the breadth of eSCiPi's goals, if there would be a way to launch it in a staged manner. For example, it sounds as if eSCiPi will be housing and indexing both static content (curriculum materials, and student artifacts), as well as the social/communicative interactions that take place within the portal. Might there be a way of tackling one aspect and then the other? Alternately, perhaps start by focusing solely in certain disciplines (second language acquisition was a great example) and then scale up from there? I'm not sure how to comment from an investment perspective, given that your pitch seemed to refrain, in the end from a direct "ask". Ultimately, eSCiPi would likely have a long and challenging path to success, but if it's vision was ever realized you may finally pull education more fully into the new millenium.