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ETEC 522 – Ventures in Learning Technologies
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Creating a Field of Education

By ljstott on July 30, 2016

I have created both an elevator and a venture pitch advocating the use of beacon technology in the creation of a ‘field of education’ at the British Columbia Institute of Technology. This idea will be presented to the Dean of the School of Construction and Environment for funding and will establish the use of beacons in labs and training exercises in areas supported by wifi fields. I have chosen this venture as it is has real world application and if successful, can be developed to incorporate a number of training and awareness initiatives across programs and fields and may have application in public education and engagement campaigns (such as environmental education and urban tree values) across the lower mainland and the province of BC.
Elevator Pitch
Venture Pitch

Reflection

Thank you to everyone who has posted here.  I have taken the option in Assignment 3 to submit my reflection at the end of the week and to incorporate the feedback and comments from peer review in this final element of the assignment.

I have taken this idea and made the pitch to my Dean.  We  are going to conduct a pilot study of beacons at BCIT this fall.  If successful and the outcomes are deemed to support the learning objectives and needs of the department, school and institute, the idea will then be expanded to create the ‘field of education’ in the southern portion of the BCIT campus.  I valued the input here from peers and my review of the many great presentations in this forum as it has given me a greater understanding of the elements and framework that creates a great pitch and viable product.  The changes I would make to this assigment are as follows:

  1. In order to assist reviewers, I would clearly state in the introduction that the presentation is intended for the administration at BCIT;
  2. I would add a soundtrack and my voice to the venture pitch;
  3. I would add a small section that explains how data is collected and user interaction tracked in this system; and
  4. I would provide a more detailed explanation of how this technology differs from QR technology and how the beacons push messages to anyone within range without requiring students to scan code.

The strengths of this presentation is the clear description of the technology and the cost for both the pilot and the larger field of education in the forested section of the campus.  That said, I would adapt the presentation to include the cost of the beacons as they are left out of the second phase costing.   The idea and the proposed application for creating an interactive landscape which incorporates both ecological and cultural values from any beacon location are well presented and well recieved though I would like to add an actual demonstration of how the more complex application would interface with the user and this I will do when the presentation of the pilot results are made and the next step of the project is under consideration.  Videoscribe provided a consistent and professional presentation of the concept and it is accessible via the internet with no installation or viewer required.  The graphics and format are consistent across the elevator and venture pitch and there is an comparison with other technologies and options that provides context for the reviewer in anticipation of such questions and considerations.

As an educator who works for an institution and intends to continue working either as a consultant or instructor within similiar frameworks (at least for the foreseeable  future), the value in this exercise for me was identifying a technology that would work for my needs in crafting a pitch for a novel use of technology.  BCIT, like many schools, has innovation funds and school grants available for instructors who wish to do this and it requires an application or the presentation of a pitch to the Dean, program heads or administration in order to access approval and funding.

So although I understand and I acknowledge the variance of this presentation from the true venture model involving the creation of a mock company and creation of an investment scheme and cost recovery, I have chosen to do something that is more inline with my focus for this course, MET program and my career. I feel that the value of this course and this assignment provides me with the tools I need to make a successfull pitch for ventures in leanring technology that have the power to support, improve and expand educational outcomes and benefits.  For the administrator, the rationale for funding, while still considering the economic realities, is more closely tied to the educational benefits, the mission statement of the institute and the efficiencies and support for staff and students.  Should this not also be a key element to consider in any successful pitch within the educational field?  In my reflection, I think I would still approach this as I have and focus not on a business model for venture capitalists but on promotion of a venture in learning technologies within the organisation of which I am a part.  It was important for me to make this distinction and for this, I am very grateful for this assignment and for the feedback here.

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7 Aug Posted on Creating a Field of Education

Hi Laurie, Having just received my Estimote beacon kit in the mail, I was excited to see your pitches. I agree that inclusion of data tracking and usage would be really helpful for those buying into using beacons at BCIT. Addressing concerns about security might also be worth addressing once you're presenting to a body of student stakeholders (like student representatives, etc). As an EVA, I like that you had a plan for test piloting usage and a rough budget for extending wifi for future support. I also wonder if you would have to improve the network as a cost for this project, or whether you could collaborate with other departments/projects to cover the necessary funds.

7 Aug
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mme_dl @sdillonl

Hi Laurie, Having just received my Estimote beacon kit in the mail, I was excited to see your pitches. I agree that inclusion of data tracking and usage would be really helpful for those buying into using beacons at BCIT. Addressing concerns about security might also be worth addressing once you're presenting to a body of student stakeholders (like student representatives, etc). As an EVA, I like that you had a plan for test piloting usage and a rough budget for extending wifi for future support. I also wonder if you would have to improve the network as a cost for this project, or whether you could collaborate with other departments/projects to cover the necessary funds.

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5 Aug Posted on Creating a Field of Education

Hi Laurie, Your concept is very interesting. I had no prior knowledge about the subject and your presentations gave a good foundation. Your venture here is presenting the concept to the admin of BCIT who will decide on whether to fund this venture. While I do appreciate learner use you have presented, are there any prior case studies that suggest the effectiveness of this technology? How costly is it to maintain the hardware chips? How do you plan to track the student interactions and data collection? While your concept is solid, these are few additional questions I would have as the investor. Regards, Moumita

5 Aug
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moumita chakraborty @mou2005

Hi Laurie, Your concept is very interesting. I had no prior knowledge about the subject and your presentations gave a good foundation. Your venture here is presenting the concept to the admin of BCIT who will decide on whether to fund this venture. While I do appreciate learner use you have presented, are there any prior case studies that suggest the effectiveness of this technology? How costly is it to maintain the hardware chips? How do you plan to track the student interactions and data collection? While your concept is solid, these are few additional questions I would have as the investor. Regards, Moumita

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5 Aug Posted on Creating a Field of Education

Very interesting idea! I didn't know much about beacons. I went through the elevator pitch and found it very informative. Regarding the venture pitch, at first I thought there was something wrong with it, because I couldn't hear the audio, but after reading a few comments below I realized there is no audio! At least good to know I didn't miss anything. I can see the value of having information spots around campus, especially for students who are not familiar with the area (interactive campus map). Well done!

5 Aug
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mreinoso @mreinoso

Very interesting idea! I didn't know much about beacons. I went through the elevator pitch and found it very informative. Regarding the venture pitch, at first I thought there was something wrong with it, because I couldn't hear the audio, but after reading a few comments below I realized there is no audio! At least good to know I didn't miss anything. I can see the value of having information spots around campus, especially for students who are not familiar with the area (interactive campus map). Well done!

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4 Aug Posted on Creating a Field of Education

Hi Laurie, Very well presented concept! I like they way you present your idea which looks neat and professional! Your presented idea definitely has growing potentials, and I am sure an EVA will be able to identify that. Having said that, I do have confusions with your venture. How do you plan to advocate the use of beacon technology in BCIT? As far as I know, from an alumni perspective, lives there are pretty intense, and students do not have extra time playing around on their cellphones. Therefore, you must either have a very engaging application or a close connection to the course that they study. So, I think that an EVA would like to know how will you plan to incorporate the beacon technology to BCIT students' busy schooldays.

4 Aug
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yuandi du @gipsdu

Hi Laurie, Very well presented concept! I like they way you present your idea which looks neat and professional! Your presented idea definitely has growing potentials, and I am sure an EVA will be able to identify that. Having said that, I do have confusions with your venture. How do you plan to advocate the use of beacon technology in BCIT? As far as I know, from an alumni perspective, lives there are pretty intense, and students do not have extra time playing around on their cellphones. Therefore, you must either have a very engaging application or a close connection to the course that they study. So, I think that an EVA would like to know how will you plan to incorporate the beacon technology to BCIT students' busy schooldays.

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3 Aug Posted on Creating a Field of Education

REVIEW: Hello Laurie, I was not familiar with beacon technology at all and found your Venture Pitch very interesting. The concept seems to work in a very similar way to augmented reality apps that use GPS, however as you noted in your pitch with greater ease of use and educational success. I really liked that groups could customize the content that is broadcast by the beacons and that it has an education focus. My question for you is what, as a company, are you selling? Are you offering a service that provides beacon technology to schools and assists in the setup and configuration of the technology? Is the venture at BCIT a trial for a larger model that you would implement in other locations? As an investor how would I receive a return on my investment - are you offering opportunities to advertise in the messages sent by the beacon? Great venture with a lot of potential - thanks for sharing.

3 Aug
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Mark @viola815

REVIEW: Hello Laurie, I was not familiar with beacon technology at all and found your Venture Pitch very interesting. The concept seems to work in a very similar way to augmented reality apps that use GPS, however as you noted in your pitch with greater ease of use and educational success. I really liked that groups could customize the content that is broadcast by the beacons and that it has an education focus. My question for you is what, as a company, are you selling? Are you offering a service that provides beacon technology to schools and assists in the setup and configuration of the technology? Is the venture at BCIT a trial for a larger model that you would implement in other locations? As an investor how would I receive a return on my investment - are you offering opportunities to advertise in the messages sent by the beacon? Great venture with a lot of potential - thanks for sharing.

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3 Aug Posted on Creating a Field of Education

I love the idea of integrating beacons to provide contextually relevant information. I am currently unable to hear any audio for the venture pitch… I have restarted my browser, computer, tried speakers, and nothing will work. I am starting to wonder if there is any audio attached to it? If not, you should consider adding some music. If there is and I just can’t hear it, you could consider attaching the text of your script in the description (which has the added benefit of making it more accessible). It was very impressing seeing the maps and mockups you created for your project. It looks very polished and I would definitely consider investing based on what I’ve seen.

3 Aug
0 Thumbs Up!
Jordan @triplej

I love the idea of integrating beacons to provide contextually relevant information. I am currently unable to hear any audio for the venture pitch… I have restarted my browser, computer, tried speakers, and nothing will work. I am starting to wonder if there is any audio attached to it? If not, you should consider adding some music. If there is and I just can’t hear it, you could consider attaching the text of your script in the description (which has the added benefit of making it more accessible). It was very impressing seeing the maps and mockups you created for your project. It looks very polished and I would definitely consider investing based on what I’ve seen.

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3 Aug Posted on Creating a Field of Education

Hi Laurie, I learned a lot from your venture pitch about beacon technology. I didn't realize there was a physical piece of hardware required in order to have the technology work. When I saw this, I was a little bit reluctant as it seems like it increases the cost and also limits the availability of the product. I know you mentioned you want to pitch to BCIT but it seems like diverse content delivery would be cumbersome as a beacon would need to be physically installed. I'm sure you considered this, but I am wondering why you wouldn't use GPS (already built into phones) to virtually plant beacons - in my opinion, this would not only allow you to expand your product to a wider market (at least physically) by adding beacons without having to travel to different locations and worry about batteries, vandalism etc. I love the idea, and would definitely use the product, but don't think I would invest.

3 Aug
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Baljeet Gill @baljeetgill

Hi Laurie, I learned a lot from your venture pitch about beacon technology. I didn't realize there was a physical piece of hardware required in order to have the technology work. When I saw this, I was a little bit reluctant as it seems like it increases the cost and also limits the availability of the product. I know you mentioned you want to pitch to BCIT but it seems like diverse content delivery would be cumbersome as a beacon would need to be physically installed. I'm sure you considered this, but I am wondering why you wouldn't use GPS (already built into phones) to virtually plant beacons - in my opinion, this would not only allow you to expand your product to a wider market (at least physically) by adding beacons without having to travel to different locations and worry about batteries, vandalism etc. I love the idea, and would definitely use the product, but don't think I would invest.

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3 Aug Posted on Creating a Field of Education

Hi Laurie, I was very excited to view your venture pitches as I have also been exploring the use of beacons in education. For my purpose, it is for the training of police. Your venture pitch was extremely informative and, I must say, it will certainly help my research along, so I am appreciative of that. However, when I got to the end of the venture pitch video I became aware that I wasn’t entirely sure if you had pitched me a technology or a company idea. I feel that perhaps this got mixed up a bit along the way. The main sticking point for me with this tech is how it stands apart from other technologies, and more to the point, if the price and effort is justifiable for what you actually get out of the product? In a retail environment, this can be measured by an increase in sales, but it’s a difficult one to quantity in education. How much money and effort should be into the development of a beacon app and hardware in order for a student practice identifying what type of tree the beacon is on? If you’re targeting huge numbers of learners, then the costs can be high, but a small class sized group would not make sense from a costing perspective. Thanks for sharing this. Good luck with your beacon adventures. Regards, Esther

3 Aug
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esthertester @estherdu

Hi Laurie, I was very excited to view your venture pitches as I have also been exploring the use of beacons in education. For my purpose, it is for the training of police. Your venture pitch was extremely informative and, I must say, it will certainly help my research along, so I am appreciative of that. However, when I got to the end of the venture pitch video I became aware that I wasn’t entirely sure if you had pitched me a technology or a company idea. I feel that perhaps this got mixed up a bit along the way. The main sticking point for me with this tech is how it stands apart from other technologies, and more to the point, if the price and effort is justifiable for what you actually get out of the product? In a retail environment, this can be measured by an increase in sales, but it’s a difficult one to quantity in education. How much money and effort should be into the development of a beacon app and hardware in order for a student practice identifying what type of tree the beacon is on? If you’re targeting huge numbers of learners, then the costs can be high, but a small class sized group would not make sense from a costing perspective. Thanks for sharing this. Good luck with your beacon adventures. Regards, Esther

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3 Aug Posted on Creating a Field of Education

Hi Laurie. I was not familiar with beacon technology so I found your proposal interesting and informative. I was a bit confused as to the intended audience of your pitch. If it is a group of people at BCIT, it might have been good to explicitly state that at the beginning. Something like “Imagine you are a member of the board of …”. It seems to me that what you are proposing is not a new technology venture so much as pitching an existing technology to a specific group. You did an excellent job of explaining the setup costs and the comparison to other similar technologies. I would have liked to have heard your voice in the venture pitch.

3 Aug
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rstpierre @rstpierre

Hi Laurie. I was not familiar with beacon technology so I found your proposal interesting and informative. I was a bit confused as to the intended audience of your pitch. If it is a group of people at BCIT, it might have been good to explicitly state that at the beginning. Something like “Imagine you are a member of the board of …”. It seems to me that what you are proposing is not a new technology venture so much as pitching an existing technology to a specific group. You did an excellent job of explaining the setup costs and the comparison to other similar technologies. I would have liked to have heard your voice in the venture pitch.

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2 Aug Posted on Creating a Field of Education

FEEDBACK: I think it would be great to have these informational pods all over each university or college campus. I like them in the museums and they get me to learn and explore museums even more. I have more takeaway when I learn from the pods in museums. You can rent headphones and just walk around the museum with the informational voices. It would be like a scavenger hunt for learning knowledge information. I love your idea and I would be interested if BCIT executes your idea!

2 Aug
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Martina @martinaseo

FEEDBACK: I think it would be great to have these informational pods all over each university or college campus. I like them in the museums and they get me to learn and explore museums even more. I have more takeaway when I learn from the pods in museums. You can rent headphones and just walk around the museum with the informational voices. It would be like a scavenger hunt for learning knowledge information. I love your idea and I would be interested if BCIT executes your idea!

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