benjamin king

This is a very impressive Pitch. I was immediately hooked by your elevator pitch. I am a doodler and the idea of an app that would allow this style of learning to be stored, altered and reviewed is appealing. It is obvious you have taken a lot of time to prepare this pitch and the professional nature of both the elevator and venture pitch help draw an investor in. I would need to sit down with the major competitors programs to truly see the differences available. I am familiar with OneNote as it comes standard on the surface computer. I feel your success will likely come down to your apps functionality at the a very specific level. It sounds like you plan on being guided at the early stages by user feedback so you may be able to out compete or be bought by one of the larger companies who are less flexible. I would definitely invest in your company.

This is an interesting idea that I can see using in a classroom. With the success of such apps like Pokemon Go, I can see students enjoying the idea of locating and accessing information. I agree with your idea of creating tester groups amongst teachers allowing early adopters the benefit of trying a new product while gaining valuable feedback. Also your background with apple lends credibility to this idea as you can bring knowledge from both sides of the table. The only issue I have comes from what new learning this is bringing to a classroom I cant accessing through a website. I understand the beacons use during field trips and out of class experiences however In a classroom if a student has a device could they not simply look up a coding website? If I were investing I would likely hold off until you came back after testing in the schools. Cheers, Ben King

I definitely think this idea has potential. I was an early player of Niantic's (creator of Pokemon Go) location based game Ingress. I find the active and real world experience present in Ingress and Pokemon Go fascinating and valuable. Your Idea of using this ability to increase student engagement and learning is fantastic. In terms of a company I think it is smart that your app will allow teachers to create their content and attach them to geological locations. This would make popular local learning destinations repeatable as possibly new media has been attached and new lessons are present. I like others who have comment would worry about the security of the students information while using the app, however that could be said of any device use by students. Even if this app was merely used within a school it would be great with students at recess and lunch accessing information in the hallways.

If I were looking to use one of the three platforms I believe I would use Edmodo in my high school classroom. I do not teach an "academic" course so some of the more content heavy CBLs like iTunes U would have little use for me. I like the ability of Edmodo to custom make a platform for your class with additional apps and content. In a shop class It would be helpful for students to share projects in progress and have their peers comment and provide feedback. On the other side of the coin students can post pictures of their projects online and have the teacher assess their reflections and thoughts. Since Edmodo is designed in an easy to use social media styled platform, there seems at first glance to require little training for the students to begin using the product effectively. My primary concern with using a CBL in a classroom would be the privacy of the students in the classroom. I know personally the the Vancouver School Board has issues with the use of Google based products, as the storage of student information in the American based severs breaks freedom of information rules. As students will be posting and participating online I would want to ensure their personal information, including grades, could not be accessed by outside users.

The three standards I believe to be most Valuable are as follows. Empowered learner: At the elementary level it is important to build a set of basic skills that will benefit the learner as they progress through their time in education. To use an LMS to empower learners to become owners of their learning is invaluable going forward. Having a student gain the ability to gauge personally ability and interests while also learning how to solve their own learning struggles, cannot be ignored. Digital Citizen It is not an overstatement to say that the students of today are growing up in a world that is very different from those one generation before them. When I was in school I did not have any digital community in which to participate. Current students are not only having to learn the roles and responsibilities present in the physical realm but the different rules present in the digital realm. To start this learning process at an early age is important and should not be ignored. Knowledge constructor Similar to the empowered learner the ability to in a early learner to create knowledge for themselves and others is important. Additionally providing students the technical skill sets needed to produce artifacts of their learning cannot be overlooked. An LMS that will allow students to be come creators of their own understanding would be one I would be interested in using if i were a elementary teacher. Preferred LMS If I were to select on of the three LMS's that best encourages the development of the three standards I have selected it would be Canvas. Canvas allows for the teacher to foster individual learning for their students through easy to use feedback systems. Additionally the students are able to move at their own path as needed. I was also intrigued by Aglix Buzz however Canvas' ability to use multiple digital media inputs and outputs gave it the advantage.

With the move towards student centered and project based learning, augmented reality has tonnes of potential. In project based learning the goal is through students creating and working on a project they deepen their learning of important concepts. This can get lost if the students are spending more time working out technical issues than they are tackling the project. With augmented reality students would have at their disposal access to a wealth of information on materials, tools, processes, and tips. This would free them up to focus on troubleshooting and problem solving.

I have been lucky enough to get to play with google cardboard and have been brainstorming how it could be used in a shop class. One area that I can see potential in is safety testing. Currently in most shop classes safety is taught through a demonstration followed by a traditional summative test. We are unable to demonstrate everything as some simulations would be too dangerous to attempt, though would be informative to see. I would be interested in exploring the use of augmented reality to increase shop safety. Another area I could see using google cardboard would be through creating virtual tours on how to complete a project or use a tool. Much of my time as a teacher is spent answering the question "what next?" I dislike assigning projects that use one specific set of plans. Instead I tend to issue design challenges and the students create their own plans. This means I am often teaching different processes and tool uses to small groups of students at different times. If the students were able to use google cardboard to effectively lean new processes or tool use, it would be a game changer in my classroom.

For the first few years of my teaching career I taught junior science, and I can see the benefits of VR goggles. The difficulty with teaching many school subjects comes from the inability to make abstract concepts tangible. To overcome this difficulty science teachers often create models, or run simulations to allow students the opportunity to interact and experience the needed concepts. With the introduction of VR one is now able to fully immerse a student into simulations previously unthinkable. When I was watching the Michael Bodekaer video I kept thinking of all the interesting places students could now explore. For example Mitosis and Meiosis, are two concepts that are often taught through watching dry videos or making posters. Imagine instead if the student could go inside of the cell and interact with either process. Though this technology is exciting I will add a caveat, no technology I have seen yet can overcome the abilities/inabilities of the teacher themselves. If I were to introduce this technology into my classroom I would need to ensure that I personally knew enough to use the technology to the best of its ability.

Tackk 1: Tackk seems to exist within a greater content creation and sharing market similar to Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat, etc. The difference according to the Eric Buckmuller lies in Tackk's simplicity and ability to port to multiple platforms. (Ha, 2013) In 2013 the site claimed to have received 700 000 unique visitors, and secured 1.2 million dollars in funding. Tackk has smartly included in their business structure a specific portion dedicated to education. The idea being that users would be able to create media galleries that include comment sections. These galleries can include both images and videos. This would allow teachers to create forums for discussion, and allow students to create and share their ideas and creations. 2: Tackk is a unique idea however it is competing in a large pool with some very large companies. Tackk has been smart to include an explicit education section. However it would a small step for some of the larger media websites to out compete Tackk by creating their own educational opportunities. Ha, Anthony (2013) Tackk Raises 1.2M For its Content Creation Tools. TechCrunch. Retrieved from http://techcrunch.com/2013/09/30/tack-seed-funding/

If I were a traditional publisher looking to compete in the emerging market I would focus on using my strengths as a large publishing house to out compete the smaller publishers. Though traditional publishing houses are large and expensive operations, they also have amassed a massive amount of information, resources, and experience with which to compete in the emerging markets. Teachers and schools when selecting textbooks are often looking for a text that aligns both with their curricular content, and provide unique resources with which to design a lesson/unit. The large publishing house have already amassed a wealth of these resources that could easily be converted to a digital format. Using their existing knowledge bank and with their credibility already in place, a publishing house does have a head start in creating new content. To move away from the traditional textbook experience, I would start using my larger financial ability to begin hiring experts in the field of digital textbooks. This strategy is similar to how some of the larger tech companies will purchase smaller start-ups to gain from their ideas. It would be tough as a large publishing company to be nimble enough to stay current with what is happening in the dynamic field of digital textbooks. Instead I would begin to invest in the more innovative thinkers and companies, and through them begin to move to a more diversified publishing output. Finally, I would still continue to produce traditional textbooks. Though digital textbooks are on the path towards massive acceptance, the market is still there for traditional textbooks. If the goal of my publishing company was pure profit, I do not think the time is right to completely divest from the traditional market. I would continue to sell my analog books to fund my steady shift towards becoming a leader in the digital market.