jessholder

Arutan
By jessholder on March 25, 2018
The Latin word for nature is natura, and when flipped in reverse, arutan. Enjoy exploring this interactive nature study app to enhance both 21st century learning and living. Arutan – Elevator Pitch Arutan – Venture Pitch
ARIS – Combining Story-telling, Place, and Technology – An Analyst Report
By jessholder on February 11, 2018
As a BC educator, I am interested in new technologies that afford opportunities to integrate and implement the learning standards established by the province’s new curriculum. Some of the new ideas threaded throughout the curriculum standards are story, place-based learning and purposeful technology use. ARIS (Augmented Reality and Interactive Storytelling) software has the capacity to […]
Elizabeth Howard – Journey North
By jessholder on January 25, 2018
Let me introduce to you Elizabeth Howard, a trained biologist who considers herself both a ‘real scientist’ and a citizen scientist. She can be described as a pioneer for citizen science ventures due to establishing in 1994 the website and program, Journey North. As Journey North’s founder and director, Howard proudly shares that she is […]
eLearning Market Trends and Forecast 2017-2021
By jessholder on January 12, 2018
Docebo (www.docebo.com), a learning technology company offering a cloud-based LMS to support corporate training, has pieced together a recent and extensive report entitled eLearning Market Trends and Forecast 2017. While this company has an agenda of spreading awareness for their product, this report goes far beyond promoting, offering detailed and aspiring data in regards to […]
Hola – A better late than never hello
By jessholder on January 9, 2018
Hola! Pardon my late entrance into this course. I have recently moved to Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico, and there has been some disconnect with my email and Dr. Vogt’s. With a little problem solving, I have now arrived to “the inside” and am excited to get started on my FINAL course in the MET program! […]

With these very "realistic" venture pitches, nothing sounds silly Brian, so advise away! ;) I will consider the David Suzuki Foundation for my reflection response. There may be a space for Arutan there. :)
With these very "realistic" venture pitches, nothing sounds silly Brian, so advise away! ;) I will consider the David Suzuki Foundation for my reflection response. There may be a space for Arutan there. :)
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- in reply to Feedback- Hey Jess, What a great idea. I…

Thank you, Jon, for your kind and thoughtful review. To be honest, I was assuming that myself and "my talented coder/designer, Travis Andrews" would be able to piece together the more advanced app and corresponding website. I used this app tool to figure out how much I would need for the specific features that I highlighted: http://howmuchtomakeanapp.com/ . In regards to disruption in the market, Arutan may not be enough, and I may not have explained the details of all that Arutan can do in comparison to the competition - it really is more than "all of these features in one", but I needed to be concise in presentation. :) Maybe an AR tool would be neat to add to it, or a game ... but then I would have to ask for a greater investment as Travis Andrews and myself would need to hire another team member. ;) Thanks again, Jon, for taking time to share your thoughts.
Thank you, Jon, for your kind and thoughtful review. To be honest, I was assuming that myself and "my talented coder/designer, Travis Andrews" would be able to piece together the more advanced app and corresponding website. I used this app tool to figure out how much I would need for the specific features that I highlighted: http://howmuchtomakeanapp.com/ . In regards to disruption in the market, Arutan may not be enough, and I may not have explained the details of all that Arutan can do in comparison to the competition - it really is more than "all of these features in one", but I needed to be concise in presentation. :) Maybe an AR tool would be neat to add to it, or a game ... but then I would have to ask for a greater investment as Travis Andrews and myself would need to hire another team member. ;) Thanks again, Jon, for taking time to share your thoughts.
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- in reply to Hi Jessica. I thought your presentation…

This venture pitch addresses a niche market, and one that is unmet. All of the aspects of an effective venture pitch are included throughout the presentation, convincing the investor of the meaningfulness, need, and available market of the venture. One area that could be improved upon is on the marketability page. Here, a list is provided of how the requested investment will be used, however, to make it more convincing, offering percentage amounts or a circle graph to visually show the delegation of investment dollars would help justify the investment request. On another note, the market is focusing on Canada, but I'm guessing future endeavours may find SafeGUARDvr extended over to the UK, Australia, and beyond! Great job!
This venture pitch addresses a niche market, and one that is unmet. All of the aspects of an effective venture pitch are included throughout the presentation, convincing the investor of the meaningfulness, need, and available market of the venture. One area that could be improved upon is on the marketability page. Here, a list is provided of how the requested investment will be used, however, to make it more convincing, offering percentage amounts or a circle graph to visually show the delegation of investment dollars would help justify the investment request. On another note, the market is focusing on Canada, but I'm guessing future endeavours may find SafeGUARDvr extended over to the UK, Australia, and beyond! Great job!
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- in reply to safeGUARDvr

One of the biggest strengths of this venture is the passion behind it! This passion and commitment is exhibited throughout both the elevator and venture pitch! Well done! All of the venture pitch areas are highlighted within the pitch, but the $1,000,000 request is seemingly unreasonable as it is not explained how it will be used. More explanation about how this million dollar investment is intended to be used to design, promote, and support the app in the global market is needed in order to convince the potential investor to get on board. {In my own pitch, I used this tool here: http://howmuchtomakeanapp.com/ to help determine the cost for the design of an app. The I Love Reading app is more complex than mine and is also seeking a global market, so more expenses would ensue. This tool may help in deriving a break down to your investment request.} Well done, overall!
One of the biggest strengths of this venture is the passion behind it! This passion and commitment is exhibited throughout both the elevator and venture pitch! Well done! All of the venture pitch areas are highlighted within the pitch, but the $1,000,000 request is seemingly unreasonable as it is not explained how it will be used. More explanation about how this million dollar investment is intended to be used to design, promote, and support the app in the global market is needed in order to convince the potential investor to get on board. {In my own pitch, I used this tool here: http://howmuchtomakeanapp.com/ to help determine the cost for the design of an app. The I Love Reading app is more complex than mine and is also seeking a global market, so more expenses would ensue. This tool may help in deriving a break down to your investment request.} Well done, overall!
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- in reply to I Love Reading

EduStream 360 is an intriguing resource for educators overall, but specifically for distance learning educators. To offer the opportunity to experience events, spaces and speakers in a 3D video environment is unprecedented. When moving through this venture pitch, the resource Learn360 (https://learn360.infobase.com/p_Login.aspx?loggedOut=1) came to mind. Learn360 is a collection of videos, but is for-profit and acquires revenue through subscription purchases. I am curious if your considered the subscription route for revenue?What is you rationale for choosing EduStream as a non-profit venture funded by grants, funding programs, etc? Overall, this venture is well presented (elevator pitch is excellent and made me “want to know more”) – not too much information, just enough to get the recipient curious. As well, I appreciated the research that went into the rationale behind this venture and the vision for the future. Well done!
EduStream 360 is an intriguing resource for educators overall, but specifically for distance learning educators. To offer the opportunity to experience events, spaces and speakers in a 3D video environment is unprecedented. When moving through this venture pitch, the resource Learn360 (https://learn360.infobase.com/p_Login.aspx?loggedOut=1) came to mind. Learn360 is a collection of videos, but is for-profit and acquires revenue through subscription purchases. I am curious if your considered the subscription route for revenue?What is you rationale for choosing EduStream as a non-profit venture funded by grants, funding programs, etc? Overall, this venture is well presented (elevator pitch is excellent and made me “want to know more”) – not too much information, just enough to get the recipient curious. As well, I appreciated the research that went into the rationale behind this venture and the vision for the future. Well done!
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- in reply to EduStream360 – Venture pitch for 360˚ live stream educational video service

Thanks, Brian, for your words of encouragement and support! I'm so glad that our OER was successful in inspiring you in possible future digital text design. Several of the digital textbook platforms i.e OpenStax and FlatWorld allow for customization of a digital text. This means that you as an educator can use the bulk of a pre-made digital text while adding in your favourite OER resources and individualized assignments, quizzes, and assessments. It also means that you can take away any irrelevant information. An excellent consideration for individualized learning.
Thanks, Brian, for your words of encouragement and support! I'm so glad that our OER was successful in inspiring you in possible future digital text design. Several of the digital textbook platforms i.e OpenStax and FlatWorld allow for customization of a digital text. This means that you as an educator can use the bulk of a pre-made digital text while adding in your favourite OER resources and individualized assignments, quizzes, and assessments. It also means that you can take away any irrelevant information. An excellent consideration for individualized learning.
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- in reply to I think the main thing that I walk away…

Yes, Cassy, we are also looking forward to reading through our class's contributions to the MET tips and tricks ebook! We need to discuss as a group how to move forward with it, but are considering sharing it on the MET's social media sites. Just a shout out of appreciation for your perseverance and willingness to trouble shoot with us through the collaboration set-up process - You were a trooper!
Yes, Cassy, we are also looking forward to reading through our class's contributions to the MET tips and tricks ebook! We need to discuss as a group how to move forward with it, but are considering sharing it on the MET's social media sites. Just a shout out of appreciation for your perseverance and willingness to trouble shoot with us through the collaboration set-up process - You were a trooper!
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- in reply to Hi there — loved the project and I’m l…

Thanks, Jon, for your comments and compliments on our OER design and content. One tricky part about determining the best platform for design comes in the free versus paid versions of digital text creators. Our collaborative version of Atavist was a free version, but by paying for monthly or yearly subscriptions, adding members to collaborate on an ebook becomes much easier!
Thanks, Jon, for your comments and compliments on our OER design and content. One tricky part about determining the best platform for design comes in the free versus paid versions of digital text creators. Our collaborative version of Atavist was a free version, but by paying for monthly or yearly subscriptions, adding members to collaborate on an ebook becomes much easier!
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- in reply to Hey folks. Thanks for a focused, meaning…

Ebru, I was surprised too by our research and the accessibility and diversity of digital textbook use in educational contexts. While our OER didn't focus on it, it would be interesting to research further the use of digital text in developing countries as it is often more cost effective than paper text. Thanks for sharing your thoughts and perspective!
Ebru, I was surprised too by our research and the accessibility and diversity of digital textbook use in educational contexts. While our OER didn't focus on it, it would be interesting to research further the use of digital text in developing countries as it is often more cost effective than paper text. Thanks for sharing your thoughts and perspective!
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- in reply to Thank you Dana Jessica and Zain for a gr…

VIL Team - Thanks for posting the collaborative infographics - a neat way to wrap up this learning week! What became very obvious was the clarity of information shared on the infograph versus the mesh of learning on the collaborative whiteboards. In regards to your overall OER, one of the strengths for me is the section on learning theories and varied intelligences and ways of learning. This is such a fascinating topic in itself, but you brilliantly interwove it into your OER. The idea of communicating more effectively with less words is something that I am keeping with me from this past week, and hope to consider further to improve my own instructional practices.
VIL Team - Thanks for posting the collaborative infographics - a neat way to wrap up this learning week! What became very obvious was the clarity of information shared on the infograph versus the mesh of learning on the collaborative whiteboards. In regards to your overall OER, one of the strengths for me is the section on learning theories and varied intelligences and ways of learning. This is such a fascinating topic in itself, but you brilliantly interwove it into your OER. The idea of communicating more effectively with less words is something that I am keeping with me from this past week, and hope to consider further to improve my own instructional practices.
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- in reply to W11: Visual Intensive Learning
