JO
Virtual Reality for Basketball Training
By JO on July 31, 2016
I have imagined a virtual reality smartphone app for coaches to be able to teach players what they should be seeing from their position on the floor. Coaches would input the play sequence and players could select their position (guard, forward, center) and see what they play looks like from their position as they move […]
Week #6 – Survey Results and Twitter Chat
By JO on June 15, 2016
The Flipped Learning survey results as of 10:30am this morning are now posted on the 522Flipped website. The survey has been re-opened and you can complete it with an updated summary if you haven’t had the chance yet. Please have a look at the results beofre joining us between 6-9pm PDT for the Twitter Chat under […]
Week #6 – Activity 2: Flipped Learning Forecast Forum
By JO on June 12, 2016
Once again, it’s time to put on your Educational Venture Analyst (EVA) hat on and investigate existing businesses to see if there’s still room for an emerging venture to take hold. Critique ONE of the current businesses on the 522Flipped Startups page using the following criteria: What strongholds in the formal or professional education market does this product […]
Welcome to Week #6 Flipped Learning
By JO on June 12, 2016
Welcome to this week’s Opportunity Forecast where Mariana, Sheila and John will be leading you through the current understandings and future potential for Flipped Learning. Please note that only one of your shared responses this week will be in the ETEC 522 forum but that we will post links to any results and post summaries […]
Remind 101
By JO on June 3, 2016
Remind 101 founder and CEO Brett Kopf was once a struggling student with dyslexia and ADD who credits two particular teachers who worked with him and his family to ensure for his eventual learning success. Since that time Brett has been ‘teacher-obsessed’ and eventually founded Remind 101 with his brother David to improve communication between […]
Ventures into the unknown
By JO on May 9, 2016
I grew up in Burnaby, BC and now live in Vancouver. I teach secondary French, Science and PE to 8th and 10th graders and I coach the varsity girls basketball team and moderate the school’s Japanese exchange program and bicycle club. I am part of the Inquiry Learning PLC and will be team teaching in […]

REVIEW: As an EVA I would recommend investing in the product as the audio and layer features are potential game changers that increase the chances of a buyout and thus an investor payday. (This is a repost/addition to fit with the W13 Launch guidelines. Feedback/fuller review in the original post below.)
REVIEW: As an EVA I would recommend investing in the product as the audio and layer features are potential game changers that increase the chances of a buyout and thus an investor payday. (This is a repost/addition to fit with the W13 Launch guidelines. Feedback/fuller review in the original post below.)
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- in reply to Notepound – A Digital Note Sketching App for Mobile Devices

Review: As an EVA I would make any investment decision based on the venture's ability to demonstrate the ability to differentiate the layers of postings into categories so people wouldn't have to wade through a bunch of chaff to get to the wheat they were interested in. If users can filter in this way then I would recommend an investment. (Reposting to fit the W13 Launch guidelines. For the full review, see the original post below.)
Review: As an EVA I would make any investment decision based on the venture's ability to demonstrate the ability to differentiate the layers of postings into categories so people wouldn't have to wade through a bunch of chaff to get to the wheat they were interested in. If users can filter in this way then I would recommend an investment. (Reposting to fit the W13 Launch guidelines. For the full review, see the original post below.)
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- in reply to LBL – Location Based Learning. Label Your Environment!

REVIEW: As an EVA I would recommend investing in this for as the market for Augmented Reality just got a huge push from Pokemon Go and easy-to-use, effective means of pushing that location-specific content (and more) to devices will be welcome and in demand. (I am reposting here after finding the instructions under W13 Launch. For more the rest of the review, see the original post below)
REVIEW: As an EVA I would recommend investing in this for as the market for Augmented Reality just got a huge push from Pokemon Go and easy-to-use, effective means of pushing that location-specific content (and more) to devices will be welcome and in demand. (I am reposting here after finding the instructions under W13 Launch. For more the rest of the review, see the original post below)
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- in reply to EduBeacons

Feedback: This is an audacious idea that appears to hinge on the reworking of massive buyouts and agreements between corporations. Lots of thought went into the plan to unify several big ideas and while I admire the boldness and the vision trying to turn those corporate ships around would be well beyond my risk tolerance as an investor. There were some notes that I found interesting. For instance, the cynic in me wonders if the revenue model is based on the low completion rate of MOOC's ensuring a steady income stream. I also like the idea of the capstone project pool that companies could use to get some project work done on the cheap.
Feedback: This is an audacious idea that appears to hinge on the reworking of massive buyouts and agreements between corporations. Lots of thought went into the plan to unify several big ideas and while I admire the boldness and the vision trying to turn those corporate ships around would be well beyond my risk tolerance as an investor. There were some notes that I found interesting. For instance, the cynic in me wonders if the revenue model is based on the low completion rate of MOOC's ensuring a steady income stream. I also like the idea of the capstone project pool that companies could use to get some project work done on the cheap.
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- in reply to Mobility Venture Pitch

FEEDBACK: Your ideas for improving the google interface are well chosen and as a classroom moodle user who also uses google docs within the same classes I would love see the best of both worlds in one place. I was ready to rubber stamp your proposal and fund it in the role of a google higher up. But that was before I read Dan's review and realized I have a very poor imagination when it comes to running a corporation. Dan makes great points about cost/benefits for the company that i wish I could say that I thought of. In brief: I want the changes you are suggesting. I hope that someone like you can make your case to the corporation.
FEEDBACK: Your ideas for improving the google interface are well chosen and as a classroom moodle user who also uses google docs within the same classes I would love see the best of both worlds in one place. I was ready to rubber stamp your proposal and fund it in the role of a google higher up. But that was before I read Dan's review and realized I have a very poor imagination when it comes to running a corporation. Dan makes great points about cost/benefits for the company that i wish I could say that I thought of. In brief: I want the changes you are suggesting. I hope that someone like you can make your case to the corporation.
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- in reply to The New and Improved Google Classroom

Feedback: The elevator pitch was simple and to the point but I would have preferred more personalization like your voice or some images. Additionally, some of the points passed too quickly for me to digest. As others have suggested the target market may not be able to support the company in the long run so I would be hesitant to invest.
Feedback: The elevator pitch was simple and to the point but I would have preferred more personalization like your voice or some images. Additionally, some of the points passed too quickly for me to digest. As others have suggested the target market may not be able to support the company in the long run so I would be hesitant to invest.
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- in reply to Train Start-up: An eLearning service venture focused on Start-ups

FEEDBACK (thanks to Dan for pointing out the actual instructions, yours is the first reference I have seen to them and judging by the earlier posts on the places I have reviewed already--five--many others have missed them too..): Cole, Teachers who are not excited by the freedom from textbooks that the new BC curriculum allows will be attracted to your product but I believe that they are a shrinking market. Perhaps offering units both ways, a) as a complete resource for the whole year AND b) as "a-la-carte" sections for individual download will allow you to get both the traditional textbook teachers who need a resource for the new curriculum as well as the new-school teachers who need a quick section or two to supplement the resources they have built up on their own. When it comes to conflicts of interest your roles with the school board, the union and with the other commercial concern you represent might come into conflict if they have not already so you might have to step away from one or more as SCP approaches profitability.
FEEDBACK (thanks to Dan for pointing out the actual instructions, yours is the first reference I have seen to them and judging by the earlier posts on the places I have reviewed already--five--many others have missed them too..): Cole, Teachers who are not excited by the freedom from textbooks that the new BC curriculum allows will be attracted to your product but I believe that they are a shrinking market. Perhaps offering units both ways, a) as a complete resource for the whole year AND b) as "a-la-carte" sections for individual download will allow you to get both the traditional textbook teachers who need a resource for the new curriculum as well as the new-school teachers who need a quick section or two to supplement the resources they have built up on their own. When it comes to conflicts of interest your roles with the school board, the union and with the other commercial concern you represent might come into conflict if they have not already so you might have to step away from one or more as SCP approaches profitability.
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- 1 Replies
- in reply to Soaring Compass Points

Like another review I have made, I want to preface this one by saying I am a social media holdout who only got a twitter account last month for this course. That being said, Schoolbook seems like a neat take on the LMS concept and I am intrigued by the mobile-first philosophy. I think it really speaks to the student user but it might not be a great fit for some parents and (if my school is any indication) about 30-50% of teachers. In looking at other platforms throughout this course, I see a lot of the other companies getting key teachers to try out the platform and bring it into their schools. This might be a marketing angle you want to consider to get to 1% of Edmoto's market penetration. Signing up younger, tech savvy teachers to be ambassadors (they'd sell the students and educate the social media holdouts like myself) for you could speed up your expansion.
Like another review I have made, I want to preface this one by saying I am a social media holdout who only got a twitter account last month for this course. That being said, Schoolbook seems like a neat take on the LMS concept and I am intrigued by the mobile-first philosophy. I think it really speaks to the student user but it might not be a great fit for some parents and (if my school is any indication) about 30-50% of teachers. In looking at other platforms throughout this course, I see a lot of the other companies getting key teachers to try out the platform and bring it into their schools. This might be a marketing angle you want to consider to get to 1% of Edmoto's market penetration. Signing up younger, tech savvy teachers to be ambassadors (they'd sell the students and educate the social media holdouts like myself) for you could speed up your expansion.
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- 1 Replies
- in reply to SchoolBook – Social Media and a Virtual Classroom

I really like the ability to mix and match chapters in customized textbook(s) for my class. I also love the vision of people competing to produce content for selection in people's custom books. However, this spikes my interest in the rewards model for the content creators' risk in producing chapters for YourText. How does their profit potential compare to current sources of revenue including mainstream publishing, other digital downloads and ad revenue in current options? I would need to see if your incentives for content creation were compelling enough to generate content after you have burned through your funding in the initial buildup phase. As a teacher who is adjusting to many other forms of digital technology in my learning activities, I would like to have access to books that other teachers in my district may have already complied that I could simply tweak instead of building from scratch so I would suggest that you add the ability to browse recently created books with filters like: topic, district/course, local area etc.
I really like the ability to mix and match chapters in customized textbook(s) for my class. I also love the vision of people competing to produce content for selection in people's custom books. However, this spikes my interest in the rewards model for the content creators' risk in producing chapters for YourText. How does their profit potential compare to current sources of revenue including mainstream publishing, other digital downloads and ad revenue in current options? I would need to see if your incentives for content creation were compelling enough to generate content after you have burned through your funding in the initial buildup phase. As a teacher who is adjusting to many other forms of digital technology in my learning activities, I would like to have access to books that other teachers in my district may have already complied that I could simply tweak instead of building from scratch so I would suggest that you add the ability to browse recently created books with filters like: topic, district/course, local area etc.
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- in reply to YourText – Let’s Change the Digital Textbook

I would like to preface this review with the fact that I do not doodle. I make meaning from spoken words with written text, not pictures so my immediate response to the elevator pitch was lukewarm. After watching the full venture pitch I can say that your layering feature and especially the audio feature (if it can still accurately capture ambient sounds over the tapping of the screen and other device buttons) are very useful and could give your product a leg up. I can't honestly say that I am well acquainted with the digital note-taking market as I just use the notepad that comes with apple products but these two features seem well chosen seem for your targeted user group. If you take this pitch to the investment community, I would suggest re-recording your on-camera segments with your teleprompter to closer to camera level. The setting was well chosen but it was a bit distracting to see you looking down all the time. Good Luck with the product.
I would like to preface this review with the fact that I do not doodle. I make meaning from spoken words with written text, not pictures so my immediate response to the elevator pitch was lukewarm. After watching the full venture pitch I can say that your layering feature and especially the audio feature (if it can still accurately capture ambient sounds over the tapping of the screen and other device buttons) are very useful and could give your product a leg up. I can't honestly say that I am well acquainted with the digital note-taking market as I just use the notepad that comes with apple products but these two features seem well chosen seem for your targeted user group. If you take this pitch to the investment community, I would suggest re-recording your on-camera segments with your teleprompter to closer to camera level. The setting was well chosen but it was a bit distracting to see you looking down all the time. Good Luck with the product.
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- 0 Replies
- in reply to Notepound – A Digital Note Sketching App for Mobile Devices
