Kate L.

#1. - Thanks for the podcasts! Almost makes you think you should develop a small podcast as part of your start up venture where you talk to people and bounce your ideas off others. regarding #2. I also eagerly read the feedback on my Venture since it makes you feel encouraged to go in and actually polish up your project and maybe just try to launch it! Although this is a sandbox environment (real investors are not browsing through these proposals) and therefore they are by nature fiction, I found it was hard to tell at times if some projects were actually already in development or close to putting in front of investors. Almost wish there was a Part Two to this course since there are still many details to actually creating a start up we didn't cover such as how to find partners and collaborators for your team, what business structures do you need in place before you look for investment money (incorporation, trademarks?) @katelenert (Twitter)

FEEDBACK: It is apparent that in our roles as EVA, unless you have a familiarity with the specific sector it is hard to make an informed assessment. Hence to create these pitches (myself included) we have to assume the investor knows nothing about the area we are pitching. I have struggled to understand the classroom experience of the primary or middle grades teacher. Like Maureen, I seem to share inside knowledge of the higher education market. Generally and commonly, faculty who teach at Universities in both undergraduate, graduate and professional programs are content experts; however they rarely have graduate training in education and less so in teaching online. Unlike instructors in K - 12, where teachers are trained in Education, faculty in higher education are usually researchers who are expected to teach, and more so lately, to teach online. Often, but certainly not always, universities will have Teaching and Technology Innovative Centers; but not all faculty are required to use their services. The availability of educational software, off the shelf, will not "make" a confident, skilled, effective online instructor. My many years working in graduate programs at universities have shown me that many faculty teach they way they were taught decades ago without regard to current research in the literature that shows advances in the knowledge on how students learn best, specifically adult learners (who are in university as opposed to 9th grade). An experienced highly funded researcher will not take time out to enroll in the MET program to learn how to better teach (possibly online) in their area of specialization. Constructivist, experiential, active and engaged learning is not the norm; it continues to be the lecture-based format, with research papers and multiple-choices exams as assessment. As you quote, "…learning how to teach online has become an obligation among educators as students are being sent into a world filled with technology.” In the US, generally you need a doctorate to teach in a research institution, so I see the MET as allowing me to "teach the teachers." Another of your quotes sums it up nicely, Tony Bates argues that “Moving to blended, hybrid and online learning requires a much higher standard of training for faculty and instructors.” (2015, p.420). However, Bates (2015) also describes the current model of professional development for Canadian faculty as “broken” (p.418). This is a different sort of Technology Venture - not one that "makes a profit" but one that benefits all students (a public good). All the best in continuing your good work at Ryerson and beyond! (Sorry for the length of this posting, but I have a certain passion in this area!)

I don't have a strong or thorough understanding of security issues in the back-end (other than Single-Sign On), but you had me at biometrics. I am sick of the current solution with millions of usernames and passwords we can no longer remember. Most of our secure information is commonly known we use it so often. From what I see in your presentation, there would not really be confidential information, just use of learning spaces. YOu are addressing many of the challenges but I believe they can, and need, to be overcome. This is my favorite Venture, Victoria!

I am a strong supporter of experiential learning and the strength of student portfolios to demonstrate competency. So having easy to use solutions for teachers is imperative. You may think that your lack of marketing experience is a weakness, but it is important to recognize this so that you can strategically form your development team - you now know who you need to add! This should also engage the students in their own learning and development and I think they will love being able to participate in this.

Being a huge fan of NPR and all of its programming, I was excited to see (I mean hear!) your presentation. Someone has to have a more creative idea to keep younger listeners supportive of public radio programming. Calling the shows Podcasts instead seems to attract a younger audience :) There are many people who depend on audio-only shows for news and entertainment due to disability or the ability to listen while driving or doing other things. The experience of sound without constant visuals is great. Good luck with this Meril!

I think it is important if we are going to support constructivist learning in a distributed online space to have strong reliable collaborative work spaces. Our own experiences in this course show that. The low audio quality was distracting from your message. I have tried recording audio separately with Audacity and it seems to work fine. But you can do that in the future when you actually take this to an investor! I was not convinced that this offered anything more than Google Docs already did. In many group projects, I have successfully used the Google Docs, Hangout, and Calendar (which converts timezones of users and integrates with Hangout). Google Docs seems secure enough to me. Have I missed something?

FEEDBACK: Any efforts supporting environmental issues I am generally in support of. There are so many beneficial projects that have high social (or environmental) value we could be doing with edtech so I am glad you went in this direction. The problem as you stated is that non-profits are constantly challenged with funding sources. I also thought you identified the problem, but I was a little confused by what exactly the app does and how. As well, how much would it cost to build this solution? Who is on the team to build this and what background might they have? Although the "critter voice" was related to the project, it seemed a bit child-like for an investment pitch. Might be more suited to the website where you are soliciting new users perhaps? I was attracted to the concept of citizen science, and as you noted, it seemed like this approach might encourage younger participants to be stewards of the land. Sign me up!

Glad that helped you! I think copyright and licensing is often overlooked at a administrative hurdle, but it is getting critical with so much digital content on the web that we adhere to the Commons rules and structure.

REVIEW: I thought this was definitely a project that needed to be funded and was surprised something like this did not already exist. Often opportunities are right in front of us. Elevator pitches are challenging as we often have so much to say (my problem) and audiences with short attention spans. I think, however, that you got your point across with the pitch video and it made me want to look further at your plan. Good for you that you thought of having the servers in Canada for security of student information. I live in the US and have recently seen the complications of working in another country but having data in Canada. You have a well rounded team put together - just a small typo on Jessica's profile (it is spelled Baccalaureate). I would encourage you to try to take this to the next level.

REVIEW: This seems like a well thought-out venture. The Plan outlined various levels of development and the increasing need for funding. Marketing will be key as you have competitors but this is a rapidly growing field. In some of these projects it is hard to tell if you already have a team in place or the team is fictional? Regardless, you seem to have most of the bases covered except you may need a business or finance manager with such a high investment product. If I had a million dollars, I would invest! Couple typos on the larger presentation (Leah: psychology; and Competitive Position slide: #3 - meaningful). Good luck on this venture!