Mel

Emily, we do need to humanize our instruction, now more than ever. If I were teaching secondary ELA, I would definitely ask my students to journal, but I feel stuck in my college communications course to stick to the course outline. I had my first week of online courses with dual credit high school students, and 4/10 of them have completed activities, all which were individualized. Quite a few of them have limited access and only mobile devices, so I know things aren't ideal for them. I have to keep that mind going forward. I have created discussion boards for them to use in the coming weeks, and we have peer review coming up, but there will be challenges there, as they've likely never used a discussion board vs. commenting on social posts, etc. My curriculum is rigid and follows a course outline, and with what limited time we have in the semester, I'm not sure how to prioritize what I've got to do versus what I want to do. By sticking to the basics to make it easier for them to navigate these new technologies we're using, I may be doing them a disservice. I am not requiring any synchronous participation right now, but I have made it clear that I am willing to jump on any video/chat/social/phone call to talk or help for any reason. Most students are communicating by e-mail and I make sure to answer their questions, thank them for reaching out, and ask how they are doing and do more chitchat. Most are unsure if they've done what they are supposed to do, and I reassure them and tell them what a great job they're doing. I feel a bit disconnected from them right now, and by the end of this weekend I need to reach out to some students just to check in. How about you? Hope all is well.

Ohhh! Thank you - I should watch, as well.

Paul, did you hire a voice actor? If not, you have a dynamic voice that is perfect for pitching and narrative informational videos. I believe the audio is only going to one channel, though - I hear it on my left side of my laptop speaker and on my left headphone - I thought maybe something was going on with my computer, but I checked with other audio to be sure. You outline everything with great research to back it up, and the phases are well detailed. I think $25 a teacher might be a low number, though. Take my money - if I had it, I would definitely invest in your venture. Thank you for sharing this with us, and best to you!

Thank you, Brian, for your valuable feedback. You got a chance to see the venture pitch 2.0 with financial information. I'm glad it made an impact. Thank you again!

Thank you, Kevin, for your pitch for LIT, which is definitely lit in the newest slang use of the word! As an ELA teacher in my past life, I really appreciate the way you have connected these emerging technologies in such a creative, intriguing way to ELA. When I have tried to think of ways to apply VR in literature or ESL classes, my mind never went to these places - hopefully we have chances in other courses to brainstorm and share ideas! I especially think the use of VR for performances is a way to give more people access to productions they may not have the opportunity to experience and to give students that much needed idea of perspective through a first person experience, though this will be the most costly aspect and phase of the venture. There is a lot going on here, but you have done a good job to separate your ideas into different phases. I agree with Emily that you could split some of the ideas into different ventures, and maybe they come together under one umbrella.

Thank you, Cass, for your feedback. You've given me some very specific things to consider, and I appreciate it - through thorough research, I can't find a product that does this, either, and I definitely need to show what competitors offer to set Hive apart. Thank you again.

Thank you, Miguel, for your feedback. I am revisiting everything this week and will keep this high in mind. Best to you!

FEEDBACK: Thank you, Robert, for the pitch on HealthPlus. I watched both videos, and the audio syncing issue is unfortunate (and I can empathize with the frustration it must have caused you), because I did get more out of the pitch with sync issues, as I felt it had a bit more information. While the idea of supporting students with mental health issues is extremely important, especially as schools move online, I am wary of investing in an educational technology for K-12 or postsecondary institutions that relies on students having a personal wearable that might be cost-prohibitive. If included in the pricing structure, the wearable becomes a consumable, as I assume watches would not be recollected, refurbished, and reused. I could see this potentially having more success in enterprise, but I would need more specific information before committing to invest in the venture as an enterprise solution. Thank you again.

FEEDBACK: Thank you, Kendra, for your pitch of GradHat. I love that the venture provides access and affordability to those in need of upskilling in a difficult job market. Though I like the idea of the elevator pitch in theory, I didn't understand what was going on at first, and it felt weird to stare at the doors without any other visual such as text. It detracted a bit from the overall quality of your message, but I like what you said, so I did look at the venture pitch. Your design skills are strong, but I definitely would have liked to see this in the elevator pitch. Thank you again.

Kevin, just an FYI, this post is uncategorized and might be missed if it's not posted in the Venture Forum. I will review after I have completely my assigned reviews.