philip barrington

Hello Kate. This was a polished and well thought out presentation. You had a strong presence and you did an excellent job explaining your product and the rationale behind it. I think the foundation is their to be an idea that could be sustain over a long period of time with a solid business plan. Great work.

Katie, I think you have a really good venture here. I like that is combining food literacy with a real world application. I think this will help kids develop the necessary skills to understand what they need to do to ensure they have a healthy lunch or diet. I wonder if you could partner up with a catering service that you could pilot this in your school district. My concern is that you might have a hard time getting a foot in a district that already have established food programs. The pitch was engaging and I think you have the potential to at least develop the app into to a easy and simple to to bring food literary to elementary kids. Well done!

I would like access please! Thank you.

Hello Christopher. I think this venture is a great idea. I like that it is learner focused and the elevator pitch was thoughtful and intriguing. My only concern is that one of your competitors has a stronger footing in the educational research market, especially in some districts in BC. Gale Learning Systems and more specifically Research in Context is an established database in several schools through out the province. This is database provides engaging reference, periodical, and multimedia content supporting national and state curriculum standards for grades 6 to 12 in language arts, social studies, and science. Middle school students will benefit from an interface that delivers a combination of the highly visual design and navigation preferred by younger users as well as the authoritative content and user-focused tool set needed to support middle school assignments and coursework. Gale also has a database that is designed for high school students as well. The teachers in our district currently use it and more and more students are slowly becoming familiar with the Gale database system with more of an emphasis for improving research skills over the past five years. It will take some time to convince some teachers, more specifically librarians, who are the ones who would share the benefits of databases to their fellow colleagues, to shift away from Research in Context and move to the Lurnt platform. However, the learner focused approach can differentiate Lurnt from its other competitors. With a friendly interface, Lurnt can really apply to the students who struggle. If the upvotes can be managed effectively, this is another tool that can help students avoid endless hours of searching for the right article or source for their assignment. The upvote can be the key in reducing research time as well for students who will be able to find the right information that was highly ranked by their peers. I think with the right approach, Lurnt can have a solid footing and rival Gale Learning Systems and Google as a place where students will seek to do their research on assignments and projects. Overall, this was an insightful, thoughtful and creatively venture!

Hello Heeweon. This was a well though out venture. This is an idea that could really have an immediate impact in K-12 classrooms through North America. You plan was solid and attainable and the price point is within a range that public and private school administrators would be willing to spend in an effort to enhance the learning experience in the classroom. My question is which subject areas would you target first? Starting in a concentrated area but ensuring that you have ironed out all the kinks would ensure that you can build the word of mouth market that you would need to encourage other educators to invest in this product.

Thanks for sharing Katie. What was nice to see about NextLesson was the way that the lessons are designed to engage kids in real life problems. Dion clearly latched on to this concept that educators often struggle with consistently. We as educators are always looking to have kids in engaged in issues or lessons that they will face as individuals. It is interesting that Dion has such a diverse portfolio which allows him to see the educational field in a different lens. Dion and NextLesson is a tool that can especially help new teachers shape their lessons and give them the confidence to see who adding real world problems to their lessons will further engage their students.

Dustin, what I like about Springboard is the idea that they are trying to personalize learning towards the individual student. The concept of proving a mentor is intriguing and could reshape the way educators view online classes. Gautam's unique background has allowed him to view the online educational course in a different lens and has allowed him to change the way we look at personalized online learning.

Chris, what I like the most about this post is that Craig Jones has used his educational knowledge and given back to the educational field. I have not used Formative, but if Formative is a simple and easy tool to use, then I foresee many teachers adding this educational web based program to their teaching practice. He will also earn credibility among the younger teachers who are more tech savvy and will be more willing to try web based programs like Formative.

Hackaball is an interesting concept that combines technology and play together. This game has the potential in the education field to future the concept of play and imagination. As long as the instructions to create the game are simple and easy to figure out, I see this product being a game that administrators would invest in to help introduce kids to technology. The ability for kids to actually play and create games is a niche that few technology based games can compete with in the educational market. This is a game that teachers could use in classrooms as a fun way to give kids mental breaks during the day. While the two adults in the pitch were friendly and confident individuals that captured my attention and forced me to pay attention to the pitch, what sold me was the kids. Seeing the kids moving, running and jumping with Hackaball was the selling point for me. As a parent, I could envision my daughter playing with the toy outside and I could see her inside opening up the Hackaball to see and learn more about the technology in the ball. The kids were active and engaged and looked like they were enjoying Hackaball. This sold me more on this product, regardless if it works or not. The ability to sell the competitiveness and engagement of Hackaball and on top of that, introduce young children to coding, is definitely a product that teachers and parents would pay attention and want to buy. With the introduction of coding to the BC curriculum, teachers are always looking for new ways to introduce coding in the classroom and Hackaball claims would be music to many educator's ears. For parents, any way that you can entertain your kids and have your kids learn as well is the definition of a good toy. My only fear is that Hackaball does not have a current retail price. The technology inside the Hackaball might be too pricey for administrators to invest in long term. Admin teams love to buy bulk of certain products and if Hackaball is over $100 price point, this might discourage admin teams from fully investing in Hackaball. However, despite the price, I fully believe that Hackaball has an intriguing concept that could definitely be a player in the educational technology field.

ARCO is trying to see itself as the first holograph AR Gaming Robot that can enhance the gaming and learning experience. However, I also would have a hard time investing in this company. The pitch is focused on selling the AR features of this game, however there were some inconsistencies between the story and the visuals. The pitch wanted to sell us on the idea that ARCO will be a toy that further kid's imagination. They argue that by investing in this product, investors will be in on the hottest game in the VR gaming industry at a low price point of $79 to get the basic package on Kickstarter. The retail price for ARCO is $179 after the Kickstarter campaign has ended.They are focusing more the creativity, imagination and fun that kids and parents will have will playing in the holographic world. The advantage of ARCO is that they are jumping into the VR gaming world quickly. With few products like this out on the market, ARCO is trying to establish itself early in the market because the market becomes saturated with other competitors. The two young inventors are trying to sell the educational and gaming features that ARCO can offer for adults and kids. However, the virtual worlds that were created were not creative or visually appealing that they would instantly grab a kid's attention. They VR world's in the battle mode or the coding puzzle game were not eye popping and did not have a "wow factor." Without a "wow" factor, kids could lose interest and it could be one of those toys that kids might play with once in while. Also with ARCO trying to simplifying the joystick, I fear that kids would lose interest quickly due to the simplicity. . The fact that the kid in the ad, was sitting the whole time and not actively moving around was a disappointment. The market seems to want a VR world that would allow the gamer to interact more with the VR world. While the premise is good and provides parents with the ability to provide a VR experience for their child, the simplicity of the VR world leaves me wanting more as an investor.