Sarah

Feedback: Your elevator pitch does a good job of delineating what BOLT can bring to the EdTech sector and how it can work in a classroom. As a secondary school English teacher, I very rarely give tests or quizzes as we have largely moved to project-based learning where students are driven by critical questions and we explore different types of text that help them formulate complex answers to these. Truthfully, I can't remember the last time I gave a test -- years ago. The focus is really on critical thinking, whereas texts and quizzes often work well for content, which isn't much of a focus anymore. That being said, I know my science and math colleagues use tests and quizzes often and I have a feeling in any subject area where teachers are teaching content (e.g. periodic table, geometry, the second world war) this would likely be quite popular. Could it be embedded into existing LMS? (e.g. could Bolt be used within the Desire2Learn shell?) In terms of instructional design, this seems to be the current trend. I think, however, I might consider using tests or quizzes as formative assessments to measure what they already know, etc. if I had access to technology like BOLT. I'd love for it to organize the results for me and keep track of the data to give me snapshots over time (e.g pre- and post-assessments).

REVIEW: Hi Mark, your app addresses a legitimate pain point, one you justified quite convincingly. As a next step in your pitch, it would be really interesting to have a short video demo of a student photographing an item, the translation to code, the print of the item, and the utilization in an educational setting. As a teacher, your reasons for using this app in the classroom are compelling. I had a hard time hearing your voice in your elevator pitch but perhaps that's my computer? One thing I was not completely clear on are your pricing options so as an EVA I would want more clarification on those. Are there any competitors? Also, you are the founder of the venture but the rest of the team isn't really introduced (20 years of experience but who are they and what do they bring in terms of expertise and experience?). This is a really applicable idea overall but I wouldn't invest until I had more information on those elements.

REVIEW: Rodney, as a language teacher with a linguistics and second language teaching background, this was a very exciting venture. Your elevator pitch was extremely professional and engaging. By the end, I was compelled to read the longer venture pitch. The idea is futuristic and merges 3 huge emerging markets, which is very ambitious. As an EVA with a language background, however, one area that I'm concerned about is that you don't address different ages of learners. There are important disparities between how adults, young children, children over 8, adolescents, etc. learn language. While I agree that one's native language is "absorbed" (as the brain makes sense of language rules and codes these, creating a base for other languages to be acquired), and immersion is a critical feature of learning, the virtual reality environment removes elements of "risk" which is certainly an obstacle for older language learners something younger children who learn languages with ease really don't contend with. That being said, this wouldn't necessarily stop me from investing, but I would want to see some discussion of the pedagogical benefits re: different aged learners. I was really impressed by the thoroughness of your venture pitch. I think your timeline is helpful but the growth from 500 to half a million users isn't really explained. That's a huge growth so I would be keen to know more about specifically how you plan to achieve that growth. (I can infer based on your team, etc. but I'd want to be "convinced"). Great work!

REVIEW: Hi Esther, this is a really interesting concept and until your pitch, I didn't know these types of services existed. You present a very compelling idea in a highly professional manner and although I was unfamiliar with "onboarding," I was able to infer fairly easily what it is. As your company focusses on employee growth, I could see this being marketed to areas that have lower retention rates and need to keep their talent (I'm thinking STEM areas). It would have been interesting to see a comparison of one of the current onboarding companies in terms of services offered and your projected differences. I would consider investing if I could see how this company differs in that way. Also, I imagine each "journey" and personalized digital storytelling etc. would differ based on the company's needs but an example would probably help me understand the concept more fully. With those 2 changes, I might be willing to invest. Great work! ~ Sarah

Great week group! I enjoyed all of the activities, particularly the image recognition. It was extremely interesting to compare and contrast the strengths and limitations and get a sense of what level that technology is functioning at currently. Thanks!

Yes, I would invest in creating a maker space with a 3D printer in our school. Reading through the Ontario curricula, most updated iterations place emphasis on ensuring authentic learning experiences and real-world applications. Paired with the need to cultivate 21st century learning skills, it's clear that a maker space is a hub of collaborative learning, allowing users to experiment and to create. They are built on the belief that sharing, collective problem solving, and task performance lead to better learning outcomes. Our school's Design Tech class finds real problems and attempts to design solutions. A student in the design tech class who was also in my English class noticed that our laptop power cords were always tangled (which we lovingly referred to as the "rat nest.") He borrowed a cord and attempted to design several different holders to help keep the cords separated. In the end, he designed two different prototypes. Neither of them have worked (yet) but he will continue designing next year, improving upon the previous designs until we have a product that works. The motivation to continue learning "after the class is finished" and the drive to seek out real-world problems and find authentic solutions is what 21st-century learning is about.

We are fortunate to have a fairly impressive Maker Space at our school so I could access 3D printing with ease. As a community member without this benefit, however, it's relatively easy in Ottawa to find the resources required to start a 3D printing project. I would likely not purchase the printer, filament, etc. but instead would outsource. The Ottawa Public Library has an Imagine Space which just opened in January, 2016. It's an impressive space that offers 3D printing and modeling (as well as laser cutting, photo, video and audio editing, green screen and video gear hand and tools and electronics, and wall-to-wall whiteboard). Algonquin College offers professional printing services at The Print Shop. Both these locations are fairly central, though in Nepean so west of the centre, but highly accessible by public transit if required as well. If I wanted to print, for example, my phone holder design, this would probably work. However, if i was on the cutting edge and wanted to do something like print real tissue which was mentioned in the Myth Busters section, I wouldn't be able to do that.

I'm not sure my design is attractive, but I think it's at least functional! I had some difficulties using Safari so then downloaded Chrome. I also had some issues there but I hope I've ironed them out. Essentially, I designed a holder that could sit on a flat surface with a ball joint that allows for pretty much any angle to be used. https://www.tinkercad.com/things/aiGdAjKM1a6 The lessons were quite engaging!

Hi Mark, I was going to watch your video but your settings are on private. You'll have to change the video's settings to unlisted (or public). Hope that helps! :) Sarah

Hi! Just letting you know that your video is set to private so it can't be viewed yet. You'll have to change your video settings to "unlisted."