Sarah

Thanks for the feedback. Although, I am an Apple Educator, I don't only focus on Apple or iPad training and in my current position, we have a BYOD policy in the bachelor programs. iPads were just the devices the Al Maktoum Foundation provided to the school in Rwanda. I definitely agree with that the infrastructure needs to be in place and what I've found is that the infrastructure to take advantage of in Rwanda and other east African countries is 3G, not wifi. It's much more reliable and doesn't need electricity to use, except to charge the device of course, but they've worked on solving that problem with generators and solar-powered charging stations.

Hi Cris, overall a great pitch and a good idea for an already existing product to enter the Chinese market. As Ganlina mentioned, adding a video and/or image to your elevator pitch would engage the viewer a bit more, but I believe that you were able to effectively communicate your pitch and why it would be successful. My only concern is that as I understand, the original product is made for native English speakers who need to learn and practice English grammar. How would the product be adapted for second language speakers in China? You mentioned adding in their culture, but what help be added for low level English speakers? Duolingo and Rosetta Stone are specifically made for second language speakers and present the language at a level that the learner can understand without any translation. Would NoRedInk be able to do this as well? The vocabulary I saw in your presentation may be out of reach for many students, so there would be a delay in the grammar learning while they catch up on the vocabulary needed to understand the grammar rule. I also agree with Craig in the sense that focusing on Grammar only is not going to help students develop their fluency, however, it will develop their accuracy which is also important. If NoRedInk can address the presentation of the language for second language learners, I think the product will be quite successful in the Chinese market. Well done!

Sorry, I forgot to address the pricing question. This would be aligned to the country that the coaching is in. So, a coach in the UAE would charge a rate that is competitive to the local economy, which would be different to a coach in Rwanda. A coaching package could be for an individual teacher or a group of teachers at an institution. I didn't list specific prices on the website for this project since it is currently a sensitive topic with vendors here. When I'm ready to take this to the next step, prices and details will be listed for all the packages we will offer.

Hi Craig, thank you for your feedback. You are correct in that I didn't clearly address the marketing plan and still need to fully develop this. However, as a start I would first market through various social media channels, which are very popular here. I would also ensure that the local vendors (Apple and Microsoft product providers for example) are aware of the company. Everything is done a little differently in the UAE, so institutions need to go through local service providers rather than directly through a company itself. I would also actively participate in the many local education conferences. Reputation is key to success here, so I would leverage on my already positive reputation. Scaling it beyond these two markets is definitely in the plans, I will need to ensure I make this clear to the investors. Canada is definitely a possibility as are other eastern African countries.

Hi Joyce, thank you for your positive feedback. Since, my coaching services are directly provided to teachers in Rwanda rather than just providing money, it will be difficult to assist in another developing country in the beginning, but I do hope to expand in the future. I would be open to hearing about other countries and schools that need assistance from the teachers we coach, but I don't want to expand too quickly so that the quality of support needed to be successful is compromised. It is a good point you make so I will ensure that my future intentions are clearly communicated on the website and that there is a place for people to put in requests for support in other countries.

Thank you for your feedback Josh! The unfair advantage I currently have is the reputation I already have within the UAE. Many institutions know who I am and the quality of coaching I can deliver. The UAE is a small country and reputation is everything here. I would focus on continuing to build and keep this reputation to ensure we keep our competitive edge. However, if someone comes into the market and also builds a positive reputation, I will definitely need to review my unfair advantage. This is something I will put in the 'think tank'.

Hi Vibhu, your pitch was clear and well-organized. I also liked your use of the Piktochart to display the information. It's good that you focused on an issue that you are facing, but as an online teacher myself, I personally don't encounter this problem very often since I use our live synchronous sessions for interactive activities. Having Breakout Rooms with whiteboards for the participants to contribute to is more important than me seeing their screens. If I want my students to collaborate together, I use tools like Google Docs or Padlet where I can see who is adding what and provide feedback as necessary. If it is an eLearning activity that needs to be completed individually, they do this in their own time and not while we are online together. Appropriate feedback is built into the activity itself and I simply review their results and provide any additional feedback as necessary through the grade book. However, if I was in a teaching situation where the students were completing work independently, I would definitely want to see more than one screen at a time, similar to what others already mentioned. I think you need to focus your pitch on the teaching situation/scenario that would benefit from this tool. As an investor, I have a few concerns. Security issues would definitely need to be addressed. How much could the teacher see, how much control would they have? How would the student be safe-guarded to ensure they can take control back and not allow others to use the tool? As well, who purchases the plugin, the teacher and student? How much would it cost? What happens if the students refuses to purchase it or install it? There are a few areas that need to be addressed before I could invest in this product.

Hi Andrew, you obviously have a passion for history and really enjoy making these materials. Teachers would definitely benefit from using them with little cost to them. Having them as PowerPoint presentations allows the teachers to adapt things as needed and it's a simply tool that is accessible to all educators today. However, as an investor I have several questions and concerns, which lead me to conclude that I wouldn't invest in this product in its' present form. Other than your time, what is the cost of creating these presentations or worksheets? For example, where do you get the images from? How much do you pay for them? I would also want to know how you plan to expand in the future. Would this continue being a one-man operation or would you consider hiring a graphic designer to advise on branding and slide style or an instructional designer to help move into more digitally interactive lessons? As we move more and more into a 1:1 laptop/tablet teaching situation in high schools across the US and Canada, creating student-centered activities that can be delivered on the students' devices will be highly valued. How will you meet the future needs of your teachers?

Hi Jason, I really enjoyed watching your pitches. It is clear that you have a passion for this issue and can see a real need for the product. You also made a very complying case of why I would want to invest in this product. I really like the idea of the parents/caregivers being able to add their own images to the story and change the name and characteristics. You might also want to include audio that can be turned off or on, so that the child can read the story on their own. Maybe even a feature that allows the caregiver/parent or possibly the child themselves to record their own voice. My question is for caregivers, doctors or teachers who are dealing with more than one child, would they be able to save several versions of the story or would they need to adapt it each time they used with a different child? You might want to include an upgrade of the app that allows them to save more than one story. I see a lot of potential for this product outside of using it with autistic children. With the right app developer and marketing manager, I see a lot of success!

Hi Bryan, your pitches were well-prepared and it was good that you focused on a problem you personally found, which means that other teachers are probably also experiencing the same. It is an interesting idea and I agree with your thoughts and research about collaborative reading, however, I wouldn't invest it in due to the legal issues of needing to link or upload articles into your program to share. In order to verify the article, you will need to work with each institutions library system and have access to their SSO. It might be better to market this tool to the software companies, like ProQuest, who service the Journals and libraries as a way they could enhance their product rather than to teachers or institutions. I do know that eTextbook distributors, like Vital Source, are looking to add this feature to their product. They already have note-taking and highlighting (both public and private) included in their platform. I really like the idea of the conversation happening directly in the article without a separate discussion board, I'm just not sure about the feasibility of the product.