Evaluation
In my current role as a school Vice Principal, there is nothing more frustrating than trying to figure out supply teachers and staffing. Our current contract with ApplyToEducation doesn't have any console that allows administrators to see who is away, who is replacing them, if they have any vacation/sick days left, and who's applied for positions at a school. This creates headaches and principals will then have to scramble through paperwork and emails without an online database of available supply teachers when a position isn't filled. For teachers wishing to book days off, it can be a complicated system without any indication how many personal or sick days they have left which means they would have to contact HR prolonging the process.
This venture looks to alleviate staffing issues in boards both large and small. The initial rollout and development will be primarily targeted to Ontario school boards. The reason for this is twofold - pretty much all of the boards use ApplyToEducation and they use either Maplewood or Trillium as their database. By developing a program that integrates into either of the two databases, information will be correct and available in real time along with the easier user experience.
This project won't be an easy one as it is a whole new platform built from the bottom up. While we have our leaders on the about page, we will still need to hire a development team at a large cost. We will also need to negotiate contracts with Maplewood and Trillium for integration as well as a service we can host our app on. Because we want to make the service as easy to use as possible, we will need to develop the web app along with the iOS and Android apps at the same time. Initial feelings are the iOS and Android apps will simply be browsers that bring the user directly to the site with further development to occur in later versions.
Another difficulty will be to get schools boards to invest in something that they already have in a similar fashion. What sets us apart other than the easy to use management software is that we offer to provide a portion of the application fee back to the board in an effort to repay the initial investment. Assuming there continues to be 9,000 new teachers entering Ontario, and assuming they apply for jobs at 3 boards, if we were to have even 1,000 of the new applicants use the system we could raise $108,000. The long term goal would be that by the end of the third year will will have enough school boards signed on to receive payments of $500,000. By having people familiar with the educational landscape in Ontario promoting the product, we hope to have at least 5 boards willing to invest and trial the software.
One of the benefits of developing this app is the potential for buyout by a larger player. Even if we take longer to pay back our investors, we hope to create enough market value that should we be bought, we can offer back the original investment along with the added value of the company.
This venture looks to alleviate staffing issues in boards both large and small. The initial rollout and development will be primarily targeted to Ontario school boards. The reason for this is twofold - pretty much all of the boards use ApplyToEducation and they use either Maplewood or Trillium as their database. By developing a program that integrates into either of the two databases, information will be correct and available in real time along with the easier user experience.
This project won't be an easy one as it is a whole new platform built from the bottom up. While we have our leaders on the about page, we will still need to hire a development team at a large cost. We will also need to negotiate contracts with Maplewood and Trillium for integration as well as a service we can host our app on. Because we want to make the service as easy to use as possible, we will need to develop the web app along with the iOS and Android apps at the same time. Initial feelings are the iOS and Android apps will simply be browsers that bring the user directly to the site with further development to occur in later versions.
Another difficulty will be to get schools boards to invest in something that they already have in a similar fashion. What sets us apart other than the easy to use management software is that we offer to provide a portion of the application fee back to the board in an effort to repay the initial investment. Assuming there continues to be 9,000 new teachers entering Ontario, and assuming they apply for jobs at 3 boards, if we were to have even 1,000 of the new applicants use the system we could raise $108,000. The long term goal would be that by the end of the third year will will have enough school boards signed on to receive payments of $500,000. By having people familiar with the educational landscape in Ontario promoting the product, we hope to have at least 5 boards willing to invest and trial the software.
One of the benefits of developing this app is the potential for buyout by a larger player. Even if we take longer to pay back our investors, we hope to create enough market value that should we be bought, we can offer back the original investment along with the added value of the company.
Reflection
When originally entering this course, I never thought I'd be able to develop a new idea in terms of educational technology. When thinking about classroom applications, it seems that the best programs are already here and being improved upon. As well, because in Ontario boards have chosen so many different paths (D2L vs. Edsby, Maplewood vs. Trillium, Google vs. Microsoft), I wanted to develop something that could be universal and satisfy needs regardless of platform.
In creating this plan, I understand there are still many holes to fill and I just don't feel I yet have the business sense to cover all my bases. I've been watching a lot of Dragon's Den and Shark Tank to get an idea of what works and what doesn't, and I think I have come up with something that works. Where my limitation are, however, are the design and marketing pieces. In a scenario such as this, I understand it won't be cheap to find the people needed to develop this app and it will possibly be even harder to see it to school boards (even my own).
Perhaps with my new position while taking two courses to finish my degree, I feel that I bit off a bit more than I could chew. In terms of undertaking a project such as this one, if I were to be part of a startup like Quikonnex, I know I'd have to take a leave or quit y current position, which I feel is hard to do as I'd be giving up my pension and benefits. If there's one thing I learnt from this program though, it's sometimes great to be willing to push outside comfortable boundaries and try something new. Be it creating videos, contributing to a book or investigating and evaluating markets, I feel confident that I will have a more critical eye when I now look at educational technology startups and perhaps be willing to gamble on an investment for the next big thing.
In creating this plan, I understand there are still many holes to fill and I just don't feel I yet have the business sense to cover all my bases. I've been watching a lot of Dragon's Den and Shark Tank to get an idea of what works and what doesn't, and I think I have come up with something that works. Where my limitation are, however, are the design and marketing pieces. In a scenario such as this, I understand it won't be cheap to find the people needed to develop this app and it will possibly be even harder to see it to school boards (even my own).
Perhaps with my new position while taking two courses to finish my degree, I feel that I bit off a bit more than I could chew. In terms of undertaking a project such as this one, if I were to be part of a startup like Quikonnex, I know I'd have to take a leave or quit y current position, which I feel is hard to do as I'd be giving up my pension and benefits. If there's one thing I learnt from this program though, it's sometimes great to be willing to push outside comfortable boundaries and try something new. Be it creating videos, contributing to a book or investigating and evaluating markets, I feel confident that I will have a more critical eye when I now look at educational technology startups and perhaps be willing to gamble on an investment for the next big thing.