REFLECTIONS
HOW WAS GRADENETIX DEVELOPED AS A CONCEPT?
Gradenetix is a venture concept that was developed and rooted in personal experience. I had a desire to come up with a solution that addresses the pain point of excessive marking for teachers who find themselves teaching heavy subject areas that inherently require a high volume of feedback. Personally, I have around 30+ students to tend to within 6 separate classes, and I would love nothing more than to spend more face-to-face time with them. Often times, I find myself bogged down by the exorbitant need to mark and return feedback. With so many students, and so much feedback to give, sometimes I feel this takes away from the actually one-on-one teaching time and opportunities to instil core competencies that students need to achieve success outside of school. Moreover, sometimes I find it hard to believe that some teachers are still using pen and paper to mark material. I feel that most, if not all, students should be turning in work on a digital level, and that feedback should also be returned that way. The pen and paper marking schemes are a thing of the past!
WHAT ARE STRENGTHS OF THE PRODUCT, PITCH, ANALYSIS OR LEADERSHIP?
I feel that the video pitch came out quite professional. It took me days to get right and to film. I had to essentially re-direct, re-format, and re-imagine how I would go about pursuing this pitch due to the self-isolation procedures we are following in Canada. Moreover, the length of the pitch forced me to cut out unnecessary, or overly informative material and focus on the basics of what investors may want to hear.
Moreover, I think that the idea behind Gradenetix warrants real pursuit. I think there is a real pain point when it comes to excessive marking in institutions and it's inhibiting on building relationships with students. I've spoken to a number of teachers and colleagues - All of which seemed extremely excited about the prospect of an AI system that would do their marking for them.
Although sometimes I felt a little clueless regarding how to properly pursue this project, at the end of it, I felt the creative nature and freedom of imagining any kind of technology ventures proved to a helpful concept.
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WHAT ARE WEAKNESSES OF THE PRODUCT, PITCH, ANALYSIS, OR LEADERSHIP?
Ultimately, a potential weakness of this product is that it isn't completely originally new. There are existing technologies that are competing in this space currently. I do feel, however, that there is an opportunity here to re-vamp and build on these technologies to create the solution teachers are really looking for.Â
Furthermore, if I were to seriously pursue this venture, I think a potential weakness is a lack of leadership team. I am humble enough to acknowledge what I am, and what I am not good at. I would require a larger team to delegate responsibilities as I am not knowledgeable on the ins and outs of building a true Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning marking system. Additionally, I am a teacher by trade, so I would also need a 'finance guru' to determine where money should be invested and take care of the business end.
THE BC CORE COMPETENCIES
Guiding principles for teachers who are striving to find more one-on-one time with their students. These were concepts that were at the centre of the conception of Gradenetix
