Venture Concept No. 1

The venture concept that I am proposing is an application for learning management systems, online universities and students that will create a better communication environment.  The majority of colleges are going digital and online colleges are becoming more of an option for many people.  Therefore, opportunities are appearing and there is a prime opportunity to correct the communication abilities because they are currently coming up short.

The colleges and schools alike that have implemented online education into their programs need to better their communication methods.  The typical online students needs better communication throughout their experience. Communication is key in education and the ability to pass knowledge onto the younger and up and coming generations is vital.  Taking a class online has become a very difficult way of learning. Whereas, on a campus environment the students have a much better chance of discussing in further detail with professors, classmates and other professionals found on the campus. The on campus student has a better experience because their abilities to communicate are enhanced. In addition, the on campus student has the freedom to create study groups or they have the opportunity to have lengthy and meaningful class participation with their professors. On the other hand, an online student does not always have the benefit of having these opportunities. Furthermore, the average online student is faced with courses that are typically video-based, which are prerecorded of the readings and assignments. So in turn, most of the learning is completely up to the students to understand the topic at hand. Additionally, with limited interaction with other students, professors, TA’s and other professionals this can become a concern for the overall online experience. Therefore, there is a geared up opportunity to create a better environment for the online student that will better meet this unmet need.

The online demographics of this market are very diverse since obtaining a higher education is appealing to all. However, though some research, according to Malcolm Forbes of Onlineeducation.com:

“The average age of online learners is 34 years old. The gender make-up is 53% female and 47% male. The racial identification of students is: 46.6% white, 24.8% black, 29.8% Hispanic, 3.2% Asian, and 4.6% others. 74.3% make less than $40,000, 32% receive financial aid, 38% receive employer aid, and 79% take out student loans. The majority are employed (81%) and undergraduates (82%); 14% are graduate students, and 4% are "other" [e.g., courses only, one-year certificates, etc.]. Only 16% are traditional students (predominately white, female, ages 15-23, full-time, with reported incomes of $40,000+); 84% are non-traditional students. The growth rate for online learning (21%) versus that of traditional education (1.8%) indicates that online education is rapidly more accepted and embraced by students”.

As for customer satisfaction of current online systems like blackboard and canvas you will see that there is mixed reviews.  The overall outlook of customer satisfaction shows that there are different types of students. Some students prefer to learn on their own and there are students that like interaction between their associates.  In addition, costumer loyalty is difficult to judge because the colleges and universities choose the programs to use. Therefore, the loyalty resides with colleges and universities.

The opportunity level of this venture concept is exceptional because correcting the communication issue will allow for more colleges and universities understand the demand for better interaction. Thereby, creating a premier opportunity for a business.

The concept I am proposing is an application made available to all students, professors, TA’s and alike. The application would create a classroom environment where class discussion could be held, study groups could be created, and one on one face time with students TA’s and professors. It would operate in a similar fashion to canvas and blackboard, however, it would have the ability for students to create their own study groups, the ability to create classroom conferences, and have one on one time with peers or professors.

The ability to create profit would be solely on the application sold to universities for use. The universities and colleges then would have server costs and ability cost. According to CSU Channel Islands, Blackboard costs a university or college around $7,000 per year for their mobile application. Therefore, I would charge roughly the same maybe a little more because of the implementation of a better communication network.

            By developing this application would correct the communication issue for online students. The student that wants more options will be provided that with this application. They will have the opportunity to create online study group but also have the ability to communicate with their professors and TA’s as well.  

Colleges and universities will want to purchase this application because it will give themselves a competitive edge over the colleges and universities that don’t have this tool.  The switch to this application wouldn’t be extremely hard. However, it will cost and take work in implementing this application. The switch to this application depends on how willingly schools listen to their online students and other online students from different universities. There is a population of these students that feel like there is a lack in the communication while taking online classes. As a result, the schools should be easily convinced. 

The competitors in this market are your mainstream programs such as, blackboard and canvas. There weaknesses are that they don’t provide the best communication capabilities. These types of programs rely on professors and students communicating by email or phone. Additionally, the discussion boards provided by these programs are often left for professor and are mainly turned into assignments. And as a result, the discussion is not meaningful as it would be in a live classroom.

When implementing this venture concept into an organized business I would lean towards computer engineers for develop of the product and support for the product. The application itself would have to be designed and created and then maintained.  This would require a number of employees. I would employ 3 computer engineers for the development of the application and then outsource a cloud/server company.