Google Insights
Web Search
in the United States
"Education" category
Trend on "homeschool" & "home school"
Last 12 months
since 2004
"homeschool curriculum"
last 12 months
since 2004
"Lesson Planner"
Last 12 months
since 2004
"Lesson Plan"
last 12 months
since 2004
You can see from these charts that the trend is steadily down since 2004. 2004 was anomalously high for homeschool, and the most significant drop after that coincides with the current recession, but overall it's not great news. I believe there will be an upswing in homeschooling though. I'm surprised that search is down with the recession, since it isn't necessarily an economic activity (but maybe it's measuring adwords clicks)
One interesting find (but not surprising when you think about it) is that August is by far the biggest month for Homeschool and Lesson Plan related searches. An ideal time to launch a product marketing campaign, and well situated with my schedule. I should have a prototype then and prepare to market.
It turns out that "homeschool" is preferred over "home school" which is what I thought, but "lesson plan" vastly trumps "lesson planner". I don't know if that is because lesson plan is equated with "curriculum" while "planner" is related with a tool or template.
There wasn't enough data to graph "Lesson Plan" in the Education -> Homeschooling category, which might be ominous.
Doing adwords research (which I'll cover in depth later -- I don't have the numbers with me now) also showed interest in lesson planner templates which at first seemed like a bad term to buy, but I'm reconsidering since Apple Blossom is squarely set to replace the "template" with an application. It remains to be seen if people looking for a template would prefer to stay on paper or not. -- I'll go post a survey.
For a teaser, here's a great link on using google adwords for market research.
http://www.seobook.com/market-research-using-adwords
Apple Blossom startup blog
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
Submitted application to TechStarts
I submitted an application to TechStars Seattle for Apple Blossom Learning.
TechStars is a startup "accelerator" that provides (a small amount of) investment, mentoring, and networking opportunities.
I applied there last year for ResumeLink (I think.) I don't expect to get in, but the process of answering all the questions -- especially about competitors and how we plan to make money -- was a good exercise. I'm afraid I punted on the "Why should we invest in you?" question, but here's a link to the application, for what it's worth.
AppleBlossomLearning-TechStars-Application
TechStars is a startup "accelerator" that provides (a small amount of) investment, mentoring, and networking opportunities.
I applied there last year for ResumeLink (I think.) I don't expect to get in, but the process of answering all the questions -- especially about competitors and how we plan to make money -- was a good exercise. I'm afraid I punted on the "Why should we invest in you?" question, but here's a link to the application, for what it's worth.
AppleBlossomLearning-TechStars-Application
Thursday, April 28, 2011
Realization
I just realized that Apple Blossom is the test maangement software I've wanted to create for a long time -- just with a different name and market. The epiphany came to me while revising "What we are doing at Apple Blossom".
Not really, but a lot of the usability ideas are the same. It's task driven, but goal oriented. A lot of the usability ideas are the same. It explains who I'm so passionate about it and sure of the design. I've spent years thinking about it.
This could be a bad thing though. If I'm trying to force teachers to think like testers and it's not a universal design principle, it could be worse than bad.
But I think the concept can stretch across disciplines. I feel that thinking about solving the problem of organization and improvisation outside my day to day work discipline has given me clarity that I didn't have before .
Usability, and creating the least amount of work, but still being able track it is important. While the schedule is central to lesson planning, it's also important in software development. It does show that, in some case at least, completion is the goal, and timeline should be modified to suit it. Agile tends to push for "release something by this date."
The concept of the feature backlog transmogrified into curriculum goals is a very nice fit. But I need to be careful not to draw too many analogies and influence the flow of the system incorrectly.
(This post is based on a text-message conversation I had with my wife.)
Not really, but a lot of the usability ideas are the same. It's task driven, but goal oriented. A lot of the usability ideas are the same. It explains who I'm so passionate about it and sure of the design. I've spent years thinking about it.
This could be a bad thing though. If I'm trying to force teachers to think like testers and it's not a universal design principle, it could be worse than bad.
But I think the concept can stretch across disciplines. I feel that thinking about solving the problem of organization and improvisation outside my day to day work discipline has given me clarity that I didn't have before .
Usability, and creating the least amount of work, but still being able track it is important. While the schedule is central to lesson planning, it's also important in software development. It does show that, in some case at least, completion is the goal, and timeline should be modified to suit it. Agile tends to push for "release something by this date."
The concept of the feature backlog transmogrified into curriculum goals is a very nice fit. But I need to be careful not to draw too many analogies and influence the flow of the system incorrectly.
(This post is based on a text-message conversation I had with my wife.)
Apple Blossom Features
Check out this SlideShare Presentation:
Apple Blossom Features
View more presentations from AAron EvaNS.
Working on demo / feature description
I'm working on a demo to showcase the features of Apple Blossom in a slideshow that people can see when they go to the site.
I've decided to get this up before running the adwords campaign.
In other words, I'm going to do some more product development before doing customer development because marketing dollars are scare and I want to have more specific and accurate potential customer feedback.
I'm doing this because I'm gaining confidence in the idea, but I should probably be careful and not get too vested in it, in case it turns out that I'm wrong and it's not what people actually want.
I meant to start out with a series of mockup screenshots, but since I've only got one screen designed (the lesson planner weekly view) I thought I'd throw in some illustrative pictures as well. I'd like to have one more technical slide, but am not sure what that would be.
I posted the draft presentation on the company blog and just now uploaded it to slideshare.
(See previous post as well. It looks like slideshare created it's own.)
I was very pleased with it yesterday, but woke up this morning thinking two things.
1. It's not really a demo, more of a feature list.
2. While it's concise, I think I'd like a more personal and detailed description.
But I don't want to bore people. Here's what I came up with to describe what we are doing at Apple Blossom.
I also want to have a personal introduction describing who we are, by name, and introducing our family and goals.
When someone comes to the AppleBlossomLearning.com website, I want them to come to the conclusion that:
These are real people
with an interesting idea
That might help me
I've decided to get this up before running the adwords campaign.
In other words, I'm going to do some more product development before doing customer development because marketing dollars are scare and I want to have more specific and accurate potential customer feedback.
I'm doing this because I'm gaining confidence in the idea, but I should probably be careful and not get too vested in it, in case it turns out that I'm wrong and it's not what people actually want.
I meant to start out with a series of mockup screenshots, but since I've only got one screen designed (the lesson planner weekly view) I thought I'd throw in some illustrative pictures as well. I'd like to have one more technical slide, but am not sure what that would be.
I posted the draft presentation on the company blog and just now uploaded it to slideshare.
Apple Blossom Feature Presentation
View more presentations from AAron EvaNS.
(See previous post as well. It looks like slideshare created it's own.)
I was very pleased with it yesterday, but woke up this morning thinking two things.
1. It's not really a demo, more of a feature list.
2. While it's concise, I think I'd like a more personal and detailed description.
But I don't want to bore people. Here's what I came up with to describe what we are doing at Apple Blossom.
I also want to have a personal introduction describing who we are, by name, and introducing our family and goals.
When someone comes to the AppleBlossomLearning.com website, I want them to come to the conclusion that:
These are real people
with an interesting idea
That might help me
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
TODO List for
Apple Blossom pre-school and home school curriculum software.
Register Domain
1and1Set up DNS & hosting
LinodeEmail setup
Google AppsLogo design
Contest at 99designs
CraigslistHome page with email registrationBlog & Social Media
Wordpress
Blogger
Twitter
Facebook- Tracking
Google Analytics
Feedburner
Technorati - Market Research (IN PROGRESS)
Blogs- homeschoolclassifieds.com
- time4learning.net
- homeschoolingonashoestring.com
- besthomeschooling.org
- letteroftheweek.com
- School of Puerquenos (my wife's home preschooling blog)
- Eclectic Homeschoolers Online
- Confessions of a Homeschooler
- Latter-day homeschooling
- homeschoolblogger.com
Products
SEO
Big Players
Focused Players - Adwords Campaign
- Sample Curriculum
- Feature mockup (IN PROGRESS)
Lesson Plan
Student Progress
Sharing
Collaboration
Curriculum Marketplace - Outreach
bloggers
curriculum writers
home school & preschool organizations - Business Plan
- Development Plan
- Marketing Plan
- Content Creator / Writer
- Web App
Functionality (IN PROGRESS)
MVP scoping
UX
develop iteration 1
make it pretty - Mobile App
Android
IPhone - Beta program
- Go Live
- Feedback & analysis
- Plan iteration 2
Initial Feature List
Along with the Lesson Plan mockup, I created a feature list this morning (this was the part where Sammy wanted me to read to her)
Select from our pre-defined curriculums or create your own. We’re actively looking for curriculum authors to develop their curriculum and publish it on Apple Blossom. If you have an existing curriculum that’d you’d like to share (or sell) we can help you convert it to a format for Apple Blossom users to integrate it into their plans.
Whether it’s a coloring page, a times table worksheet, or an article on the geography of Brazil, materials make the lesson. Share your materials with others and find the right materials to supplement your lessons.
Using your curriculum and materials, you can build daily, weekly, and long term lesson plans. List your subjects, define topics to cover each day, add materials and planning notes, and rearrange your lesson schedule.
You can track your children’s progress completing the curriculum, indicating mastery and scoring grades if you want. Lessons don’t always go as planned, but with Apple Blossom you can keep track of which areas of the curriculum are covered on a given day. You can them go back and cover areas you missed or review topics that could use improved mastery.
You can choose to share your curriculum and materials with others. If you’re a co-teacher (or not homeschooling) you can share children’s progress with their parents.
You can collaborate on curriculum development with others. Use the power of the internet to work together defining curriculums, developing lesson plans, creating learning materials, and reviewing and customizing existing curriculums.
There is a lot of great material out there, but not all of it is free. Apple Blossom plans to offer a secure marketplace for curriculums and materials from learning professionals. If you develop your own curriculum and materials you can license it to others through our marketplace.
This list of features originally posted on the company blog.
Choose a curriculum
Select from our pre-defined curriculums or create your own. We’re actively looking for curriculum authors to develop their curriculum and publish it on Apple Blossom. If you have an existing curriculum that’d you’d like to share (or sell) we can help you convert it to a format for Apple Blossom users to integrate it into their plans.
Gather learning materials
Whether it’s a coloring page, a times table worksheet, or an article on the geography of Brazil, materials make the lesson. Share your materials with others and find the right materials to supplement your lessons.
Develop lesson plans
Using your curriculum and materials, you can build daily, weekly, and long term lesson plans. List your subjects, define topics to cover each day, add materials and planning notes, and rearrange your lesson schedule.
Track student progress
You can track your children’s progress completing the curriculum, indicating mastery and scoring grades if you want. Lessons don’t always go as planned, but with Apple Blossom you can keep track of which areas of the curriculum are covered on a given day. You can them go back and cover areas you missed or review topics that could use improved mastery.
Share with others
You can choose to share your curriculum and materials with others. If you’re a co-teacher (or not homeschooling) you can share children’s progress with their parents.
Collaborate
You can collaborate on curriculum development with others. Use the power of the internet to work together defining curriculums, developing lesson plans, creating learning materials, and reviewing and customizing existing curriculums.
Marketplace
There is a lot of great material out there, but not all of it is free. Apple Blossom plans to offer a secure marketplace for curriculums and materials from learning professionals. If you develop your own curriculum and materials you can license it to others through our marketplace.
This list of features originally posted on the company blog.
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