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Last month I shared a funny story about an MVP we developed to test a new feature.The project we tested that feature for was my second app, and it attracted hundreds of thousands of downloads plus a seed investment.My first app was not so successful. Failures are inevitable along the way -- especially in your first business.But this one still bugs me.After designing dozens of other applications for MVPDev clients -- inspired by the visions of some really bright entrepreneurs -- I’m quite certain we wouldn’t run out of money if we could go back. In fact, I think we might have even made a fortune.The backstoryToday I help entrepreneurs determine what features are necessary to test the viability of an idea, what those features should look like in an interface, and how we can bring the vision to life as quickly and inexpensively as possible.This was the project where I learned I had a knack for those things.We built an app for paying cover charges at our college’s local bars. This was an SEC school, so there were about 30,000 students and a good proportion of them partied a lot. There were 10 major bars downtown and on any night of the week you could find one that was packed.It was rare not to be charged $5 or $10 at the door for cover. Usually, that was the bar’s profit, and there were drink specials sold at cost.Cover charges had to be paid in cash. If you didn’t have cash, you would visit an ATM. So we built an app that let you buy covers on your phone with a credit card and we called it Gulp.Gulp V1We hired a recent graduate as our developer for $150/hr. This guy built the Newsy app, which sold for $37m.At the time, we were 19, 20, and 20 in age, respectively. This app cost us all of our money and then some.Determining how users would buy covers and redeem them was my first major UX challenge. In the beginning, users would buy ‘digital covers’ which had a QR code the doormen could scan at the door with their own phone.This method worked well enough to launch, so we did.The launchWe convinced 2 of the 10 bar owners to accept our digital covers to test the viability of our app.We told some friends the app would be available on a Monday night, we spent $75 on facebook ads announcing the app would be available, and we tweeted to our 250 followers that we attracted by word of mouth. The app was not approved by the app store until that afternoon. Just in time!We showed up early, grabbed a booth and some drinks, and waited for the crowds of people to show up to use our new app.Only 25 people had downloaded at this point, but I guess we expected people to download it on their way to the bars. No surprise now -- they did not. It was just us and a few friends.User acquisitionOur failed launch was a wake up call. It’s how we learned “if you build it they will come” is not true.So we implemented a few strategies to market our app:We ran a follow/unfollow twitter bot on our account targeting everyone who followed the accounts of the major bars in our college town. Twitter is where everyone found out about drink specials.A couple of student journalists heard about us, asked to interview us, then published our interviews with links to download our app. So, we offered interviews and news about our app to other student journalists.We went to fraternities and sororities at dinner time. At our school, it was common for people to drop by and pitch in one minute their event or org. We went and pitched our app and left flyers.We worked out deals with one of our partner bars such that people who paid cover with our app would get crazy good drink deals. We had to pay the difference in drink price, but we only further discounted already good deals (ie. $3 pitchers -> $1 pitchers). This created lines around the block.We ‘hired’ unpaid interns -- attractive females -- to hand out flyers in front of the bars.We were getting users for about $1/each blended. In one month, we acquired 2,500 users-- about 25% of the bar-going crowd. We even had some haters (which typically means you’re doing something right).UsabilityAs the app started to pick up steam, we started getting emails saying door guys weren’t accepting their covers. So we went to the door guys to ask why, and they were very candid in saying it’s a pain in the ass to pull out their phone, find their own app, and scan drunk people’s phones.So it was back to the drawing board.Ultimately, we determined that a user wouldn’t redeem a cover on purpose without getting entry in return. So we created a button you would hold for 3 seconds, a yellow bar would fill behind the button over the course of those 3 seconds, and then the cover would vanish.Users would simply redeem the cover in front of a door guy for entry.Problem solved!Retention & MonetizationProcessing these $5 covers cost us $.47 each time.We bore that expense because bars were already hesitant to reduce the amount of cold hard cash they brought in. Plus, customers ability to pay cover by credit card wasn’t a benefit strong enough to attract customers to one bar over another.We charged $5.99, and people knew they were paying an extra $.99 for convenience. A $1 convenience fee was better than $3 at the ATM, and walking to an ATM.Still, we were making just $.52 per cover, and users weren’t sticking. We processed $10,000 in cover purchases, and averaged less than 1 purchase per user.$.52 per use, $1.50 to acquire a user, $15,000 to build the app, and we were out of money (in debt to our parents, even).FailureUltimately, the project failed.Our value proposition wasn’t strong enough.The unit economics didn’t work.We had no other way of monetizing other than ‘ads’, which (1) we had no idea how to implement (ie. sell placements), and (2) we had no money to implement.It was one of those long drawn out failures where you deny that you’re failing for several months. You just sit there and feel stuck & miserable for months on end, rather than chalking it up as an L.As an entrepreneur you’re told never to give up, while simultaneously being told failure is ‘good’ (but it feels horrible in the moment). So you freeze up.It’s hard to identify and execute new ideas in that mindset.What we should have builtBuilding apps for other entrepreneurs has opened my eyes to many new ways of doing things.I’ve reflected on that experience with the knowledge I’ve gained since, and I think I know what we needed to do.At the time, I had no idea what affiliate marketing was, or how referral agreements were structured. What would businesses pay for a customer referral?We should have implemented some combination thereof to gamify our app. Users redeem points for covers, and points could be collected in a number of ways:1) Eating at a particular local restaurant. Getting your haircut at a particular salon. We could have partnered with those businesses and earned money for every customer we sent their way.2) Cost-Per-Action offers (CPA offers; affiliate marketing). Students take surveys in the in-app browser while in class. We get paid as those surveys are completed.3) Online deal redemption (Cost per Acquisition offers; affiliate marketing). Using incentives (the points) to get students to buy products online or sign up for services. Just like those old ‘free xbox’ websites that made you complete a million different offers -- but not as obnoxious.The economicsPoint economics would be structured such that we make 3x or 4x the actual cost of a cover. That way, bars charge us $5/cover but we make $15 to $20 as a student collects enough points to buy a cover.This solves profit and value proposition issues, but there are a few more benefits:1) User acquisition costs become nearly non-existent, as the value proposition is much stronger (free covers), and people refer friends to earn points (which cost us $.25 to $.33 on the dollar).2) We gain leverage in the marketplace. Bars charge us $5/cover in the beginning, but the power dynamic changes when we can control the crowds by (a) advertising or not advertising their deals, and (b) raising or lowering the # of points it costs to buy cover at one bar over another.3) Lower payment processing expense, and higher margin on cash cover purchases.ConclusionDespite losing $5k/each in college and having to endure the pains of failure, building that app was far and away my most valuable experience in college.I don’t think failure is valuable because you learn from failure. I’m not sure you learn anything from failure itself -- it just hurts. But it hurts less the next time. You learn from trying -- from experiencing firsthand.Plus, we landed a ridiculous amount of interviews relative to our peers. We didn’t have great grades -- we barely had time to go to class. But that experience stuck out on our resumes and everyone involved landed great opportunities by graduation.That opportunity taught me never to build anything without a planned path to profitability. I learned to plan out the unit economics of a business and budget accordingly. I learned that every expense is 3x greater than what you plan for, and revenues are always a third of what you project.Lastly, I’ve since found that most good app ideas can be implemented in a way that influences purchasing decisions. Any time you gain leverage over how people spend money, and that spend is significant enough, you’re going to make money yourself.Sometimes you can even charge both sides of the marketplace to make a transaction happen.What do you guys think? Is that how we should have monetized from the start? Or was the business doomed from conception?PS. Many people have asked over the years if they can steal our idea and try to make it work. I’ve always replied with an emphatic ‘yes!’, but no one has followed through. If anyone thinks they can pick this concept up and make it work, go for it! I’m too old and out of touch with college students to make it work now. But I would love to see another student succeed with it at their school (and beyond).

#/r/entrepreneur #reddit

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nchyinotes · 6 years

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How to launch an independent magazine, by Delayed Gratification

February 22 2018

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/how-to-launch-an-independent-magazine-22nd-february-2018-tickets-40937174190?aff=es2

In this class you will:

-Learn how to turn your magazine idea into reality

-Find out how to identify a successful editorial niche

-Understand the nuts and bolts of commissioning writers and designers

-See how to pull together a winning subscription, distribution and marketing plan

-Discover how to survive and thrive beyond the first year

You will leave with a good insight into the independent publishing industry and a strong idea of how to set about launching an independent magazine.

Thoughts: I actually found this event on eventbrite a few months before it happened, sent it to my friend who I knew would be interested (hi Ayesha!) and then forgot about it. Then the day before, she asks if I want to go because her friend cancelled so she had an extra ticket, so I ended up going with her haha. I’ve always been vaguely interested in starting a magazine, and was actually the co-editor of an online art magazine aaaages ago with my online friend (hi Angela!), but was never really serious about it. While some of this information was not new for me (a lot of it overlapped with your typical entrepreneurship/startup advice, ie. finding a niche), the advice that was specific to launching indie magazines (logistics and business aspects) was very useful and interesting, and I really appreciated the numbers they threw in from their own business. Overall, was a very fun and honest look at the business, and the organisers were super friendly. Also left with a free copy of Delayed Gratification (their mag), which was cool to read.

EDITED NOTES

Introduction

Met early 20s in dubai, journalism students, working as time out editors, learnt how to make print mags together / fell in love with it

Went in different directions, and then all ended up back in london at 30

Just over 7 years now

Named independent magazine editors of the year 2017

Most independent magazines are losing if not hemorrhaging money - lots of vanity projects, made as a shop front for creative agencies.

Attrition rate is extraordinary. Intense desire to make them, but the number that make it past issue 2 / 3 is very low.

Lower barriers to entry than ever before - people are used to them, a lot more need for them (solace in print from digital world) + tools are there + there are all these places to sell them now (mag culture!)

Bad news: will probably break your heart, high failure rate, odds are against you, difficult economic model to make work, are not immune to pressures in mainstream press (but don’t face: massive debt built up in 80s/90s for rapid expansion, pensions liabilities, offices)

Were dreamers + journalists: novices at nuts and bolts of making money/funding

90% of success is turning up - determination to keep going even in early years

Maybe expand into documentaries / books in the future

Key lessons

1) you probably shouldn’t launch an independent magazine - sink which you pour your money, dreams, hopes

Brainstorm: Why do indie mags fail?

Not thinking about how you pay for issue 2 → run out of cash v quickly (where frequency comes into it, ie. weekly)

Just getting visibility: Hard to find your audience - with so much competition, etc

Often have expertise in one area, but lack expertise in another function that’s vital to bringing product to market

Content burn out, esp. If you make big commitments (launch with huge interview etc) - second album syndrome? Not to create too many structures that need to be filled in early days.

2) ^ can be overcome with a niche - you need a niche

Fat brad magazine

Terrible people magazine

Slightly foxed, nutmeg (scottish football periodical), mc1r (only about redheads)

Their niche: slow journalism, something to champion

What it did for them:

issue 1 cover was by obama’s hope poster artist (+ issue 5, limited edition posters, interview = all for free)

Content by Interviews (henry kissinger, etc) + writers - because it resonated with them, wanted to support it = can use those people’s credibility to add to theirs

Coverage + press: something to talk about (today program on radio 4: one 6 minute interview got them ~400 subscriptions = able to be condensed and easily explained/summed up)

Could have been slightly more bullish about fast news in the start, should you be worried about alienation??

Brainstorm: A name and niche

Colors magazine - activism & protest issue

Trend (mindfulness) vs Niche

Helps to sort of person we appeal to, what need am i filling that hasn’t been filled, what is my spin

Need to be passionate (committed, reason without a doubt), not egotistical, believe in your idea, ask for help a lot, honest

3) you need to think about the business

Beyond issue 1, what it is to run a magazine business (VAT returns, subscription systems, fb ads)

Frequency & cost

Weekly or monthly is really really fast. Always easier to go from quarterly down, because it shows you’re getting better, etc (awks if you have to go the other way).

Issue 1: 12 pounds, issue 2: 10 pounds.

When setting price for individual issue, what would you charge for a year’s subscriptions? You want to offer subscribers an appealing discount (that you’re not losing on each subscription)

Christmas is key for the indie mag industry - big burst of subscriptions as gifts. So don’t launch in jan or feb lol, christmas run is key, be well established for this! 50+% this year was from last 5 weeks of sales

Don’t launch in summer - nobody gets subscriptions then, more newstands then

Print, digital, or both?

People don’t want to pay for digital issues, not that captivated by complicated stuff you can do on there.

You have to charge VAT + pay percentage to platform for digital copies

People expect to pay less for digital copies

But there are some digital projects that are fascinating - de correspondent (similar premise, crowdfunded, purely digital in dutch, really collaborative / self contained digital ecosystem. / community driven)

Physicality - You can get people to pay for a physical / tangible object that they just don’t for digital, they have relationships with them.

Latterly (weekly newsletter, after building huge online audience for free, now printed publication)

^ merits of this?? Passion project more bc of time sink??

Subscriptions vs newsstand

Subscription systems

Gocardless (pay direct debits)

Chargebee - portal

V difficult to make money out of newsstand sales - 50% of the cover price, 3-6 months after mags are sold, and they generally only sell 60% of the ones you’ve sent them. Treated as marketing for subscriptions.

Not difficult to set them up

In London / UK: Ra&Olly, MMS, Smiths (difficult + unresponsive + dont fulfill, but have a stranglehold on mags in country)

Paid: gold star media (get you in to salons, hotels, airport lounges, etc)

Is your magazine one that a company would like to support? Team up because they really like it

Customer

Site sales: shopify

Fulfilment: newsstand

Adjust your expectations

4) take subscriptions!!

Newsstands are hard

It’s money upfront, will help with print bills, cash flow, etc

Community building

More chances for someone to like someone

Alternatives: Kickstarter, indiegogo (to test out if appetite is there)

Subscription renewals / Direct debits ?

Do not build your business model around advertising, it’s so diffused + competitive, can’t do trackability on print issues

No ads > bad ads

Corporate work - if you prove you can make mags, you can make them for other people too

Magazine as a broader way of selling your skill set

plan for issue 2/3/4 already + worst case scenarios

5) you need to make something special

Making your magazine:

Commissioning editorial content

There are a lot of really good writers out there desperate to work for you

Draw up a commissioning form - rights and responsibilities, deadlines, etc

Approach writers that you like - tell about mag & ask them to pitch OR give them a story and ask them to write it

Longer form + freedom

Always pay! You have a contract, leverage, etc

Editorial pagination * av word count * word rate = commission

First: 10p/word

Now: 25p/word

Industry average: 30p/word

Interviews / verbatim interviews: with an expert in the subject. Get it without having to pay a word rate, take what you need from it, may tighten it up for free anyway when you send it back for approval

Ask people who just brought out a book

Finding a designer - they expect a very carefully designed product

Don’t be afraid to let things evolve - keep moving/changing things around

First issue is not going to be perfect, important thing is that it exists

Look at magazines / things you like + get in touch with them

Have your favorite designer create a template (or a regular design) for you - easier for recent grads etc to follow, at a cheaper price

Design software: considerable expense

Indesign, photoshop - creative suite, expensive monthly. Worth looking at older versions (old DVDs on ebay - work with designer to save it down a version)

Pagination (80-100), size (delayed gratification is too big/wide to fit through most letterboxes, something smaller / standard sizes are better), GSM (cyclical trends), binding (perfect bound, saddle stitch / staples are much cheaper)

Costs of the last issue, excl. Wages (which has come up a huge amount, 7-8k in the beginning bc lots in house and paying less) : 23.8k pounds

West ale ?? printers company

Approach the printers

The only thing that’s going to push your price up is if its special paper they have to order 4 u

You’ll get inundated with calls once you start up

You want a printer that will work around you (missed deadlines or changes post-proof stage)

6) you need to tell people about your mag

Brainstorm: how are you going to get noticed?

Making waves - Print someone controversial, getting into mainstream press

Power of positivity vs negativity (attract passionately negative people? In emails? Lol. prepare yourself for backlash)

Collaborating with influencers / people with followings / associations that make sense / endorsement (within the niche) - genuine

Loving print means embracing digital - lots of new people come from digital content

Weekly newsletter : manageable amount of content, keep engaging (mailchimp), moving people through the marketing funnel

Events - sense of community, benefit for subscribers.

Free is not recommended. Commitment.

Indie mag community - swap inserts in different titles/issues/newsletters, nicer fit, more interest

Podcasts

Questions

Usually print about 1000 copies of issue 1

Issue 0 - proof of concept (rarely done in indie mags)

Limited run projects - must be pitched to advertisers / subscribers before hand as such (will probz break ur heart at issue 6)

#entrepenuership #publishing #2018 #london #media #event

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cashsyyq038-blog · 6 years

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WHO Recognizes Video Gaming Addiction As Mental Disorder

Dark moments have surrounded the Personal computer gaming market. Welcome to now we'll be counting down our top picks for the ten best years in gaming history. As computing resources continued to expand over the remainder of the decade through the adoption of period sharing and the advancement of simpler high-level programming languages like BASIC , a growing number of college students started programming and sharing basic sports, puzzle, cards, logic, and board video games as the decade progressed. The "Brown Box" could be programmed to play a number of games by flipping the switches along leading of the machine, as can be seen in the picture. This brings classic slot video games from arcades to the modern mobile player. Luckily, enjoying these traditional games of yesteryear is very easy because of emulators. The Verge's gaming section brings the most recent gaming news, reviews of the very most interesting releases, and interviews with the industry's biggest names.|Just how do the NES and SNES traditional run all those retro games? In 1983, the ultimate game that Shaw completely programmed and designed herself, Happy Trails, released simply as the gaming market crashed. However, video game consoles are preferred because they're cheaper. The Wii U gamepad isn't honestly that bad, and most the video games I perform on that system I enjoy with the pro controller in any case. Indeed, it's even more a case of finding the time to game than weighing up what to play, therefore i wish you the very best of luck to make those tough choices. As the first console with a built-in modem for Internet support and on-line play, it was at first successful, but sales and reputation would start to fall. What began a custom ROM project that later on gave rise to a whole smartphone and electronics company, the MIUI is one of the biggest success tales of days gone by decade.|Aside from the pointlessly short controller cables, the only other complaint we have with Nintendo's NES Classic Edition can be that it only includes 30 classic games. Classic coin-operated games have largely become the province of devoted hobbyists and as a tertiary attraction for some businesses, such as concert halls, batting cages , miniature golf courses, and arcades attached to game stores such as for example F.Y.E. The annual gamescom in Cologne in August is the world's leading expo for video games in attendance. Embrace the continuing future of video gaming with the PS4 Slim & PS4 Pro at GameStop. With innovative Joy-Con controllers, a continuously developing library of fun video games, and a great collection of accessories, the Switch is a warm commodity since its start for good reason. I fell off the Nintendo hype teach sometime through the Nintendo 64's lifespan and only Sony's PlayStation. You think multi-player mobile game development is the discovery of latest generation?|The market has come a long way, however, not everything was always smooth sailing when you look back again at gaming history. Oh, last thing to mention, I don't like console that very much because in this console vs Computer war, a whole lot of gaming console supporters are fan males. Consoles are some of the most popular devices for gaming, aswell as for alternative activities , especially among global gamers aged 25 to 34 The mass selling point of consoles predates the introduction of the widespread home computer, as the initial video system, Magnavox Odyssey, was released in the first 1970s in the usa. A PC that is sufficient for running the most recent games can easily cost twice that much. Survival Games ,” a competitive take on the game modeled following the Hunger Games movies, gained popularity now there, and that community spread the idea to others. The online multiplayer games are similar to sports- ie, on the web shooters to name the biggest 'type' of on-line multiplayer game.|The nexus 5 came out in 2013, which was one of the best phones of that year, for the reason that was because this is a mobile phone that google helped create. 26 By that season the computer gaming marketplace required over from the system market following a crash of this year; computers offered equal gaming capability and, since their simple design allowed games to take complete order of the equipment after power-on, they were nearly as simple to start using as consoles. The Personal computer is in a good spot-probably the very best it's ever been, and improving all the time. At least, he looks like he'll become playing the function of a mentor - Kratos is a dad right now (and there'll apparently become some conversation as the participant using both Kratos and his boy). Handheld electronic games had been popular for greater than a decade by enough time Nintendo introduces the overall game Boy. With music like Rednex playing Cotton Eyes Joe, and our gaming consoles desperately trying to let us play games over the internet, the 90s is a little awkward.|Todd Rogers may not be a household name but he's certainly popular among speedrun enthusiasts and those who monitor retro gaming records. 1 There are many types of video game consoles, including home gaming consoles , handheld game consoles , microconsoles and dedicated consoles Although Ralph Baer experienced built working video game consoles by 1966, it had been nearly a decade before the Pong game made them commonplace in regular people's living rooms. Ned Blakley and Matt Fico possess spent the bulk of the past five months in an area filled with arcade games-and they didn't actually need any tokens. %displayPrice% at %seller% For the uninitiated, The Old Republic is an MMO that occurs thousands of years just before the events of A FRESH Hope. For PC gamers it's all about customizing, optimizing and upgrading. Did we point out that gaming consoles are costly too? Vintage video games from that era are the electronic equivalent of what classic vehicles or good China are to old generations.|A lot more than 30 years after Atari popularized the interchangeable video game cartridge, gaming-software sales top $33 billion annually, with the global industry value higher than $100 billion. It's filled with PS3 classics like Uncharted 2 and Fallout: New Vegas, however the PS4 game selection is weak, so it is worthwhile only if you would like to play older video games. Taito released this game in 1978 as Space Invaders. FireHound is a Custom ROM developed concentrating on Stability + Features. Nintendo remained the lone hold-out, using cartridges because of their Nintendo 64 system; the company did not transition to optical mass media until 2001's GameCube SNK still released video games on the cartridge-structured Neo Geo until 2004, with the final official release getting Samurai Shodown V Special Nintendo's handheld consoles, meanwhile, continued to make use of cartridges due to their faster loading instances and minimal equipment for data reading being beneficial for playing video games in a nutshell, several-minute intervals.|Pricey but essential, may be the case for some game consoles. The PlayStation 2 (PS2) represents a substantial change in the idea of game consoles. He informed Polygon that he would prefer that clinical study of gaming addiction examine specific mechanisms in a few games that could be problematic,” such as for example loot boxes. Syd Bolton has been around love with video gaming since the start of Pong and provides been involved in the industry in various methods since its inception. If you're not used to video games - or want to expose the form to somebody - there's something to become said for starting with the classics. During the 1980s, gaming computer systems, early online video gaming and handheld LCD video games emerged; this period was affected by the video game crash of 1983. This Complete Edition includes the original console game, in addition to all of the DLC content, therefore newcomers have a large number of hours of action to understand.|Since its launch, the $35 Raspberry Pi mini-computer provides been hailed as an ideal all-in-one retro game system. The beastly system came with a pack-in cartridge which, like the various other three cartridges released, held three games. There's no two ways about it: A decently powerful Personal computer can display better graphics than its console brethren. His first design, called the Brown Package, allowed users to play several different games on a typical television set, including ping pong game (presaging Atari's Pong), without requiring a pc, microprocessor, or software. They're beautiful wonderlands of great experiences, but it's hard to dive right into a 10 to 20 hour Mario game another time when I've currently played the levels to loss of life trying to gather everything once. 7 It had been in this environment that the initial video gaming were born. Since gaming PCs currently produce the highest framerate and highest quality, picking the very best gaming console comes down to several factors including its design, features, and game library.|As someone who was created in the 1980s, I experienced the golden age of video games. In addition to access for online multiplayer games, you get free Games with Gold” on a monthly basis, as well as discounts on additional Xbox purchases. Accessories such as for example batteries, cables and chargers have a one month the phone is faulty within one year (counted from the time of delivery), customers can send them back for free repair. We see the release of Super Nintendo, Mortal Kombat, Warcraft: Orc & Human beings for PC, the initial Sony PlayStation, and the Nintendo 64. Most video gaming enthusiasts will concur that although we didn't realize it at that time, that the release of the Sony PlayStation would go on to revolutionize the whole gaming industry. Keep the main ROMs and the Software Lists in folders of their very own. Dominate from your living area with PS4 and Xbox One headsets and controllers made for total console supremacy.}

{AOSP ROM for Redmi {Note|Notice|Take note|Be aware} 4 which {most of|the majority of} the people use {on their|on the} devices and {if you are|in case you are} one such {person who|one who} loves manual customization {in their|within their} devices, {then the|then your} AOSP ROM {would be|will be} the best option {for you to|that you should|so that you can|that you can} try. Bundles {may include|can include} both digital and physical {media|press|mass media} games along with {accessories|add-ons|components} {such as|such as for example} specialty controllers {needed for|necessary for} a specific {type of|kind of} gameplay. So, in response {to this|to the} tension, the denizens "In the exhibition you can {play|perform|enjoy} 14 different games," Koch said. Although it's still {an Early|an early on} Access game, Fortnite {has a|includes a} lot {going for|choosing} it, including approachable gameplay modes, {bright|shiny} and zany {graphics|images}, and {an excellent|a great} construction system. Examined {directly|straight} from a cartridge {does not have|doesn't have} an iNES header, but ROMS {do|perform}, since this header was {meant to|designed to} {tell|inform} the iNES emulator {how to|how exactly to} interact with {the rest of the|all of those other} game's code.|Computers are getting {a little more|a bit more} user-friendly, but eventually, every {PC|Personal computer|Computer} gamer encounters some {technical|specialized} complication that {interferes with|inhibits} their {gaming|video gaming}, be it a {device|gadget} driver {that needs|that requires} updating or {components|parts|elements} that are incompatible. MAME Extras provides {game|video game} icons, emulator overlay {images|pictures}, {information about|details about|information regarding} the emulated {system|program} in play (i.e. the ‘about this emulator' {text|text message}) and cheat POKEs that {enhance the|improve the} MAME user {experience|encounter|knowledge}, and {other|additional|various other} interesting stuff. PCs {have some|involve some} different advantages, you can {customize|personalize} {your PC|your personal computer}, the visuals are sharper and {more|even more} life-like, peripherals are http://rpg-rom.com/zelda-ocarina-of-time-rom {more|even more} accurate {than a|when compared to a} console, {and you can|and you may|and you will|and you could} modify your games. Halo 2 {is|is usually|is definitely|can be|is certainly|is normally} released for Xbox to an eager {audience|target audience|viewers|market}.|{There is also|Addititionally there is} an "Indie {Games|Video games}" section where small-{time|period} developers {can buy|can purchase} a license and {release|launch|discharge} their {own|personal|very own} games onto {the marketplace|industry}. The history of {video games|video gaming} goes {as far back as|dating back to} {the early|the first} 1950s, when academics {began|started} designing simple {games|video games}, simulations, and artificial {intelligence|cleverness} programs {as part of|within} their computer science {research|study|analysis}. 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careergrowthblog · 7 years

Text

Priority One: Improving the Quality of Teaching.

The dominant issue in delivering a great education to all young people in a school or college is to ensure that they are being taught well, by someone with the confidence, knowledge and skills required, relevant to the school/college context, in every lesson. Recruiting, retaining and developing great teachers should be a total frontline priority. It already is for Headteachers; I’m less sure about governments.

Imagine that the quality of teaching is a product of three factors: Q=XYZ.

X= Professional knowledge: Subject knowledge, pedagogical content knowledge

Y = Personal qualities – assertiveness, presence, ability to form relationships, capacity to demand rigour, set standards.

Z = Experience: confidence; informed wisdom.

(Non-linear scales – and let’s not be too literal!)

All teachers have a range of strengths in each area; better teachers have a stronger overall combination; improving as a teacher might involve a focus on one particular factor – and all teachers can improve. Embedded in this is the distinction between expertise and experience. Some people have a low Z but compensate with a bigger Y. Increasing Z will usually, in turn, improve both X and Y.

The difference it makes when you have confident, knowledgeable staff is massive – as any Headteacher or student knows. Ideally you want a balance of experienced and expert staff leading and supporting those who are in the early stages of their careers, learning the craft. Where a gap is being filled by someone who is less than ideal, everything is harder. Where Y is strong, you can work hard to support someone to improve X as their Z increases. Where Y and Z are very low, no amount of X can fully compensate so you need to work doubly hard. The key is to have strong professional development processes in place that help to secure these improvements.

At school level imagine that the quality of teaching as a whole is represented by the temperature in a water tank. The temperature will depend on:

a) the net flow of hot water into the system compared to the flow out.

b) the effectiveness of the internal heating mechanism.

To increase the temperature in the tank, which is your goal, you have to:

Create conditions that allow hotter water to enter the system to begin with (to recruit the strongest recruits you can)

Minimise how much hot water leaves the system (reduce the number of good teachers who leave)

Maximise the effectiveness of the heating system: this, in turn, is a product of the quality of the exchange mechanism and the time the incoming water spends in contact with it. (ie running effective professional development).

The same applies to the education system as whole – and I don’t think this gets nearly enough attention.

In order to increase factor Z we need teachers to stay in the system; we need to reduce the flow of good teachers out of the system. Creating the conditions that do that would also help to increase the inward flow of high calibre recruits; to raise the quality of the teaching pool. If we’re doing that, we have a better chance that our staff development programmes can actually work – and of course, good staff development is part of creating the conditions to stem the flow of good people out of the system.

It feels to me that the academisation of the system and all the exam reforms that have dominated the educational landscape for the last decade – even if we accept the case that they have been positive, necessary reforms – have actually been a major distraction from addressing the most important feature of school improvement: the quality of teaching. If this issue had been addressed successfully in the last 10 years, we would have more competition for teacher training, more competitive fields for teaching posts, fewer teachers leaving the profession and we wouldn’t be desperate to find ways to reduce the thresholds for joining the profession.

The outrageous top-heavy centralised accountability culture that permeates our system – from the ongoing intensity of unproven inspection methods and the associated data machinery that drives school policy making to the dominance of ‘performance management’ over ‘professional development’ in far too many schools – is responsible, in my view, for de-professionalising teaching to a depressing degree. We’ve increased pressure in our tank but only succeeded in creating an environment that drives people away instead of focusing on raising teacher quality through creating the professional culture that incentivises people to join, to learn, to improve and to stay for the long run.

Are we in a better state than we were 10 years ago? I don’t think we are. I don’t see it. I can’t think of anything Ofsted or DFE has done to help – ( I don’t fall for the workload PR and SLT blaming that goes on). Is it any more attractive now to work in a challenging school than it was 10 years ago? No. Is it any easier to sustain a career with a strong professional learning culture? No. Is teaching as a whole a more attractive profession to join than it was 10 years ago? No. I see schools with far too many posts filled with low-Z staff; people keen to learn but who don’t have enough high-Z people around them to learn from. It’s hard for them and it’s hard on their students.

We are where we are – but I would suggest that our system would be improved dramatically if, from now on, all government policy and Ofsted reform was focused exclusively on supporting schools working towards these goals:

Providing excellent professional learning in every school – real, deep, built-in, sustained professional learning, not the Big Stick approach that is still so pervasive

Incentivising teachers to stay longer in the profession – looking at pay, pay progression, radical action on workload, far greater professional autonomy around curriculum design, radically rethinking inspection

Attracting many more people to join the profession – those with the best chance of developing the maximum XYZ combination in the long term: designing a career structure and professional identity that is regarded as high quality, high status, high reward.

If any policy change doesn’t support these goals, we should ditch it or resist it.

Priority One: Improving the Quality of Teaching. published first on http://ift.tt/2uVElOo

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