Developed by Singapore-based GSA Education Technology Group, JotterLab is a web application that aims to help educators better manage and evaluate their students’ online participation on tools that many of these youngsters are already using.
Managing director Jimmy Tan told SGE that he came up with the idea for JotterLab while working on global products and projects with Google.
JotterLab – a teacher’s new best friend?
Designed to complement Google apps, some of JotterLab’s key highlights include:
• Assignment dispatch system: Teachers can now distribute assignments and tasks to students, as well as inform them of deadlines in a database table with just one click. In addition, they’ll also know how many students are present in class after sending out the assignments.
• Workbin widget: No need to spend so much time at the photocopying machine anymore. With this feature, users can upload, share and search for files.
• Global Announcement Facility: Now students won’t be able to say that they didn’t get the memo. With this feature, announcements are sent to various user channels such as Facebook and Twitter as well as a central task center. Not only that, it allows teachers to track whether students have read them or not.
JotterLab also gives teachers a better understanding of how students learn and interact online, thanks to an in-built analytical engine.
Leveraging on social media tools within a collaborative framework
According to Jimmy, what sets JotterLab apart from the rest of its competitors is that it does not aim to replace any social media platform. Rather, it works with the existing players in the market “to give teachers a better idea of what their students are doing within a collaborative framework.”
Integrating with Google Apps.
Integrating with Facebook and Twitter.
Bootstrapped for 2 years
It took Jimmy and his 7-member team close to two years to develop and refine JotterLab and what may come as a surprise to many is that they did it without the help of any angel investors. However with JotterLab progressing to its next stage of development, he tells us that he is currently in talks with various VCs to secure Series A funding.
Refining the product
A participant of IDA’s iStart programme, an initiative set up to help entrepreneurs and developers grow and expand overseas, Jimmy recently had the opportunity to meet entrepreneurs and VCs such as PBWorks’ David Weekly, Tomorrow Ventures and Crescent Financial in Silicon Valley, an experience that enabled his team to fine-tune the product.
Jimmy says, “One thing I learned was that one’s product has to bring value to the user. In the past, there were certain aspects of JotterLab that were not clear and being in Silicon Valley helped us sharpen its direction, competitive edge and focus point.”
Future for JotterLab
Targeted at primary and secondary schools, and junior colleges (K1-12 schools), JotterLab is scheduled for an official launch next April, with a soft launch taking place in January. The latter will kick off with a beta trial involving up to 20 local schools. There is also the possibility of a few overseas institutions taking part in it as well.
Also in the works are plans to introduce JotterLab overseas starting with the US and Europe, followed by schools in Asia, notably those in the region, Korea and eventually, China.
But for now, Jimmy says his current priority is to get the beta trial up and running in Singapore, and to focus on positioning JotterLab in the market and acquiring a customer base.
You can follow JotterLab on its blog and on Twitter.
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