Marques Herrington With Edusophic Curriculum Development and Solutions

Intro: [00:00:04] Broadcasting live from the Business RadioX Studios in Atlanta, Georgia. It’s time for Atlanta Business Radio brought to you by on pay built in Atlanta. OnPay is the top rated payroll and HR software anywhere. Get one month free at unpaid. Now here’s your host.

Lee Kantor: [00:00:31] Lee Kantor here, another episode of GSU ENI radio, and this is going to be a good one today on the show, we have Marques Herrington with Edusophic Curriculum Development and Solutions. Welcome.

Marques Herrington: [00:00:45] Hey, how are you doing today?

Lee Kantor: [00:00:47] I am doing well, I’m so excited to learn what you’re up to. Tell us about your business. How are you serving, folks?

Marques Herrington: [00:00:53] Well, you know, for one, you know, I’m from this the Atlanta, Georgia, area. And you know, as a teacher of 14 years or so, I’ve come up with this company to address the disconnect between a lot of educational curricula and pedagogy and strategies and the actual local communities that present themselves with the children there. So education is kind of a connect where we want to leverage technology, specifically virtual reality platforms, to do this kind of work to kind of create and design and construct curriculum that addresses this gap.

Lee Kantor: [00:01:32] So now, who is the buyer of your service, is it the educational institutions or is it the consumer?

Marques Herrington: [00:01:41] Right. So we want to direct this towards school districts, obviously. I know oftentimes it’s difficult to kind of get in school districts just because of kind of the standardized thing and making sure that things are aligned according to the standards. So in addition to school districts, we also want to look at after school programs. We want to look at charter schools, is going to look at private schools just basically any place that has kind of this, this educational component to them.

Lee Kantor: [00:02:10] So now walk me through, say I am say I own a private school and you come to me and you go, Hey, I got this great idea. So pitch me on it. Tell me how it works and why I should be considering it.

Marques Herrington: [00:02:25] So, hey, this is this is exotic. And basically what we would do is we would come to you. I have a research team that will come and we would just talk about, Hey, you know, what are some challenges that you’re having within the community and what kinds of of curricular things can we do to connect what’s going on in the classroom, which oftentimes is a traditional one size fits all deal to more of a localized, customized curriculum? And what we do is we provide this on an immersive VR platform, right? So all of the things that you might be dealing with, especially in this time of COVID, where kids are disengaged and they’re just interested and there’s a lot of lag and there’s a lot of space where kids are behind instructional league. Ok, you now get the opportunity to have these experiences, which bring your kids back up to speed. It’s an engaging experience. And of course, we’re the ones designing it based upon our collaboration, not necessarily a collaboration of some other textbook or some other curriculum approach that has nothing to do with your local conditions.

Lee Kantor: [00:03:33] Now is is some of the learning going to be kind of the nuts and bolts of learning like math and English and science? Or is it more kind of the social sciences? Is it more the softer things like what is the like? What are my students going to learn specifically? Or are they going to learn math better because of this?

Marques Herrington: [00:03:55] Got you. So what we’re doing is we’re using engineering as a foundation, right? So the idea is to come up with solutions that are local to communities and in that we offer or then add in the relevant mathematics that goes with that. So if I need the plot lines and those speed rates or, you know, whatever rate I need, for example, then then that will become a part of that. We’re also writing in this whole language, language arts and writing component, right? Because I think the misnomer with engineering is the fact that you don’t have to write or communicate what you’re doing to other groups of people or other factions of people. So then there’s a there’s a there’s a there’s a part there where we can say, OK, let’s go ahead and do some writing in terms of proposals. Ok, so so the other thing the other thing about this is is that these things that students will be coming up with, let’s say the proposals, for example, they can go to state officials and actually propose some of this stuff.

Lee Kantor: [00:04:57] So then like when you say it’s kind of customized to the environment, it’s so like if I was in a maybe a farming part of the country, then the examples and maybe the kind of the the immersion would be farm oriented because that’s what those folks are doing as opposed to somebody that’s maybe in an urban setting would be more of kind of a city type environment, and those would be the examples.

Marques Herrington: [00:05:25] Absolutely. So for example, you know, I found this out just recently. Georgia is number five in the world, right? In terms of chicken production, we’re talking about, you know, cutting the chicken and packaging it and all this kind of stuff, right? So I’m in the process of partnering with Georgia Tech. Georgia Tech has a VR thing going on over there, but what they’re doing is they’re looking at ways to troubleshoot some of the issues that that that are happening. So say, for example, with packaging chicken, right? You know, you have to have 20 people in there per line. One hundred people, you know, at some plant and they have to cut the chicken. They have to process it, use a long hours. So we’re trying to figure out how to bring in some type of robotic sense or or something where we don’t have as much human labor in this case. So what Georgia Tech is doing there is they’re interfacing experts. It could be scientists, you know, they could be there all across the country. They’re interfacing these, these these experts with in a VR kind of way, right? With the with the robots that can then do this work. So for example, this would be how you would go and use a VR platform to kind of address some, some some challenges. So we’re we’re we’re in the process off of this trying to figure out, well, how can we then kind of translate this into more of an educational setting for engineering students?

Lee Kantor: [00:06:58] Right. So then I mean, I definitely see a place for it, especially with the remote learning, because a lot of students engagement levels are probably at all time lows in terms of them them, you know, even dealing with other people in their class, it’s just almost impossible nowadays. It really takes an effort that is, maybe it’s just not engaging enough so I can see the value there is. Do you think that this is also suited for those businesses? So as a training tool, you know, outside of the, you know, the typical young student, but maybe the adult learner to helping them train and immerse themselves in this type of knowledge and learn faster?

Marques Herrington: [00:07:44] Oh, absolutely. And I think the trend that we’re realizing here is we’re moving towards a more of a digital world, right? It’s already started where our smartphones and then of course, with COVID, you know, teachers had to learn how to leverage virtual learning and virtual technology. So we’re moving towards that. Ok, the next the next best thing on that track is the virtual reality component. And I think because of the fact it is an immersive experience where you’re able to kind of and this is for kids and parents are like to kind of block out those distractions and be immersed in a world where they can be creative and have this experience right where they’re able to engage, you know, with interactive objects and do that kind of thing. I think it’s definitely going to serve this purpose and be an advantage moving forward for, you know, again, students and parents and adults and kids alike to really use this as a powerful learning tool.

Lee Kantor: [00:08:44] Now, a lot of folks are struggling with just having the equipment they need and the resources they need to just have an online experience in this remote world that we’re kind of playing around with. How do you kind of deal with that, where this requires even more technology and more actual physical equipment?

Marques Herrington: [00:09:05] Very good question. See, and the thing about that is we definitely want to target or present the VR as kind of like the centerpiece, right? But this does not negate other what we call ad tech platform approaches. So it really depends upon what level of technology you’re dealing with. Some, like you said, are ready to go to that VR next level. Some schools and some organizations are just like, Whoa, we’re just getting to, you know, Google sites or whatever this simple edtech platform may be. So we’re willing and we’re and we’re definitely able to kind of address that whole spectrum of technology.

Lee Kantor: [00:09:47] So now what stage of a business are you at now like? Conceptually, it sounds very strong and and you’re very persuasive. Or do you have are you being tech? Seeing this anywhere, has anybody raise their hand to say, Hey, you know, let’s we’ll be the guinea pig for this?

Marques Herrington: [00:10:02] A good question. So because of the nature of where I work, I work at a museum in Atlanta, Georgia, and because of the fact that I’m no one able to create these programs to go out into DeKalb County schools and then no two kids come to the museum and we’re able to create programs there. So I have absolute autonomy to be able to create stuff. So to answer your question, I’ve already been beta testing. I have a group of ninth grade engineering students and a lot of these things, these concepts in terms of of of community value and trying to circulate that community value and then using these tools. We’ve just got some VR headsets in that not too long ago, we’ve been dealing with coding and robots and that kind of thing. So this process is already in motion. And, you know, I’ve gotten some feedback and I’ve and I’ve gotten some results so far.

Lee Kantor: [00:10:56] So everything looks positive, and you’re just looking to kind of roll it out into more environments.

Marques Herrington: [00:11:01] Yes, absolutely. So it’s a thing of where we’re now trying to say, OK, well, we know that coming back in schools from COVID 19 and its break that we’ve had, right, we’re going to be reconceptualize in education as we move forward. What does that look like and then how does VR come into play in terms of being able to take advantage of this time where we now may have more, more efficient and more effective means by which to reach meet the needs of our kids?

Lee Kantor: [00:11:33] So now how did you get involved with the Main Street Entrepreneurship Seed Fund?

Marques Herrington: [00:11:37] Well, I am a current doctoral student there. I’m a fifth year doctoral student and my background, of course, is in math education. So I just happen to kind of start this company just feeling like it’s time. It’s just time to do it right. And you know, I get the emails, you know, so I happen to see, you know, the Mainstream Entrepreneurship Fund email saying that this is what they were looking for. So, you know, as I say, I just shot my shot, you know, and here we are.

Lee Kantor: [00:12:12] So now what have you gained from going through the program?

Marques Herrington: [00:12:15] Oh, wow. Just the the knowledge of all of the things that you have to be cognizant of in order number one to run a business, all the things in terms of the accounting part of it, the customer discovery, part of it, the pitching, part of it and all of these things coming together to be able to to run a viable business and be knowledgeable about all parts of it.

Lee Kantor: [00:12:42] So now any advice for other folks that are in that startup mode that have an idea but haven’t really taken the leap yet? Any advice for those folks to, you know, maybe gather the courage and resources to take the leap?

Marques Herrington: [00:12:57] Absolutely, and the number one thing is, is to trust yourself. I know that may sound cliche, you know, but the idea is, is that once you get going and once you are showing that momentum, then you’ll have what people who can help you along the way and who will help you along the way will start to see you and start to gravitate towards you. And you’ll notice that doors that you didn’t even know were there. It will start to be open for you. So absolutely.

Lee Kantor: [00:13:30] And if somebody wants to learn more about this project, is there a website or what’s the best way to connect with you? It maybe through LinkedIn or through some social platforms,

Marques Herrington: [00:13:40] They can contact me through email. Right now, I’m in the process of getting the website or the final website kind of ready to go and that happen in a matter of another week or so. But for right now, if you want to hit me at Aju Sapphic, that’s Edu. So I see at gmail.com you can get in touch with me and we can. We can chat, we can talk.

Lee Kantor: [00:14:04] Well, congratulations on all the success you’re doing. Important work and we appreciate you.

Marques Herrington: [00:14:08] Thank you for having me today.

Lee Kantor: [00:14:10] All right, this is Lee Kantor. We’ll see, y’all next time on GSU. Any radio.