FOX 2 – A local father and entrepreneur saw a chance to not only help his own kids bridge the gap between tech and learning but also saw a chance to impact others at the same time.
The backstory:
Many private schools and public districts are juggling limited budgets, but one Metro Detroit man sees schools and specifically the technology inside – as a business opportunity.
At Our Lady Queen of Martyrs school in Beverly Hills Michigan, they are doing things a little differently when it comes to their approach to technology in the classroom.
“We are still growing, we are looking into this Minecraft education now. So we just keep getting bigger and better,” said Jennifer Schneider, K-9 technology teacher.
And the problem with technology is there are always problems.
“The iPads were not working and I had lesson plans that I couldn’t teach,” she said.
That’s where Ted Serbinski comes in. He is a parent, software engineer and an entrepreneur who knew how to solve this type of problem.
“iPads in every classroom and then training for the teachers – and then also some training of teachers when he comes to staff meetings,” said Principal Leigh Davidson.
As a parent, Serbinski wanted to see tech that worked for his kids’ education. That meant incorporating apps that kids are drawn to – and not getting slowed down when teachers need tech support.
“If you ever waited on the phone and no one answered – that is the biggest barrier,” Serbinski said. “If you are a teacher and have 45 minutes to teach and you can’t share your computer to the TV or iPad isn’t working, that can disrupt the entire plan.”
As a businessman, Serbinski saw an opportunity. streamline this process not only for his kid’s school, but others.
“My vision is to bring it to over 1000 schools by 2030,” he said.
That vision is Loretta Technologies, a merging of software and AI to help teachers solve tech problems that slow down what they do best – teach kids.
“Our system, our software knows who is asking the question, all the tech in the room, how it’s all configured,” he said. “We have all the context so it’s easy for us to answer.”
The trick is getting others to believe this not only helps the teaching process, it’s necessary.
“This is typically a market that is hard to service because they don’t have a lot of budget, so tell me more about what is going on,” said Jim Simpson, investor in Lorretta Technologies.
Simpson is an investor who believes that Serbinski is truly onto something, even if the customer is the education sector which typically has extremely tight purse strings.
“There are a lot of people who think about problems but when you solve a problem, feel the pain for a couple of years and build something that you don’t have to manage,” he said. “I like to think laziness is the best motivator for making really great things. the less work you have to do the better off you’ll be.”
The company launched in may and so far has raised over $1 million.
The Source: Information for this story is from Our Lady Queen of Martyrs and Lorretta Technologies.