Hibbert got the idea for Karshare after he had a bad experience renting a car in the US. He got money from investors and made a deal with Gatwick Airport. The platform let people rent out their cars when they weren't using them, which helped with parking at the airport. But then, the pandemic happened and travel stopped. This messed up Karshare's business plan. So, they changed things up and let people rent their cars from their homes instead. They also made it easier to rent by using a keyless system.
Sadly, some bad people found a way to use Karshare for illegal things. They figured out how to cheat the system and trick the facial recognition software. This made people worried and caused problems for Karshare. If a criminal crashed a car or said it was stolen, the insurance wouldn't cover it. Karshare tried to fix this by using video recognition and checking IDs randomly, but it was expensive and took a lot of time.
Even though Karshare didn't work out, Hibbert isn't giving up. He knows that failures happen a lot when you're starting a business and thinks it's important to learn from them. He wants to try something new and is interested in sustainable farming technology. He wants to find better ways to feed cattle and use algae as a fertilizer. Hibbert's experience with Karshare shows that sharing economy businesses need to be ready for problems and find ways to fix them.
Original news source: Covid and criminals ruined my Airbnb for cars idea' (BBC)
π Vocabulary:
Group or Classroom Activities
Warm-up Activities:
– News Summary
Instructions:
1. Divide the students into pairs or small groups.
2. Provide each group with a copy of the article.
3. Instruct the groups to read the article and summarize the main points in a news summary format.
4. Each group will then present their news summary to the class.
– Opinion Poll
Instructions:
1. Divide the students into pairs.
2. Provide each pair with a list of questions related to the article.
3. Instruct the pairs to take turns asking and answering the questions, expressing their opinions based on the article.
4. After completing the poll, discuss the different opinions as a class.
– Vocabulary Pictionary
Instructions:
1. Divide the students into small groups.
2. Provide each group with a set of vocabulary words from the article.
3. Instruct the groups to take turns selecting a word and drawing a picture to represent it.
4. The other group members must guess the word based on the drawing.
5. Repeat the process with different vocabulary words.
– Pros and Cons
Instructions:
1. Divide the students into pairs.
2. Instruct each pair to create a list of pros and cons for starting a car-sharing platform like Karshare.
3. After creating their lists, have each pair share their pros and cons with the class.
4. Facilitate a class discussion about the advantages and disadvantages of starting a sharing economy business.
– Future Predictions
Instructions:
1. Divide the students into small groups.
2. Instruct each group to discuss and make predictions about the future of sharing economy businesses like Karshare.
3. Have each group present their predictions to the class.
4. Facilitate a class discussion about the different predictions and their likelihood of coming true.
π€ Comprehension Questions:
Andy Hibbert is an entrepreneur from London. His idea for a business was to create a car-sharing platform similar to Airbnb.
Hibbert started Karshare in 2016. Karshare allowed people to rent out their cars to tourists visiting the UK.
The two big problems that caused Karshare to fail were the Covid-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine.
The pandemic affected Karshare's business plan because travel stopped, which meant fewer people were renting cars.
Karshare tried to fix the problem by using video recognition and randomly checking IDs.
The insurance did not cover the damages because the criminals were able to cheat the facial recognition software and trick the system.
Hibbert reacted to the failure of Karshare by staying positive and looking into a new business venture.
Hibbert's new interest is sustainable farming technology. This shows that he learned from the challenges of Karshare and is now exploring a different industry.
π§βοΈ Listen and Fill in the Gaps:
Andy Hibbert, an entrepreneur from London, had a cool idea to create a car-sharing platform like . He started Karshare in 2016, which let rent out their cars to visiting the UK. The business did well and even partnered with Gatwick . But then, two big problems came up: the Covid-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine. These things caused Karshare to fail. On top of that, there were some criminals who figured out how to use the platform for illegal stuff. This caused more problems for Karshare. Even though things didn't work out, is staying positive and looking into sustainable technology. Hibbert got the idea for Karshare after he had a bad experience renting a car in the US. He got money from investors and made a deal with Gatwick Airport. The platform let people rent out their cars when they weren't using them, which helped with at the airport. But then, the pandemic happened and travel stopped. This messed up Karshare's plan. So, they changed things up and let people rent their cars from their homes instead. They also made it easier to rent by using a keyless . Sadly, some bad people found a way to use Karshare for things. They figured out how to cheat the system and trick the facial recognition software. This made people worried and caused problems for Karshare. If a criminal crashed a car or said it was , the insurance wouldn't cover it. Karshare tried to fix this by using recognition and checking IDs randomly, but it was expensive and took a lot of time. Even though Karshare didn't work out, Hibbert isn't giving up. He knows that failures a lot when you're starting a business and thinks it's important to learn from them. He wants to try something new and is interested in sustainable farming technology. He wants to find better ways to feed cattle and use as a fertilizer. Hibbert's experience with Karshare shows that economy businesses need to be ready for and find ways to fix them.
π¬ Discussion Questions:
1. What is Karshare and how does it work?
2. Have you ever had a bad experience renting a car? How did it make you feel?
3. How do you think the Covid-19 pandemic affected Karshare's business?
4. Do you think it was a good idea for Karshare to change their business plan during the pandemic? Why or why not?
5. How do you think criminals were able to use Karshare for illegal activities?
6. How would you feel if you rented your car on Karshare and it was used for illegal things?
7. Do you think it's important for businesses to learn from their failures? Why or why not?
8. What do you think about Hibbert's interest in sustainable farming technology?
9. What are some problems that sharing economy businesses might face?
10. How do you think video recognition and checking IDs randomly could help prevent illegal activities on Karshare?
11. Have you ever tried a sharing economy platform like Airbnb or Uber? What was your experience like?
12. Do you think it's a good idea to rent out your car when you're not using it? Why or why not?
13. How do you think sustainable farming technology could benefit the environment?
14. Do you think it's important for businesses to be prepared for problems? Why or why not?
15. What other sharing economy businesses can you think of? Do you think they face similar challenges as Karshare? Why or why not?
Individual Activities
ππ Vocabulary Meanings:
Click a dot next to a word, then click the dot next to its meaning to draw a line connecting them.
Words
Meanings
π‘ Multiple Choice Questions:
π΅οΈ True or False Questions:
π Write a Summary:
Write a summary of this news article in two sentences.
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