Loving to Teach Those Who
Think Like an Entrepreneur
Consortium for Entrepreneurship Education Forum
Charleston, South Carolina
November 4, 2007
Cynthia Greene
Education Consultant and Author
Cengage/Southwestern Publishing
Company
What are Our Learners Like?
• Generation M Learners
– Born: 1982-1991
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Do they think the same?
Do they value the same things?
Do they learn in the same ways?
Do they want the same type of training?
Media exposure
By age 21, the average person will
have spent
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10,000 hours playing video games
200,000 emails
20,000 hours TV
10,000 hours on a cell phone
Under 5,000 hours reading
– Prensky, 2003
Gen “M” students versus
Baby Boomer Instructors
Comfort zones differ
Students
Multitasking
Pictures, sound, video
Random access
Instructors
Single or limited tasks
Text
Linear, logical, sequential
Interactive and networked Independent and individual
Engaging
Spontaneous
Disciplined
Deliberate
―adapted from Himes, 2004
What can you do to adapt to Gen “M”?
• Make learning interactive and
experiential
• Consider peer-to-peer approaches
• Utilize real-world applications
• Emphasize information literacy in
courses
• Encourage reflection
• Create opportunities for synthesis
• Use informal learning opportunities
The Challenge - Simply Put
• Our kids are spending 6 ½ hours per day using some form of media.
• That’s 44 hours a week plugged in.
– Equivalent to a full-time job plus a little overtime.
• How does the typical teacher engage, motivate, communicate with,
entertain, and instruct a generation of kids raised on 40-plus hours a
week of media recreation?
• A good teacher will design lessons that include three or four different
activities instead of lecturing all period or giving kids handouts to
complete. But how can that compete with a world in which students
have their attention shifted every three seconds by the change of a
camera angle, or swerving action of a video game, accompanied by
swings in plot, color and music?
How Entrepreneurship Can
Motivate Today’s Learner
• Why should entrepreneurship and small
business receive more attention in the
classroom?
– Two-thirds of college students intend to be entrepreneurs at
some point in their careers
• Most business school textbooks stress large rather than small
firm examples
– Individuals with more education are more likely to become
entrepreneurs, and they are more likely to open a business
employing more people
– Classrooms are filled with potential innovators
• Key is to provide necessary skills that will allow them to foster
these talents and start new businesses
Why Study Entrepreneurship?
• Small businesses
– Total approximately 23 million in the United States
• Approximately 75% have no employees
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Represent 99.7% of all employer firms
Employ half of all private sector employees
Pay 44.3% of the total U.S. private payroll
Generate 60 to 80 percent of net new jobs annually
Create more than 50 percent of non-farm, private gross domestic
product
– Are employers of 39% of high tech workers
– Made up 97% of all identified exporters and produced 29% of the known
export value in FY 2001
– Two-thirds of new firms survive at least two years; 49.6 percent for four
years
Need for Hands-On
Entrepreneurship Education
• Gallup Poll Results
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85% of high school students said nation’s schools should do more to teach about
entrepreneurship and starting a business
70% of high school students surveyed expressed a strong interest in starting and
running their own business
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Only 27% reported taking a course that taught about business or entrepreneurship
Highest scores on a test of entrepreneurial knowledge
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To be my own boss
To earn lots of money
To use my skills and abilities
To overcome a challenge
Help community/provide jobs
To build something for the family
Description of an entrepreneur, example of a franchise, and supply and demand
Lowest scores on a test of entrepreneurial knowledge
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Typical way to raise capital, purpose of profits, and small business and job creation
Students Say They Learned Little
or Nothing About . . . .
• How Business works
• Compared to other subjects
– U.S. History
– Science
– English or American Literature
– Mathematics
85%
24%
16%
16%
7%
Put Your Ideas
into Action
• Focus on central concepts and
principles of entrepreneurship
• Involve students in problem-solving
investigations and other meaningful
tasks
• Culminate in realistic products
Why Put Ideas in Action
• Motivate students by engaging them in
their own learning
Before Project
Based Activities
After Project Based
Activities
A Successful Entrepreneur Should Be Three People in One
Entrepreneur
Manager
Technician
The visionary,
the dreamer
The planner,
organizer
The
doer
Craves
control
Sees problems
in events
Likes to be in
charge of work flow
Lives in
future
Lives in
past
Lives in
present
Thrives on
change
Clings to
status quo
Interested in how
to do things
--From THE E-MYTH REVISITED by Michael E. Gerber
Typical Small Business Owner
Entrepreneur
Manager
Technician
From THE E-MYTH REVISITED by Michael Gerber
What does all this mean for
business education?
• Even if students don’t start their own
business, they probably will work for a
small business.
• Small businesses want entrepreneurial
skills
– Ability to engage in creative problem solving
and critical thinking
– Flexible workers who can take on
responsibility and learn new things
Ideas in Action
Basic business
skills
Career interests
Development of a business plan
–Brings together writing, math, speaking,
teamwork, technology use, data analysis
and global awareness
How to Educate Students
• Teach an Entrepreneurship course
• Integrate in existing business courses
• Integrate in other courses
Entrepreneurship Course
• Teach a one- or two-semester course
• Teach basic information students need
• Have students develop a business plan for
a business idea
• Let students start the business
Businesses Are Built With
Ideas
• Business Plans
Build the
Foundation for
Success
– Take students
step-by-step
through the
entire process
of owning their
own business
Create a business plan
as students learn about
components
Get Students Ready to Run Their
Own Businesses
• Businesses are
Built with Ideas
– Students need to
learn how others
took ideas and
turned them into
action
• Use Examples with
Real-World Content
– Successes
– Failures
What to Include
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Should You Become an Entrepreneur?
Entrepreneurs in a Market Economy
Develop a Business Plan
Identify and Meet a Market Need
Market Your Business
Distribution, Promotion, and Selling
What to Include
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Select a Type of Ownership
Locate and Set Up Your Business
Plan and Track Your Finances
Operations Management
Human Resource Management
Risk Management
Management for the Future
Ways to Enhance
Learning
• Provide learning
opportunities that
reinforce and expand
lesson concepts
– Emphasize teamwork
activities
– Highlight the pitfalls of
real entrepreneurs and
include critical thinking
questions to help students
analyze the situations
Assess Student Learning
• End of Lesson
Exercises
– Help students go
beyond lesson content
with questions that
really test their
knowledge
– Provide opportunities for
cross-curricular
reinforcement of lesson
concepts
– Ask students questions
that test their
understanding
School-Based Enterprises
• Precious Memories--personalized
calendars
• Advertising Advocates--marketing the
video yearbook--enrolled in Media Tech
• Accessories--purses, jewelry, etc.
• The Bead Company--bracelets
• Fan Fanatics--customized t-shirts
• Events--Memorable Machines and Vendor
Fair
How to Get Started
• Start-up cash from fund raiser
– Charge for services (copying, printing, etc.)
• Prepare a business plan
• Weekly Work Reports and Work Plans
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Presentations for principal
Make prototypes
Grand Opening
Weekly financial reports
End of Semester Report and Presentation
Integrate in Existing Business
Courses
• Units in courses
– Accounting--Set up books for a business idea
they have
– Computer Applications--Design letterhead,
business cards, and fliers for a business
– Computer Applications--Design a multimedia
presentation about a business idea for a
space in a local shopping mall
– Desktop Publishing—Design a magazine
cover that features a famous entrepreneur
Integrate in Existing Business
Courses
• Marketing
– Make a business plan for a school store
– Design a web page for a business on the
Internet
• Cooperative Education Program
– Teach entrepreneurship to elementary
students
– Complete a unit on entrepreneurship and
market a product
Entrepreneurial Stories
• Gadgetsleeves
– Katelin Shea
– New York
Entrepreneurial Stories
• Jx2 Productions
– Andrew Jensen
– Massachusetts
Entrepreneurial Stories
• LogicLotus
– Omar Faruk
– New York
LogicLotus | Formerly BlueStreamCorp
Entrepreneurial Stories
• Alps Technology
&
• Alps Lawn Company
– Joseph Pascaretta
– Michigan
Inspire Your Students
• Look for stories in your community.
• Share them with your students!
What Students Say About Studying
Entrepreneurship
• How to start a
business
• Learned the
importance of
differentiating their
product/service
• Improved computer
and presentation
skills
• Learned how to find
and use resources
Loving To Teach Those Who Think
Like an Entrepreneur