The following is a guest post from Michael Adams, a passionate entrepreneur and marketing guy at QuizBean, the fun and engaging way to assess student learning. Make your own quiz for free and share it with the world today!
A lot of students want to be entrepreneurs. In fact, according to a January 2013 Gallup poll, 43% of students in grades five-12 want to be entrepreneurs.
Additionally, a number of students have access to a wide array of technology, and major tech hubs like San Francisco, Boston, and NYC are booming.
Additionally, a number of students have access to a wide array of technology, and major tech hubs like San Francisco, Boston, and NYC are booming.
How have the two not come together? Why aren’t we giving students more of what they want?
Let’s give them a taste of entrepreneurship - of coding their own games and tools. Many edtech startups exist to help students learn to code. Codecademy, Code.org, CodeHS, and Treehouse come to mind (plus many more). But, it goes beyond getting your student’s hands dirty with HTML and CSS.
They’ve got to know how to get their projects in-front of more eyes. And for that, students need business skills. Sure, there are businesses classes, but they don’t often get into the nitty-gritty of running a business. They’re simply an overview of basic business principles.
This needs to change. I believe every student should be taught to code and think like an entrepreneur. Here’s why:
1. Give students better critical thinking skills
Entrepreneurs have to think everything through. They need to make sure they address the impact on others, the business, and what an abstract idea means in terms of physical resources. In business, the answer isn’t always B. It could be a mix of A, B, and D. And learning to build a game in PHP offers some of the best critical thinking a student can do.
2. The ability to make quick decisions
Decisions impact people, processes, and profit. Business people must make quick decisions. They don’t muddle on an idea for a week. Execute and fail fast. Then learn - and execute again. This mindset will teach your students a lot more in 4 years than any textbook could. And it happens all the time in programming.
3. Taking risk
Just do it. Many students are afraid to be brutally honest. They’re afraid to take the leap because they think something bad will happen. Chances are, something bad will happen, but your students won’t learn anything unless they try. Being an entrepreneur is about putting your skin in the game and learning a few tough lessons along the way.
4. Building something to show people
The edtech startups I mentioned above provide a great way for students to learn how to code. More importantly, they give students something to show friends, family, and maybe even potential employers down the road. This is a far cry from traditional education, where students only show papers they’ve written or group projects for building bridges out of newspaper. Edtech has changed this. Now, students have the ability to build their own projects, showcase skills, and discover a whole new world of opportunity - thanks to technology and entrepreneurship.
Edtech is spearheading the movement
There are several edtech start-ups helping you incorporate coding into the computer lab. Others assist students and teachers with starting blogs. And, there are even applications to showcase math, science, social studies, and language arts projects, too.
But this is only half the battle. To fully-harness the power of technology in education, I believe there needs to be a component of entrepreneurial thinking. Yes, students need to know english, math, science, history, etc. But they also need to gain the skills to be successful beyond your school’s four walls.
And that’s where edtech and entrepreneurship will revolutionize your classroom. What do you think? Should schools cater more to an entrepreneurial bug when almost 1 in 2 students want to be their own boss?
Author Bio: Michael Adams is a passionate entrepreneur and marketing guy at QuizBean, the fun and engaging way to assess student learning. Make your own quiz for free and share it with the world today! For more information, you can follow QuizBean on twitter @QuizBean.
You can also read the Roundup's complete review of QuizBean
Let’s give them a taste of entrepreneurship - of coding their own games and tools. Many edtech startups exist to help students learn to code. Codecademy, Code.org, CodeHS, and Treehouse come to mind (plus many more). But, it goes beyond getting your student’s hands dirty with HTML and CSS.
They’ve got to know how to get their projects in-front of more eyes. And for that, students need business skills. Sure, there are businesses classes, but they don’t often get into the nitty-gritty of running a business. They’re simply an overview of basic business principles.
This needs to change. I believe every student should be taught to code and think like an entrepreneur. Here’s why:
1. Give students better critical thinking skills
Entrepreneurs have to think everything through. They need to make sure they address the impact on others, the business, and what an abstract idea means in terms of physical resources. In business, the answer isn’t always B. It could be a mix of A, B, and D. And learning to build a game in PHP offers some of the best critical thinking a student can do.
2. The ability to make quick decisions
Decisions impact people, processes, and profit. Business people must make quick decisions. They don’t muddle on an idea for a week. Execute and fail fast. Then learn - and execute again. This mindset will teach your students a lot more in 4 years than any textbook could. And it happens all the time in programming.
3. Taking risk
Just do it. Many students are afraid to be brutally honest. They’re afraid to take the leap because they think something bad will happen. Chances are, something bad will happen, but your students won’t learn anything unless they try. Being an entrepreneur is about putting your skin in the game and learning a few tough lessons along the way.
4. Building something to show people
The edtech startups I mentioned above provide a great way for students to learn how to code. More importantly, they give students something to show friends, family, and maybe even potential employers down the road. This is a far cry from traditional education, where students only show papers they’ve written or group projects for building bridges out of newspaper. Edtech has changed this. Now, students have the ability to build their own projects, showcase skills, and discover a whole new world of opportunity - thanks to technology and entrepreneurship.
Edtech is spearheading the movement
There are several edtech start-ups helping you incorporate coding into the computer lab. Others assist students and teachers with starting blogs. And, there are even applications to showcase math, science, social studies, and language arts projects, too.
But this is only half the battle. To fully-harness the power of technology in education, I believe there needs to be a component of entrepreneurial thinking. Yes, students need to know english, math, science, history, etc. But they also need to gain the skills to be successful beyond your school’s four walls.
And that’s where edtech and entrepreneurship will revolutionize your classroom. What do you think? Should schools cater more to an entrepreneurial bug when almost 1 in 2 students want to be their own boss?
Author Bio: Michael Adams is a passionate entrepreneur and marketing guy at QuizBean, the fun and engaging way to assess student learning. Make your own quiz for free and share it with the world today! For more information, you can follow QuizBean on twitter @QuizBean.
You can also read the Roundup's complete review of QuizBean
