EduCon 2.4

As an entrepreneur, you must actively and deliberately seek the skills, knowledge and resources needed to succeed. It requires iterative learning, knowledge of self and others, attracting resources, and deliberate action, all of which are universally relevant.
Cultivating this skill set of self-directed, rapid, continual learning through real world feedback results in an educational experience that is immediately applicable and remains relevant for the rest of the students’ lives. In combination with principles and strategies borrowed from the scientific method, rapid prototyping, and lean manufacturing, high school students can build highly successful startups that address real world problems they are passionate about solving.

These concepts are not unique to entrepreneurship but are quite different from traditional business theory. Instead of a focus on maximizing efficiency and profits, which is the function of business, entrepreneurial success rests on proving core assumptions correct or incorrect, thus learning key facts that validate or invalidate a new concept. Therefore, entrepreneurship is truly a learning process that is relevant in all fields and especially in an uncertain economy regardless of career.

In this group, we will discuss the core tenants of the entrepreneurial process as a learning strategy and how to integrate them into classrooms and across subjects. When guided effectively, numerous subjects can be integrated into a single project or business, therefore increasing relevancy, real world application, and understanding. Further, when students select and own the businesses they create, they are intrinsically motivated to pursue further learning.