This learning sequence is designed for a Year 7 economics and business class and is based upon the ideas presented in my extended curator’s insight for the Entrepreneur videos on the Khan Academy website (Khan Academy, 2017). The unit of work is designed around the specific behaviours and skills that entrepreneurs possess and how these contribute to a successful business. The aim of the unit is for students to apply their knowledge and become successful entrepreneurs. This involves students creating a business plan which can be presented to an investor for consideration.
The learning sequence directly links to the Year 7 economics and business Australian curriculum. One of the key inquiry questions for the curriculum is ‘how does entrepreneurial behaviour contribute to a successful business?’ (Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority [ACARA], n.d.). The associated content descriptor is ACHEK019 – Characteristics of entrepreneurs and successful businesses (ACARA, n.d.). I also anticipate that my learning sequence will assist students to develop the following economic and business skills: · ACHES021 – develop questions about an economic or business issue or event, and plan and conduct an investigation or project. · ACHES022 – gather relevant data and information from a range of digital, online and print sources. · ACHES025 – apply economics and business knowledge, skills and concepts in familiar and new situations. · ACHES026 – present evidence based conclusions using economics and business language and concepts in a range of appropriate formats, and reflect on the consequences of alternative actions. Source of points: (ACARA, n.d.)
The following general capabilities (ACARA, n.d.a) are also developed as part of this learning sequence: · Literacy: Students use subject specific language and manipulate meaning using language. · ICT capability: students use ICT as an investigative and creative tool. They are aware of intellectual property regulations as well as how to use ICT in a safe and ethical manner. They plan, organise and create data with ICTs. · Critical and creative thinking: students develop creative ideas and solutions to a problem. They apply knowledge to new contexts and analyse courses of action to make a decision. Students develop enterprising behaviours such as negotiation. · Personal and social capability: students work collaborative and develop personal and interpersonal skills. They develop their capacity for self-management and learn to direct their own learning. · Ethical understanding: students evaluate findings about consumer choices and make informed decision based upon this.
ICT is integral to this learning sequence as it provides a framework for students to engage in higher order thinking, genuine collaboration, student-led learning, opportunities for creative and critical thinking and an authentic context. Additionally, ICT is used at both the modification and redefinition levels of the SAMR Model as the technology allows for the creation of new tasks which would not have been possible otherwise.
Prior to commencing this learning sequence, students have covered the content required for this unit of work. Students have been explicitly taught the behaviours and skills that entrepreneurs possess and how these contribute to a successful business. Students have developed their subject specific vocabulary and are able to confidently understand and use these in the learning activities. Students have also been explicitly taught the steps involved in creating a business plan and what research and development should be undertaken initially to test feasibility of the product or service.
Phase 1
Students will be introduced to the assessment phase of their entrepreneurship unit of work. Having completed the content in past weeks, students are informed that they are now being given the opportunity to become entrepreneurs themselves and create a business plan that will be presented to an entrepreneur / business investor.
The teachers will split the class into groups of 3. They will be mixed ability groups to allow for diverse perspectives within the group and also for students to develop interpersonal skills that enable teamwork, negotiation and conflict resolution.
The teacher wants to encourage the students to be excited and inspired by entrepreneurial behaviour as well as ensuring the students can link the topic to a real-world context. With this in mind, students will be watching videos from the Khan Academy: Interviews with entrepreneurs (Khan Academy, 2017) series. Each group will be assigned two or three short videos and asked to view the videos and identify information relevant to being a successful entrepreneur.
The teacher will then facilitate a group discussion amongst the class where students share their prior knowledge plus additional information they have extracted from the videos. The teacher will create a class mind map using https://bubbl.us/. This will create a graphic representation of the ideas from the class and ensure that all students are starting their assignment with the same basis of knowledge.
Once the class mind map is complete, the teacher will embed it into the classroom website so that students can access the information at any point throughout the assignment. The website also contains the assessment information and criteria sheet so students can see what they are aiming towards and manage their learning and progress appropriately.
Phase 2
The teacher requires that by the end of this phase, each group can show a Wiki page with their problem statement plus what steps and information the group will need to come up with a solution.
At this point, before students start their individual work, the teacher leads a class discussion about the consideration of legal, safe and ethical practices when using ICT tools. The teacher advises students to check the permission levels of their wiki page to ensure that only group members can make edits.
Students are now required to work in their allocated groups to discuss the assignment question and break it down into its significant parts. Students should collaborate on a wiki page that they create for this purpose. The teacher should ensure that they have access to each group’s Wiki page so they can monitor the progress of the discussions and also each member’s contribution.
The teacher is looking to see that each group has a genuine understanding of the problem and the steps that they need to take to get to the end result. This content has been taught in previous lessons so this phase requires students to apply this knowledge to a new context. In regards to the business plan, the teacher is looking for steps such as devise a product, undertake market research and explore competitors.
The students should discuss what they know plus what they need to know to come up with a solution to the problem. They should also discuss their individual strengths and capabilities and a rough timeline for completing the tasks required.
Phase 3
Before students begin their individual research, the teacher has arranged skype video calls with local entrepreneurs for each of the groups. These entrepreneurs have agreed to talk to their allocated group at various intervals throughout the assignment to provide direction and authenticity. The students will also be sending their final business plan to this local entrepreneur for feedback at the end of the unit of work.
Before the skype calls, students are given time to develop inquiry questions to ask their entrepreneur and are encouraged to focus on questions that will assist in development of their assignment.
The teacher reminds students to model safe and ethical practices while on the skype call and to end the video call and alert the teacher if inappropriate behaviour occurs.
Students add notes from their video call to their assignment Wiki and begin their primary research.
The teacher has provided a list of multimodal resources on the class webpage to assist students in finding appropriate research.
Phase 4
Students have developed their initial ideas regarding using their entrepreneurship skills to create a successful business. Before moving further with their assignment, the groups must complete market research to determine if their product or service will meet the needs of their target market.
To do this, students will be emailing a PowToon animation (www.powtoon.com) plus a survey to a pre-arranged group of people. The teacher has arranged for other classes in the school to receive these emails and complete them for the business and economic students. Students can also send the market research emails to their family and friends.
Students are required to create a PowToon animation which describes their product or service. They should include information about how it differs from their competitors and why people should buy or use it. Students have used PowToon earlier in the year but a quick refresher is given by the teacher before the groups start work. The teacher also reminds the students about making sure that ideas taken from other people or websites are referenced as part of the PowToon animation.
Students should then compile a survey in SurveyMonkey (https://www.surveymonkey.com/) to accompany their animation. The questions should be posed to determine how effectively their product or service meets the needs and wants of their target market.
Students should embed their PowToon animation plus a link to their survey into their assignment Wiki to ensure all their resources are kept together.
The teacher should review this milestone before it is sent out to ensure accuracy and completeness.
Phase 5
Students compile the results from their survey and present the findings on their assignment Wiki. Each group’s assignment Wiki should now be completed and should contain everything the group needs to put together their final presentation.
Students start to work towards their final business presentation that is to be viewed by their local entrepreneur. Students are expected to create a video presentation which includes but is not limited to: video footage of the group explaining the product, images related to the product, audio, any relevant graphic organiser or animated presentation. Students are to use VideoPad Video Editor (http://www.nchsoftware.com/videopad/index.html) to create their video. The students have previous experience using VideoPad Video Editor but a refresher is given by the teacher during this phase.
The teacher provides support and direction during this phase to assist the students to finalise their solution and support their solution with evidence.
Students must compile their video in order to ‘sell’ their business to their local entrepreneur. Once completed, it is expected that these will be sent to the entrepreneur for viewing and the students will receive a short item of feedback from the entrepreneur.