Threat or opportunity? A case study of digital-enabled redesign of entrepreneurship education in the COVID-19 emergency.

Contamination Lab Covid-19 Digital technologies Entrepreneurial Mindset Entrepreneurial learning Entrepreneurship education Virtual elevator pitch

Journal

Technological forecasting and social change
ISSN: 0040-1625
Titre abrégé: Technol Forecast Soc Change
Pays: United States
ID NLM: 101085131

Informations de publication

Date de publication:
May 2021
Historique:
received: 30 04 2020
revised: 23 12 2020
accepted: 24 12 2020
entrez: 1 2 2021
pubmed: 2 2 2021
medline: 2 2 2021
Statut: ppublish

Résumé

The COVID-19 crisis has forced universities worldwide to seek urgent solutions to reconfigure traditional education programs for distance learning. The transformation process faces a number of complexities deriving from both institutional and contextual factors. It may generate threats and as well as opportunities to enhance the education system and prepare for potential future emergencies. In this article, we adopted a combined research approach to describe the experience of the  Contamination Lab of the University of Salento (CLab@Salento), an entrepreneurship education program focused on innovative and technology-based entrepreneurship for university students. Moving from the analysis of the main challenges the pandemic generated for the institution, students and faculty, we illustrate the process of redesigning the entrepreneurial learning program by leveraging digital technologies. We show a new approach to entrepreneurial storytelling, pitching and business planning and development through digital technologies. We also report the outcomes of a student survey to highlight the strengths of the redesigned program and some weaknesses, especially associated with digital technologies' limitations in education, which represent areas for future improvement. The study contributes at theory level with a new discussion on digital-supported entrepreneurship education. At practitioner level, it offers insights on redesigning traditional university programs to effectively address emergencies.

Identifiants

pubmed: 33518821
doi: 10.1016/j.techfore.2020.120565
pii: S0040-1625(20)31391-3
pmc: PMC7826121
doi:

Types de publication

Journal Article

Langues

eng

Pagination

120565

Informations de copyright

© 2020 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Déclaration de conflit d'intérêts

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Auteurs

Giustina Secundo (G)

Department of Innovation Engineering, University of Salento, Lecce, Italy.

Gioconda Mele (G)

Department of Innovation Engineering, University of Salento, Lecce, Italy.

Pasquale Del Vecchio (PD)

Department of Innovation Engineering, University of Salento, Lecce, Italy.

Gianluca Elia (G)

Department of Innovation Engineering, University of Salento, Lecce, Italy.

Alessandro Margherita (A)

Department of Innovation Engineering, University of Salento, Lecce, Italy.

Valentina Ndou (V)

Department of Innovation Engineering, University of Salento, Lecce, Italy.

Classifications MeSH