Sharing my slides about Startup Weekend EDU and the incorporation of entrepreneurial learning into K-12 education at the Connect 2015 conference in Niagara Falls, Ontario.

1. Stephanie Chan
Angie Tarasoff
Sherry Langland
Calgary Board of Education
Alberta Education
Edmonton Public School Board
Bringing Entrepreneurial Spirit
t Life Through
Connect 2015, Niagara Falls, Ontario

2. On the Roster
What is SW?
&
What’s an
Entrepreneur?
Responsive
Pedagogy How
SWEDU
Works
Observations,
Learnings &
Next Steps

3. What is Startup Weekend EDU?
Startup Weekend Trailer by 8:45 a. Retrieved April 12, 2015 from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rtsv9R99DjE

4. Startup Weekend By the Numbers
112 Countries
568 Cities
1248 Events
105K
Attendees
29 Events
This Weekend
Streams include:
Regular, EDU, IoT, Big Data, Small Biz, Maker, Youth,
Health, Mobile, Library, Women…

5. What’s an Entrepreneur?
• How can we create value
for ourselves and others?
• How can we find and solve
complex problems that
matter?
• How can we create better,
faster, boarder, and more
sustainable impact?
Image created using tagul.com

6. Where Do Great Ideas Come From?
“Bulb1” by Quenya101 is licensed under CC by 3.0.
“Surprise Box” by Joanito Goodface is licensed under CC by 3.0.“LinkedIn Network Visualization Analysis for S. Chan” by Socilab.
Seemingly unrelated
elements & situations
Time & trial
Collisions between
people & ideas
- Steven Johnson, Where Good Ideas Come From, 2011

7. Two Bits of Entrepreneurial Thinking
GapingVoid (2012). Fail often [online image]. Retrieved April 16, 2015 from http://gapingvoid.com/2012/07/03/fail-often/
Buildmeasurelearn [online image]. Retrieved April 16, 2015 from http://ramlijohn.com/lean-startup-does-not-mean-cheap/

8. Entrepreneurial Thinking & Alberta’s Curricular Directions
Intentional design of learning
that engages academically and
intellectually
Worthwhile, relevant,
connected work
Relationships &
culture of learning
Friesen, S. (2009). What did you do in school today? Teaching Effectiveness: A Framework and Rubric. Toronto: Canadian Education Association.

9. How Does Startup Weekend EDU Work?
Pitch an
Idea
(optional)
Speaker &
Networking
Form
Teams
Get to Work
Customer
Development
Idea
Validation
Work Work
Build
Prototype
Coffee
Work
Prepare
Final Pitch
Practice,
practice, practice
Pitch to
Judges
Advice from experienced mentors, facilitated processes & useful tools
FRI
SAT
SUN

10. Images courtesy of
Victor Panlilio victorpanlilio.500px.com/

11. Images courtesy of
Victor Panlilio victorpanlilio.500px.com/

12. Images courtesy of
Victor Panlilio victorpanlilio.500px.com/

13. Images courtesy of
Victor Panlilio victorpanlilio.500px.com/

14. Images courtesy of
Victor Panlilio victorpanlilio.500px.com/

16. mages courtesy of
ictor Panlilio victorpanlilio.500px.com/

17. St
ShA
St
How Did Startup Weekend EDU Happen?
SW Women’s
Edition
Startup Weekend
at MRU
Up Next:
Community,
Curriculum, ResearchStartup Weekend
EDU YYC
2014
Physical Literacy
Startup Day
Provincial
Directions
Edcamp YYC
SpeakOut
Participant
Empowerment
Mentors
Educators
Students
ShSt
A
St
St
Startups
Educational
Organizations
Startup
Accelerators
Community
Members
EdInnovation
ISTE 2013
St
ShA
Seth Godin’s
Ship-It Journal
St
ShA
St
A
Startup Weekend
EDU YEG
2015
Sh St
St
ShA

18. What Did We Observe?
Diversity Valuing
scalability & impact
Value for
mentors &
community
Value of
partnership
Being “good
enough”
Authentic use
of tech
Agency &
ownership
Constraints support
creativity, risk, action
Appreciation
of entrepreneurial
approaches
Growth for
all who participate

19. What Did People Tell Us?
[I’ve] never felt so vulnerable in a safe
environment. Armageddon could be on
the horizon and I know who I would
choose to be in my bunker. Seriously.
This experience confirmed
[that] you don't have to wait to
grow up and be something.
You already are something.
I saw the Matrix and I cannot go back to
the pod again. I don't know what
tomorrow holds, but I do know that I
have control over it and I have value. I
can contribute to a bigger part of this
changing world because I connected
with people who already are.
My day job is lacking luster
after being part of this and I
wish the weekend would never
end. What if [this] environment
was where a person could
work every day? Imagine the
possibilities. I know I am.

20. Strategies to Try
Leverage
constraints
Make it real
Learn to hypothesize
Learn to test
Learn to fail
Focus on process
Use the tools
Connect with
mentors &
professionals

21. What’s Next?
Building & Fostering
Responsive, Participatory
Networks
Using Entrepreneurial
Thinking to Impact
Educational
Organizations
Designing
Effective
Entrepreneurial
Education for Students
Opportunities for research:
• What kinds of entrepreneurship are desirable across Alberta?
• What kinds of entrepreneurship does the current curriculum support?
• What does effective entrepreneurial learning look like?
• Do something that supports entrepreneurial approaches in
education (e.g. create an entrepreneurial curriculum)

22. Resources
• Startup Weekend EDU – videos & info
• YYC Oct 2014
• YEG Mar 2015
• Recommended resources
• The Lean Startup by Eric Ries
• Running Lean by Ash Maurya
• Seth Godin’s Ship-It Journal
• Lean Canvas 1-page business model
• Up Global and Education Entrepreneurs
• Access these slides
bit.ly/canconnected15swedu
Stephanie Chan
Sherry Langland
Angie Tarasoff
@TechPudding
sdmchan@gmail.com
@angietarasoff
angie.tarasoff@gmail.com
@slangland2
s.langland2@gmail.com