SmartVille project partners (LAB 2024; SmartVille 2024) conducted a situational analysis of the current learning methods, entrepreneurial and digital skills, challenges and capacity gaps in the entrepreneurship education of project partners; University of Lusaka, Mulungushi University, University of Namibia and Namibia University of Science and Technology. In more detail, partners collected questionnaire data from students at the target institutions studying entrepreneurship, as well as from lecturers and community members. The community sample consisted of two villages in Zambia and two in Namibia, involving a total of 141 students, 16 lecturers, and 69 community members from Zambian and Namibian partner institutions (total of 226 respondents).
As a result, project partners conducted two reports: 1) Community Approaches to Learning of Entrepreneurship Education and 2) Digital landscape and e-participation of formal and informal learning in communities.
Online teaching needs exercise
Based on the collected data, partners highlight several critical issues affecting the effectiveness of entrepreneurship education and the entrepreneurial environment in the targeted regions, such as disparities in the required entrepreneurial skills, limited access to financial resources, markets, and essential business tools and infrastructure hinders entrepreneurial growth.
![[Alt text: nine women standing in a row smiling.]](https://blogit.lab.fi/labfocus/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2024/06/595_2024_Cultivating-digital-landscape-with-SmartVille-partner-universities-1024x590.jpg)
Community and business challenges were also identified, which included deficiencies in marketing, finance, and general business expertise. Based on the data collected, partners recommend curriculum enhancements, capacity-building initiatives for educators, improved access to financial resources, and the development of support networks for entrepreneurs. Lecturers and students have generally good skills across institutions in using online platforms for teaching and learning, covering both existing and new skills for various contexts (office work, fieldwork, students, and community). However, Mulungushi University was found to have a much larger need for training to raise competence in online teaching of entrepreneurship skills.
Lecturers are sufficiently experienced in using online teaching platforms. Regarding teaching and learning methods, dialogue method, lectures, and problem-based learning are generally easy for both lecturers and students to use for teaching both new and old skills. However, project-based learning, self-directed learning, and innovation challenges were found to be more challenging for lecturers to implement.
Later stages of the project
The data collected for the project will be used as a preparatory work that guides the project implementation in the later stages of the project (establishing Smart Ville living labs, co-developing entrepreneurship education). Partners will visit Zambian partners in the fall 2024 where they visit two Living lab villages, introduce team learning methods (Ekman 2024) and entrepreneurial mindset training (Tuominen 2024). In addition, student Innovation Challenge is being implemented both locally and online with the students.
Author
Terhi Tuominen, D. Sc. (Econ. & Bus. Adm), works as a RDI expert in the SmartVille project and as a lecturer in the VALIOT project at the LAB University of Applied Sciences, Lappeenranta, Finland.
References
Ekman, M. 2024. SmartVille project: how to succeed in the implementation of team learning method? LAB Focus. Cited 12 Jun 2024. Available at https://blogit.lab.fi/labfocus/en/smartville-project-how-to-succeed-in-the-implementation-of-team-learning-method/
LAB. 2024. Developing Sustainable and Entrepreneurial Villages Through Educational Living Labs in Namibia and Zambia. Project websites. LAB University of Applied Sciences. Cited 12 Jun 2024. Available at https://lab.fi/en/project/developing-sustainable-and-entrepreneurial-villages-through-educational-living-labs-namibia
SmartVille. 2024. Project websites. Cited 12 Jun 2024. Available at https://smartvilleliginglabs.com
Tuominen, T. 2024. SmartVille project introduced theatre combined with entrepreneurial mindset training at LAB. LAB Focus. Cited 12 Jun 2024. Available at https://blogit.lab.fi/labfocus/en/smartville-project-introduced-theatre-combined-with-entrepreneurial-mindset-training-at-lab/
