Online entrepreneurship teaching and learning approaches: A South African conceptual perspective

Abstract

This conceptual paper reviewed literature on the importance of entrepreneurship education, the constructivism theoretical framework that explains how entrepreneurship education can be offered through online teaching, the effectiveness, and the design of online teaching for entrepreneurship education, as well as studies conducted on elements of constructivist theory and entrepreneurship education. The paper used a conceptual analysis methodology. A library search was also conducted, and previous pertinent literature on the online entrepreneurship education subject matter was evaluated. The findings of the paper indicate that online entrepreneurship education should be grounded in constructivism as a learning theory. Thus, there should be applicability of constructivism in online teaching of entrepreneurship. The findings suggest that, during online entrepreneurship learning, lecturers should introduce and explain new concepts using knowledge that students already possess. The findings also show that online activities should allow learners to interpret and assimilate new knowledge, online entrepreneurship modules should incorporate learning by doing and experiential learning. Lecturers should also provide feedback as part of online entrepreneurship learning. The findings further suggest that at the end of online entrepreneurship learning, lecturers should post online questions that provide opportunity for learners to outline the elements of entrepreneurship process that they are competent on.