YES Knowledge Construction (Stage 4.1)

STAGE 4.1: Knowledge Construction: Social entrepreneurship and community involvement

Stage 4.1 Overview:

In this stage you will receive the instructions needed to complete the steps of the 4.1 stage of the YES project. First, reading the social entrepreneurship scenario and brainstorming and exchanging ideas and advice to identify a social challenge and propose innovative solutions in the form of products/services/apps. Then having the 2nd synchronous meeting and finally, writing your reflective essay on the 2nd synchronous meeting.

YES 4.1 Knowledge Construction English B1/B2 90 mins
STAGE 4.1: Social entrepreneurship and community involvement
Dates: Week 4, from __________ to __________
Deadline: End of Week 4.
Theme & goals: Social entrepreneurship, community involvement and innovative business scenario problem solving so as to develop an innovative entrepreneurial solution to a social challenge in an effort to become empowered to promote positive change.
Step 1. Brainstorming, exchange of ideas and advice for social problem: Read the social entrepreneurship scenario and brainstorm ideas for your project by sharing information with your groups on Google+ Community: include the NGO’s website, additional information about the topic found online, discuss the social challenges you have found and what you’ve learned about the topic. How do different countries address the same issues? Decide what your social initiative is going to be (a product/service/app and how it will impact the NGO you are working with.
Step 2. Second synchronous meeting: Meet with your foreign partners for approximately 30 minutes at Google + Hangouts (home activity) in order to discuss your business idea, the challenges you have identified after conducting the NGO interview and how you intend to address them. Discuss how different countries (Cyprus/Spain) address the same social issues. Ask your telecollaboration partners to help you solve your challenge and provide them will help in solving theirs.
Step 3. Reflections about the 2nd synchronous meeting: Write a reflective essay about the 2nd synchronous meeting.
YES 4.1 Knowledge Construction English B1/B2 90 mins
STAGE 4.1: Social entrepreneurship and community involvement
Dates: Week 4, from __________ to __________
Deadline: End of Week 4.
Theme & goals: Social entrepreneurship, community involvement and innovative business scenario problem solving so as to develop an innovative entrepreneurial solution to a social challenge in an effort to become empowered to promote positive change.
Step 1. Brainstorming, exchange of ideas and advice for social problem: Read the social entrepreneurship scenario and brainstorm ideas for your project by sharing information with your groups on Google+ Community: include the NGO’s website, additional information about the topic found online, discuss the social challenges you have found and what you’ve learned about the topic. How do different countries address the same issues? Decide what your social initiative is going to be (a product/service/app and how it will impact the NGO you are working with.
Step 2. Second synchronous meeting: Meet with your foreign partners for approximately 30 minutes at Google + Hangouts (home activity) in order to discuss your business idea, the challenges you have identified after conducting the NGO interview and how you intend to address them. Discuss how different countries (Cyprus/Spain) address the same social issues. Ask your telecollaboration partners to help you solve your challenge and provide them will help in solving theirs.
Step 3. Reflections about the 2nd synchronous meeting: Write a reflective essay about the 2nd synchronous meeting.

 

Problem-solving process (steps):
• Problem Definition.
• Problem Analysis.
• Generating possible Solutions.
• Analyzing the Solutions.
• Selecting the best Solution(s).
• Planning the next course of action (Next Steps)

 

Summary of tasks:
1) Read the social entrepreneurship problem-solving business scenario and brainstorm on possible challenges to address and come up with solutions
2) 2nd synchronous meeting
3) Write a reflective essay about your 2nd synchronous meeting.

 

Suggested assessment criteria Task completion.

Language/Communication skills (e.g. written skills from the forum interactions).

Participation in the Google+ Community, including number of posts, length and quality of the interactions.

 
Recommended tools Google+, Hangouts and Moodle.
Resources Problem-solving process worksheet, NGO websites and social media platforms

 

Teacher’s notes (Stage 4.1: Knowledge construction: Social entrepreneurship and community involvement
Step 1 T asks students to read the social entrepreneurship scenario and helps them with any linguistic issues they might have.

Explains that they need to brainstorm ideas for their project by sharing information with their groups on Google+ Community. Provides students with NGO websites and social media platforms and explains the principles of social entrepreneurship and innovation.  Explains the process of solving a problem by analyzing the different steps.
Step 2 Tells all participants to meet with their foreign partners for approximately 30 minutes at Google + Hangouts (home activity) in order exchange ideas about possible solutions to the challenges they have identified and help each other to solve their local challenges.
Step 3 Asks students to write a reflective essay about the 2nd synchronous meeting and to upload the document to the Moodle platform.
Possible challenges Difficulty in organizing synchronous meeting due to students’ workload, academic timetable, technical difficulties, etc.