Summit Logo Final

Educational Materials for Entrepreneurship Summit Delegates

Introduction

The U.S. Government and numerous U.S. organizations have produced free, online educational materials and tools that delegates of the Presidential Summit on Entrepreneurship may find helpful as they continue the work of the Summit in their communities.  A list of these online resources may be found on http://www.entrepreneurship.gov/ and the Entrepreneurship Community within alumni.state.gov, and each item meets three criteria:

1. The resource is relevant to one of the summit topics.

2. The resource is available online, for free.

3. The resource is available in at least one of the Summit languages: Arabic, English, French or German.

This list is illustrative and provides examples of the many rich tools and materials available on the Internet.

Resources Created by the U.S. Government

  • FREE (Federal Resources for Educational Excellence), www.free.ed.gov, FREE is a website created and maintained by the US Department of Education to house all educational materials that are funded by a U.S Government agency.  Links to a variety of resources on business, economics and entrepreneurship can be found under the “Business & Work” category, including:
    • Competency Model Clearinghouse – Sponsored by the U.S. Department of Labor, the Competency Model Clearinghouse provides validated industry competency models and tools to build a custom model and career ladder for your industry.
    • microLINKS – Created and maintained by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), microLINKS is a knowledge-sharing family of applications and tools designed to improve the impact of microenterprise. This site provides access to best practices; proven approaches from USAID partners, and practitioners; a library of documents and tools; and an environment that supports and enriches communities of practice.
    • Small Business Training Network – The U.S. Small Business Administration offers free, online courses for prospective and existing entrepreneurs on topics ranging from how to prepare a business plan to different approaches to marketing.  Look for the Presidential Summit on Entrepreneurship icon to view a list of 13 courses that have been identified as relevant for Summit delegates or browse through the complete library.

Other Resources (in alphabetical order)

  • Academic Earth, http://www.academicearth.org – An online repository for free video lectures from universities such as University of California Berkeley, Harvard, Princeton, Stanford, and Yale.  There are 129 courses available under the entrepreneurship topic, and they can be sorted according to their title, how frequently they are viewed or how highly they are rated. Videos are available in English.
  • Connexions, http://cnx.org/ - An environment for developing, sharing, and rapidly publishing scholarly content on the Web.  Content is organized in small modules that are easily connected into larger collections or courses, and over 400 modules are available under the “business” topic. Most content is in English, although some modules are available in Arabic, French and German.
  • Entrepreneur, http://www.entrepreneur.com/ - The online companion to Entrepreneur Magazine, this website offers a wide variety of information, including how to guides and business ideas as well as information on preparing business plans and getting financing.  Information is available in English.
  • Inc.com, http://www.inc.com/ - The website for Inc. magazine, delivers advice, tools, and services, to help business owners and CEOs start, run, and grow their businesses more successfully. With a free membership, you can explore content on any number of business management issues, from motivating employees to cash management to finding capital, as well as more than 80 free tools.  Available in English.
  • My Own Business, http://www.myownbusiness.org/ - Online course that is geared toward the entrepreneur who wants to start a business and the individual who has an established small business and would like to see it grow.  The course is comprised of 16 sessions and is available in more than 50 languages, including Arabic, English, French and German.
  • NACCE's Quarterly Journal, http://www.nacce.com/?page=Journal – The National Association for Community College Entrepreneurship (NACCE) is an international network of public and non-profit community, technical and vocational colleges dedicated to building their local economies through entrepreneurship education.  Electronic copies of their journals may be accessed online for free.  Articles are written in English. 
  • OER Commons, http://www.oercommons.org/ - As a network for teaching and learning materials, the web site offers engagement with resources in the form of social bookmarking, tagging, rating, and reviewing. OER Commons has forged alliances with over 120 major content partners to provide a single point of access through which educators and learners can access over 24,000 items.  There are almost 800 items under the business subject area, including materials appropriate for teaching children in primary or secondary school.  Materials are available in English.
  • OpenCourseWare Consortium, http://www.ocwconsortium.org/ - A collaboration of more than 200 higher education institutions and associated organizations from around the world, including the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the Open University and United Nations University.  You may search for courses by topic, language or contributing institution. Most courses on business, economics and entrepreneurship are in English.
  • SME Toolkit, http://www.smetoolkit.org - A project of the International Finance Corporation, the SME Toolkit offers free business management information and training for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) on accounting and finance, business planning, human resources, marketing and sales, operations, and information technology. The Toolkit offers a wide range of how-to articles, business forms, free business software, online training, self-assessment exercises, quizzes, and resources that are available in a wide variety of languages, including Arabic, English, and French, through the regional sites.
  • TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design), http://www.ted.com – A clearinghouse that organizes videos by theme, speaker or language, and viewers have an opportunity to comment on videos and discuss issues with other viewers online.  More than 500 videos are now available; they all feature closed captions in English, and many feature subtitles in various languages, including Arabic, French and German.
  • USASBE Syllabus Exchange, http://usasbe.org/knowledge/syllabus/ - The United States Association for Small Business and Entrepreneurship (USASBE) Syllabus Exchange is a resource for faculty creating or modifying courses in entrepreneurship.  Categories include social entrepreneurship, e-commerce and law, and materials are available in English.