Assisting Entrepreneurial Schools

Openworld is developing an eAcademy toolkit, in CD/DVD and USB Flash drive formats, to assist entrepreneurial schools that have internet access. It will provide guidance for the local schools to offer language, business, and IT skills development opportunities for success in online telework markets, and use Skpe and other online resources to access virtual tutoring and introductory work-study projects.  The toolkit will also offer advice on community land grant endowments. More...

Openworld is extending a "Seeds of Change" challenge offer of microscholarships for entrepreneurial schools, to support student research into opportunities for the schools and their communities to become financially sustainable. Students receiving Seeds of Change funding will create and share brief video clips or Powerpoint slides on their findings. A related component of the Seeds of Change resource offers will be a downloadable or streaming multimedia toolkit (also in CD/DVD and USB Flash drive formats) on creating local land grant endowments for schools and for ongoing microvoucher systems in the communities. More...

In the past, resistance from public school teachers has thwarted or slowed the progress of entrepreneurial schools.  Openworld is exploring "success-sharing" frameworks that ensure public teachers and administrators have access to microscholarship/ microvoucher opportunities for professional development (these can be funded through land grants), as well as introduction of Singapore-style "flexiwage" annual bonuses for all public sector employees, indexed to the higher rates of economic growth that result from implementing measures to improve the business climate.  More...

Openworld is exploring opportunities for campus-based allies — student groups with faculty advisors — to help Openworld Communities apply innovative technologies and sustainable development strategies that benefit entrepreneurial schools for the poor.  Campus groups can provide online assistance in spreading skills (by offering Skype language practice and eLesson editing), in designing marketable projects for land grant areas, and in contributing to eGovernment pilot project design that brings about concentrated local business climate improvements in land grant areas.  More...

As students seek ways to prepare for success in a fast-changing global economy, valuable experience can be gained through online work-study projects and virtual internships for global good causes.  These engagements can be structured as brief "microjobs" including web research, transcriptions, and Powerpoint slides, earning references and reputations for good work.  A new portal, OpenWorld Exchange, is now in development for these ends. More...

Advancements in mobile technology in recent years have created unprecedented opportunities for grassroots programs in developing regions.  Long battery life, large-range connectivity, lower prices, and a steeper learning curve combine to make mobile phones a compelling alternative to traditional PCs.  Integrating a variety of emerging systems, Openworld toolkits will offer innovative solutions for rural schools to harness leading-edge technology.  More...