Daily Archives: December 22, 2016

Entrepreneurial experiences ‘no better than textbooks,’ says study

Posted on by
Reply

The common thought that learning by experience is most effective when it comes to teaching entrepreneurship at university has been challenged in a new study.

An analysis of more than 500 graduates found no significant difference between business schools that offered traditional courses and those that emphasise a ‘learning-by-doing’ approach to entrepreneurship education.

The research challenges the ongoing trend across higher education institutes (HEIs) of focussing on experiential learning, and suggests that universities need to reconsider their approach if they are to increase entrepreneurship among their students.

Ms Inna Kozlinska, research associate at Aston Business School and author of the study, said: “Entrepreneurship education is seen as a major force capable of generating long-term socio-economic changes through developing entrepreneurial, creative, flexible and wise individuals. There is an ongoing shift towards experiential learning in business schools, yet there is little empirical evidence to suggest this approach has better impact than traditional learning.

“This study has shown, contrary to our expectations that ‘learning-by-doing’ approaches do not necessarily lead to better outcomes for students, and were even found to have adverse effects in some instances.
[…]
The study highlights another crucial issue that has not been widely researched up until now: how new entrepreneurial knowledge, skills and attitude relate to further achievements in the professional life of graduates. Contrary to expectations, the attitude of graduates was found to have the most positive effect on employability and entrepreneurial activity. The influence of newly acquired knowledge and skills on graduates was not significant.

Ms Kozlinska added: “The findings surrounding the attitudes of successful graduates tend to characterise entrepreneurs: a high level of creativity and self-confidence, strong passion towards entrepreneurship, and tolerance to failure.”

Source: Entrepreneurial experiences ‘no better than textbooks,’ says study

Uber’s Latest Update seeks location and phone info from non Uber-using friends

Posted on by
Reply

Now, instead of plugging in an address, you can sync up your contacts and choose a friend’s name. The lucky buddy will receive a request from Uber—via push notification if they’re an Uber user, and via text message if they’re not—to provide their location. If they accept, their location is then transmitted to the driver, and it becomes the user’s destination. In other words, if you often find yourself out on the town but too wasted to figure out where to tell your friends to meet you, this feature was made for you.

Of course, any feature that asks for a location is bound to bring up privacy issues, particularly for people who didn’t even sign up for the app in the first place. Uber, however, is dismissive of these concerns.

“We have an entire privacy team that thinks through these questions,” a spokesperson told Gizmodo.

The spokesperson told us that location requests are “static,” and expire after half an hour. For non-Uber users, the company claims the requests disappear after the allotted time; For Uber users, the app will maintain records of where they went, but not who they sent the request to. The spokesperson added that a user must give his or her location every time.

But given Uber’s previous privacy hijinks, these assurances ring just a tad hollow. Earlier this month, the app rolled out a different update that asked users for permission to track them even when they weren’t using the app. A few days later, it was hit with a lawsuit filed by a former employee who claimed that workers used the app to peep on celebrities and former lovers. The lawsuit was particularly troubling given that Uber claimed several years ago that it had already dealt with the problem.

Source: Uber’s Latest Update Is Even Creepier Than Its Last One