Issue link: http://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/499026
68 BizEd MAY | JUNE 2015 ideas in action Customized—and Mobile INSEAD in Fontainebleau, France, has launched a new digital educational o•ering called the INSEAD Customised Online Solution. The web- and mo- bile-based program is built around video lectures from the school's facul- ty; each lecture is filmed specifically for each client and features a studio audience drawn from the target population. Content also includes discus- sion forums, quizzes, and guides that help learners immediately apply new knowledge to their jobs. An early pilot program for thousands of Microsoft employees resulted in completion rates of more than 80 percent. "Customized online is a 'blue ocean' opportunity for us," says Peter Zemsky, the deputy dean and dean for strategic initiatives and innova- tion. "Currently, business schools are able to address, at most, 5 percent of corporate training needs, despite the fact that our faculty have critical expertise that would help employees and organizations stay relevant in fast-changing markets.¯Online allows us to greatly increase access. High quality and customization allow us to assure the engagement necessary for e•ective learning." For more information, watch the video at youtu.be/ugu0TOaCTq0. SIMULATED VENTURES HEIDI NECK, a professor of entrepreneurial studies at Babson College in Babson Park, Massachusetts, and Anton Yakushin, a Babson alumnus and technology entrepreneur, have launched an educational technol- ogy company called VentureBlocks, which will provide content designed to be integrated into college courses in entrepreneurship. Its first product, "The Nanu Chal- lenge," was released in January. The Nanu Challenge is an immersive, self-guided 3-D role-playing simulation set in a fictional town called Trepton. Students play the role of an entrepreneur who, in the process of exploring a potential business oppor- tunity, must interview potential customers to identify their needs. Within the simulation, students learn the value of asking good questions and the ability to handle rejec- tion, with scores for top players displayed in real time on a leaderboard. Instructors can customize the game's objective to suit what they want to teach. Neck and Yakushin tested the game in two Babson courses—Entrepreneurship & Opportunity and Market- ing for Entrepreneurs. "We feel intro-level entrepreneur- ship is the sweet spot for the simulation," says Neck. To request a free demo, visit ventureblocks.com. Student Signature ALL COLLEGE STUDENTS should be encouraged to spend at least one semester producing "Signature Work"—projects related to a prob- lem important to the student and to society. To create their Sig- nature Works, students could choose to do research, a practicum, a creative project, a community-based project, or a collaborative project, as long as these activities involve inquiry, analysis, re- flection, and visible results. This is the call that went out from the Association of American Colleges and Universities (AAC&U) at its Centenni- al Annual Meeting earlier this year. "It is time to break free of an outdated mindset that equates course completion with college success," according to AAC&U president Carol Geary Schneider. "The challenge of our time is to ensure that all college students are well-prepared to tackle unscripted problems with the broad knowledge and cross-cutting skills that will help them flourish in today's world." To learn more, visit www.aacu.org/leap/theleapchallenge. It is time to break free of an outdated mindset that equates course completion with college success. The simulation teaches students the value of asking good questions.