Issue link: http://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/58060
"I brought in guest speakers, but that wasn't enough. I wanted to have on tap a virtual panel of experts that I could call on at a moment's notice, even if it was only to speak for a few minutes on a boring topic, like interpreting financial statements." —Deborah Streeter 'Wake Up Your Students!' Deborah Streeter Bruce F. Failing Senior Professor of Personal Enterprise Department of Applied Economics and Management College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Cornell University Ithaca, New York entrepreneurship, as well as the instinct to know the ques- tions you need to ask yourself," says Belsky. "We learned that entrepreneurship is as much about leadership and self- awareness as it is about business." Belsky, who graduated from Cornell in 2002 with a bachelor's degree focused on economics and entrepreneurship, is now fittingly the CEO of his own New York-based consulting company, Behance, which helps professionals spur their own creative ideas. Just how does a professor teach self-awareness? It's not S easy, but Streeter gave herself an advantage. She conceived and designed eClips, a searchable online database of more than 6,000 digital video clips, which feature in-depth inter- views with entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, and employees of startup companies. She uses those interviews to weave pro- fessionals' personal insights throughout the course and help students develop their own. Scott Belsky, BS '02, CEO of Behance, New York, New York cott Belsky says that his undergraduate entrepreneur- ship class with Deborah Streeter was an eye-opener— literally. "Professor Streeter teaches self-awareness in Streeter got the idea for the database 20 years ago, when she wanted to create a stronger link between her classroom and real-world business. "I brought in guest speakers, but that wasn't enough," Streeter explains. "I wanted to have on tap a virtual panel of experts that I could call on at a mo- ment's notice, even if it was only to speak for a few minutes on a boring topic, like interpreting financial statements." Streeter integrates eClips video into her class discussion via PowerPoint slides and assignments. She also creates eClips "listening lists" for students on particular topics and invites them to create lists of their own. The large database allows her to choose just the right speaker to address particularly challenging topics. In fact, students found eClips so useful, they suggested that Streeter make it accessible to everyone. In response, last year she created a public Web site, eclips.cornell.edu, which urges professors to use the video clips to "Wake up your students!" Students and faculty from 70 countries and 800 universities now take advantage of the massive database and Streeter's own suggestions for ways to use the videos effec- tively in business courses. In many traditional business courses, students too often complete coursework and then speak to executives, partici- pate in internships, or complete a project. Spontaneous in- teraction between the classroom and the business world is often missing, Streeter believes. Through eClips, Streeter works to integrate the two areas into "a common space. I wanted to create some chemis- try to make those two worlds collide." In March, Streeter won a 2007 Olympus Inno- vation Award for eClips, an award bestowed by the tech company Olympus and the National Colle- giate Inventors and Innovators Alliance (NCIIA). Streeter is proud of the recognition, but acknowl- edges that the creation and maintenance of eClips requires work. She estimates that the project takes as much as 40 percent of her time outside the classroom. However, the university views her database as her scholarly contribution because of its educational value. "I made a tradeoff between my research life and eClips, but I've been able to do that because of my university's support," Streeter says. For Belsky, Streeter's efforts have been well worth it. "I Deborah Streeter 24 BizEd JULY/AUGUST 2007 thought eClips added a strong dose of reality to the class and allowed Professor Streeter to integrate a 'protagonist' into any class discussion," he says. "Real-life video clips add context and examples to business courses. I think knowledge really takes hold when students are engaged and can see for themselves the relevance of what they're learning."