About the course
This course provides students with the opportunity to develop and apply entrepreneurial skills through the creation of a venture plan that capitalizes on the potential of e-commerce.Students will research and identify an opportunity for a venture. They will then complete the components of a venture plan that includes a website.
Venture Planning in an Electronic Age
Course Credit
1
Course Price
$ 550.00
Course Developer
My Learning Oasis
Prerequisite(s) (Text)
None
Course Code
Department Head & Contact Information
BDV4C
Manisha Sharma (manisha@mylearningoasis.com)
Course Type
College
Grade Level
Grade 12
Course Development Date
June 10th, 2021
Course Outline
Ventures in E-Commerce
This unit explores the advantages and disadvantages of doing businesses on the Internet. It looks at how easy it is to face competition and how easy it is to spread non-flattering information about a company. On the flip side it will look at the ease of advertising and marketing on the Internet. It will examine the importance of having an Internet presence by way of a website. And the essential elements of an effective website, depending on the type of e-commerce business.
Estimated Hours of Instructions: 21 Hours
Venture Plans
This unit explores the path of least resistance in starting an ecommerce business. They will evaluate the effectiveness of that path and look at others that may be more effective, though tougher. Students will explore business opportunities in their community and nearby ones. During brainstorming exercises they will select an opportunity that aligns well with their interest and that is manageable within a time frame that they set out for themselves.
Estimated Hours of Instructions: 21 Hours
Analysis, Legal Considerations, and Resources
This unit will introduce students to some of the basic laws that govern the Internet and doing businesses on the Internet. They will explore ethical business practices on the Internet. They will evaluate their business to ensure it has met all of the legal standards. They will explore ways to research and find information that will be pertinent to the start up of their business venture. They will outline their plan and evaluate the manpower needed to successfully launch it and the projected manpower in the near future. They will evaluate ways to manage the business and explore solutions for potential problems and issues that may arise, including financial ones.
Estimated Hours of Instructions: 24 Hours
Targeting Customers
This unit examines the processes involved in marketing research. Students will do market research and determine the best demographic to target with their business. They will look at the product lifetime for this targeted group and how their needs/wants will change over time and how the product can change to meet those needs/wants while concurrently satisfying the initial age group.
Estimated Hours of Instructions: 24 hours
Your Venture Website
In this unit the students will build a website to market/sell their products. They will use the best colour scheme, language, and images to entice the targeted demographics.
Estimated Hours of Instructions: 14 hours
Project assessment and final exam
Students will present their plan to the class (15%) and will take a final exam (15%). Depending on how robust the projects become, the total project assessment may be 30%, in which case it will also be the exam.
Estimated Hours of Instructions: 6 hours
Total 110 hours
Resources
The course material (class notes and necessary handouts) will be provided by the teacher.
The students will be required to have:
● Access to a library or the Internet to do research
● Access well as electronic devices for note taking and communication for those taking the class online
Overall Curriculum Expectations
A. E-Commerce and Venture Planning
A1 analyse the challenges and opportunities of doing business on the Internet;
A2 evaluate the impact of e-commerce on small business;
A3 evaluate elements of website design for a small business.
B. The Venture Concept
B1 analyse the challenges and opportunities of the start-up phase of a business life cycle;
B2 identify and evaluate entrepreneurial opportunities in their community in order to select one well suited to their interests and capabilities;
B3 generate ideas that match their selected entrepreneurial opportunity and assess the idea that is most appropriate for a new venture;
B4 analyse the factors that would influence the form and type of their venture.
C. Preparing for Start-up
C1 analyse the key components of a venture plan;
C2 organize the information and sources of information needed for the successful start-up of their venture;
C3 determine the human and physical resources needed for their venture;
C4 determine effective ways to manage their venture;
C5 determine the legal requirements of their venture;
C6 determine the financial requirements and sources of financing for their venture.
D. Targeting Customers
D1 analyse the size and composition of the potential market for their venture;
D2 develop effective promotional strategies for their venture.
E. Developing a Venture Plan
E1 produce, using appropriate computer software, the elements of a venture plan, including a production plan, marketing plan, human resources plan, management plan, and financial plan that are most appropriate for their proposed venture;
E2 design a website as part of their venture plan;
E3 assess and finalize the venture plan, including the website, and use it to assess the viability of their venture.
Special Accommodations
Only Some students are able, with accommodations, to be part of a regular course curriculum and to demonstrate independent learning. These accommodations allow access to the course without any dilution of the knowledge and skills the student is expected to demonstrate. These required accommodations to facilitate the student’s learning will be identified in his or her IEP (see IEP Standards, 2000, page 11*).
It is likely that IEP for many or all courses will reflect the same accommodations. The instructions and accommodations are geared to meet the diverse needs of learners. The three types of accommodations that are going to be used are:
i) Instructional accommodations - changes in teaching/learning strategies facilitated by different styles of presentation; methods of organization; the use of technology and multimedia.
ii) Environmental accommodations - Certain classroom settings and preferential seating may benefit these students.
iii) Assessment: assessment procedures that enable the student to demonstrate his or her learning, such as Multiple Intelligence Theory, giving more time to complete tasks (see page 29 of the IEP Resource Guide, 2004, for more examples). For students who require accommodations for only the mathematics courses, the assessment and evaluation of their achievement will be based on the appropriate course curriculum expectations and the achievement levels outlined in this document. The IEP box on the students’ Provincial Report Cards will not be checked, and no information on the provision of accommodations will be included.
* Taken from: Ministry of Education, Ontario. Extracted from The Ontario Curriculum, Grades 11 and 12: Business Studies, 2006; (Pg 21-22) Date of extraction: Sunday, March 14, 2021
Program Considerations For English Language Learners
Students from a variety of cultural and linguistic backgrounds. For many of these students, English is not their spoken language. They may be coming from highly sophisticated educational systems, while others may have come from regions where access to formal schooling was limited. These students offer a rich addition to the classroom experience by way of their background knowledge and experience. All teachers will assist with their English- language development. In mathematics the teachers will include appropriate adaptations and strategies in their instructions and assessments to facilitate the success of the English language learners in their classrooms. Some of these strategies and adaptations are: modification of some or all of the course expectations so that they are challenging but attainable for the learner at his or her present level of English proficiency, given the necessary support from the teacher.
Teaching/Learning Strategy
The key learning strategy at My Learning Oasis Elite Private School is Constructivism. This format facilitates learning by many techniques, most or all of which will be adopted in the classroom. The most dominant of these is group learning. The facilitator places students of different backgrounds in the same group so that they can feed off each other. Each may bring to the table a different reasoning strategy to facilitate problem-solving. Now, each student becomes a learner and a teacher at the same time, as he/she has to communicate his/her solution. This builds the students' knowledge base and by default, increases their confidence to speak in a crowd, albeit a small group at the beginning. The famous educationalist, Vygotsky, proved that by placing students in a group they function at the upper level of their zone of proximal development, each one scaffolding the other.
This strategy is further enhanced by the teacher asking leading questions as opposed to giving the answer outright, then allowing for group discussion. The students are encouraged to make connections between what they have learnt and their life experiences, then share with the group. The effect of this strategy is intrinsic motivation and learning. Each student develops an expanded appreciation of the topic at hand by seeing how it applies in different settings around the world by way of listening to their group members.
This Constructivist approach will be further accentuated by implementing “fish-bowling”. There are many ways to implement this technique. The one that will mostly be used will be by dividing up the larger problem (technical, mathematics, science, or otherwise) into smaller bits and have each student thoughtfully master one part. That student then teaches the group and facilitates a discussion reflection about the strategy (computational or otherwise) used in the solution. Each student in turn does this.
The above techniques enable students to reflect on the material learnt, make real life connections, and develop problem solving skills. One important by-product of the technique of Constructivism is that each student develops an appreciation of each other’s culture. This cultivates healthy people’s skill, which is not only important for the professional world but for life itself.
Constructivism lends itself well to students whose first language is not the language of instruction and who is new to the class. While other strategies will be used for students having difficulty with the English Language, this technique will definitely be used to enhance their English skill.
Assessment And Evaluation
At My Learning Oasis, course facilitators do not wait for a quiz or exam to determine how well a student is doing. Here, evaluation is an on-going exercise. The pedagogical techniques (refer to Teaching and Learning Strategies) used at My learning Oasis are perhaps the best techniques suited for on-going assessment, hence, they being an integral part of our delivery methodologies. Concrete assessments are made through projects and assignments. However, the evaluation is based on “our flavor” of the Mastery Teaching technique.
This ensures that the emphasis is on the quality of learning and NOT grading. Students' projects and homework will continuously be evaluated and re-evaluated with appropriate guidance to meet the school’s and Ministry’s expectations. At My Learning Oasis, we will work with the students until the projects meet a minimum of a B-grade, unless in extreme circumstances where the willful negligence of the students force lower grades. While this is a lot more taxing on the facilitator, it does not matter because My Learning Oasis is a Learner-centered institution NOT a Grade-Centered nor a Teacher-Centered institution.
Four categories of knowledge and skills are outlined in the achievement chart - knowledge and understanding, thinking, communication, and application. Student’s work is assessed and evaluated with respect to these categories, and that achievement of particular expectations is considered within the appropriate categories. A final grade will then be recorded for this course and if that grade is 50% or higher, a credit is granted to the student and recorded for this course. The final grade for this course will be determined as follows:
● For material evaluated throughout the course, seventy percent of the grade will be assigned. This portion of the grade should reflect the student's consistency in his/her level of achievement throughout the course, although special consideration should be given to more recent evidence of achievement.
● Thirty percent of the grade will be based on a final evaluation, which is administered towards the end of the course.
Final Exam 30%
Grading for all course work, projects, presentation, participation, interim quizzes and exams 70%"
Do you like rewards? Knowledge grows when you share, so does our benefits when you refer a friend.