“With Acclaim, I ask students to comment on the videos, sharing their ideas and questions before our class meets. As an instructor, this gives me insight into what ideas from the videos excite our students, what clarifications are required, and how I should direct class discussions.” –Matt Terrell, University of Delaware
Matt Terrell is an entrepreneur and an online video producer. He developed an online series called, “Founders Films,” which features interviews with experienced entrepreneurs. He’s spoken with captains of nearly every industry, such as Steve Blank of Lean LaunchPad, Jack Bogle of Vanguard, Sam Calagione of Dogfish Head, David Cohen of Techstars, David Bookspan of DreamIt, Mandy Cabot of Dansko, Wil Reynolds of SEER Interactive, Carol Ammon of Endo Pharmaceuticals and dozens more. The series includes stories from the entrepreneurs’ childhoods, career development, and experiences starting new ventures.
In Spring 2014, Matt used Acclaim in his Entrepreneurship Experience at the University of Delaware to “flip the classroom,” assigning students to watch and comment on the speakers before class time.
Here’s data from the class:
25 total videos were watched on Acclaim
98 total comments were made by students
18 out of the 24 students in the class commented at least once
An average of 4.08 comments per student
Matt’s videos clearly made a huge impact on ingraining ideals of innovation and entrepreneurship within his students. Students from the class said:
“If you’ve never failed, you’ve probably never tried anything really great.” — On a video w/ Richard Vague
“Neal Sales-Griffin sums up advice from almost every entrepreneurship story we’ve heard so far: ‘trust yourself, decide quickly, and don’t quit.'”
“Use insights and information from completely different businesses and ventures, but make them your own”– On a video with Sam Caglione
[PHOTO: Founder’s Film Video with Neal Sales Griffin and Student Comments]
Acclaim took the time to ask Matt to explain in his own words how he developed Founder’s Films, and why flipping the classrom has become so vital to his teaching.
“When I first began to invite entrepreneurs to come speak in the Entrepreneur’s Experience class as part of my Founders’ Forum Series, I noticed the classroom engagement underwent a dramatic shift. Our students were completely absorbed in the presentations. They observed lessons within the stories that I may have missed and asked questions I never would have imagined. Although the students were developing their own new venture projects as part of the course, they indicated at the end of the term that their favorite element of the class was the Founders’ Forum speakers.
“I realized that our classroom experience should not be limited to the students within the classroom. In fact, I felt a great opportunity to share with others. Perhaps I could film more conversations with entrepreneurs over the summer. And thus, I created Founders Films, which now includes over 50 interviews with entrepreneurs from a host of emerging and established industries.
“I now include the Founders Films videos in our Entrepreneurship course as part of my flipped classroom approach with Acclaim. I ask students to comment on the videos, sharing their ideas and questions before our class meets. As an instructor, this gives me insight into what ideas from the videos excite our students, what clarifications are required, and how I should direct class discussions.”
To read more about UD’s Horn Program and student entrepreneurship, check out our post with Stefanie Spatola and Frieswyk, “UD’s Diamond Challenge Teaches High School Students the Foundations of Entrepreneurship.”