• Contextual Learning
• Authentic Instruction
• Teacher's Guide
• Student Guide
• Video Programs

• Interactive Videodiscs
• Internet Resources
• Assessment
• Lesson Schedule (Single Module)
• Additional Information or to Order

Since the publication of A Nation at Risk in 1983, several clear pointers have emerged to guide America's schools in preparing students for the 21st century. Two reports by the Secretary's Commission on Achieving Necessary Skills (SCANS), combined with the school-to-work movement, have fueled the development of applied-academics curricula in science, mathematics, and English/communications. Finally, America's Promise identified marketable skills with focus on economic opportunity as one of five fundamental resources for today's youth. In spite of the growing recognition of the value of such curricula, however, no substantial resources for students curious about starting a business exist in social studies or business education. As governments at all levels grapple increasingly with economic problems, students who will soon be seeking careers need to be able to understand all of their options, including entrepreneurship. Without this knowledge, future workers at all levels are likely to make career decisions without fully comprehending all of the options. 

The E in Me®—The Entrepreneur in You takes an active approach to entrepreneurship education. It is based on the organizing principles set forth by the Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership. This project was developed by the Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership, and the Agency for Instructional Technology. The E in Me is a resource that is robust with rich experiences, relying largely on electronic and nontraditional resources rather than textbooks. 

The E in Me® embraces several educational initiatives, including SCANS and School-to-Careers in its design and in its approach to instruction and audience. In addition, The E in Me addresses numerous standards in both social studies and economics. For example, this project addresses these standards found in the Curriculum Standards for Social Studies (National Council for the Social Studies): 

• culture, individual development and identity
• individual groups and institutions
• production, distribution and consumption
• science, technology and society

The National Standards for Business Education (National Business Education Association) includes entrepreneurship as one of its 12 curricular areas. This project addresses these standards, as well as economic standards such as scarcity and choice, productivity, economic incentives, markets and prices, supply and demand and competition, found in A Framework for Teaching Basic Economics concepts (Economics America). 

• Higher-order thinking—The course requires students to manipulate information and concepts; generalize about events and their effects; speculate and hypothesize about opportunities, actions, causes and consequences; analyze, interpret, and explain complex situations; and draw conclusions from observation and data.
• Depth of knowledge—These resources are designed to permit sufficient time and background for students to analyze situations in depth, to make distinctions, to develop ideas, create arguments and construct explanations that support them, and to investigate and explain a variety of consequences.
• Connectedness outside the classroom—The illustrations connect entrepreneurial concepts with actual ventures, with real entrepreneurs, and with the personal activities and experiences of students.
• Substantive conversation (“talking to learn and understand the substance of a subject”)—The instructional materials are designed to include opportunities for interaction with others, sharing of experiences, and cooperative analysis and problem solving to reach a coherent and reasoned understanding and consensus.
• Social support for achievement (“high expectations, respect, and inclusion of all students in the learning process”)—No single resource, by itself, can change a school's learning climate and culture; however, the teaching suggestions in the annotated resource guides will help teachers to convey high expectations, to encourage risk taking, and to challenge students to improve. In addition, the teacher materials encourage interdisciplinary cooperation. The student materials are user-friendly and inviting, but at the same time they require learners to grapple with sophisticated concepts and real problems. The materials are also designed to encourage pair and group activities that foster cooperative learning. Students receive ample opportunities to take pride in genuine achievement.

The The E in Me® Teacher's Guide structures learning activities. When combined with other materials, those found in this guide provide captivating and rigorous lessons. The teacher's guide takes the form of a student guide with a scholar's margin containing annotations for the lesson.

Each module, along with student resources, provides the core structure of 6 lesson plans. Lessons may incorporate E in Me® videos, the Internet, and an interactive videodisc segment. Other lessons use print-based case studies or activities featuring entrepreneurial challenges that students are asked to analyze or research. All E in Me® lessons make use of features and worksheets. Other materials are found within the The E in Me® Internet Resources or as an alternative, in school library resources.

The teacher's guide also contains bar codes for laserdisc utilization during relevant lessons.

Each E in Me® module include a fifteen-minute video program. Two features distinguish The E in Me® videos from others.

• Structured Documentary—Use of real-life dramatic entrepreneurial challenges to illustrate and teach in a way that will capture even the most hard-to-reach students. The E in Me® scenarios spotlight real-life entrepreneurs who share the success, failures and challenges of entrepreneurship as they relate to the objectives of each module. This format assures skill acquisition as well as motivation to explore the potential of entrepreneurial ventures.
• Participation—The second distinguishing characteristic is a design intended to involve and captivate the student. During each program, pointed questions related to the preceding segment are posed to students. Questions may require them to speculate on a path or course of action, or to provide some other form of advice to the featured entrepreneurs. Guidelines for discussion are offered in the respective teacher's guide sections.

Side one of the E in Me® videodisc contains segment for each module used during the lesson entitled "Videodisc" (Day 5). The Teacher's Guide for these "Videodisc" lessons contain barcodes that enable easy and convenient utilization of the disc. The videodisc segments within each module enable students to further explore entrepreneurship by offering randomly accessible elaboration from entrepreneurs introduced in the videos. Interactive videodiscs permit instructors to show students any part of a videodisc merely by swiping a barcode either with a wand or an automatic barcode reader. This nonlinear mode of instruction enables teachers to move swiftly from one segment of the videodisc to another for such purposes as exploring related topics, reviewing earlier material or for assessment embedded in the rich contexts of The E in Me®. Instructors may also have students use barcoded material for individual work or remediation.

Side two of the videodisc contains duplicates of the three VHS programs used in the "Sneak Preview" lesson (Day 2), in each module. This feature enables teachers to require only a single piece of hardware for all video media. Module programs are accessed by chapter input or barcode.

For instructors who do not have videodisc players available, a linear version of The E in Me® (Side 1 material) has been developed on videocassette. The instructional materials on the videotape is the same as that on the videodisc; however, tapes do not allow instructors instant access to whatever part of the materials they wish to use. Instructors face the minor inconvenience of having to rewind or fast-forward to reach the desired part of a videotape. More importantly, they do not provide the learning-enhancing features of this advanced medium such as random access, self-directed exploration and a captivating sense of interaction or experience.

The E in Me® Internet resources may be accessed through http://www.ait.net. This resource provides easy access to an abundance of materials for student research assignments (described in the Teacher's Guide units), extension activities, information on prominent entrepreneurs and their companies, and much more. Using the The E in Me® Internet Site, students can ultimately access hundreds of other related resources.

The E in Me® materials include a variety of assessment options to meet the needs of an ever-growing diverse student population. Worksheets, reports, surveys, and projects may also become part of the students' assessment portfolios. Scoring rubrics for these are offered in most cases. In addition, questions presented in videodisc segments may be repeated for assessment.