The world is advancing rapidly, and to succeed and remain relevant, we as individuals and organizations must constantly evolve and innovate.
Hackathon events are an effective and enjoyable way to achieve these two goals (of developing and innovating) together.
Research shows that innovation that comes from the ground up (from the participants) is much more likely to be successfully integrated into an organization compared to innovation imposed from above. This is precisely what happens in hackathons. Participants work in teams and offer creative solutions to the challenges presented to them.
Hackathon events are structured as competitive events, incorporating lectures, workshops, team collaboration, idea presentations, and the selection of the best ideas.
Each hackathon event allows participants to demonstrate various entrepreneurial skills, including teamwork, creative thinking, presentation, storytelling abilities, working under time pressure, and more. Beyond the innovative ideas that emerge, participants go through a process of personal and group development.
This combination makes hackathons meaningful events with tangible benefits for both the organization and the participants.
Check out Galit Zamler's tutorial video on what hackathons are. What do they involve? And why should you host one?
Along with its impressive achievements, Israel continues to act and strive to preserve its place as an entrepreneurial state. For this to succeed, Israel must nurture the future generation and prepare it for a dynamic world where constant change is our new reality.
Entrepreneurship plays a vital role in enhancing the country's economy, increasing employment opportunities, and reducing unemployment. Hence, investment in entrepreneurship education from an early age is worthwhile because it has a real payoff at the national level.
Sometimes, the question arises: Why study entrepreneurship? If the State of Israel is indeed an entrepreneurial country with many successful Israeli entrepreneurs, then perhaps there is no need to educate children for entrepreneurship and instill an entrepreneurial mindset in them.
Before you continue reading, we should note that entrepreneurship education is much more than an entrepreneurship course. It is a deeper version related to the way of thinking and behaviors that are acquired through a long process of learning in various ways, including experimentation, empowerment, and mentoring.
Integrating entrepreneurship into education is not intended to turn all students into entrepreneurs. Most graduates will still be employees. However, the skills acquired through entrepreneurship education are essential for success in any career path, whether as an employee or an entrepreneur.
Today, it is clear that professionalism alone is insufficient. Success in the modern job market also requires entrepreneurial qualifications. This is especially true in light of rapid technological developments, which are leading to a future where machines may replace workers who lack these skills.
Therefore, imparting entrepreneurial skills in the educational process is a crucial investment in students' futures, as it better prepares them for the challenges of the changing job market.
Among the benefits of entrepreneurship studies from an early age in schools are:
✓ Adapting the education system to the 21st century and making schools relevant to our time.
✓ Making the benefits of entrepreneurship accessible among disadvantaged populations, such as those of low socioeconomic status, thus contributes to reducing socioeconomic disparities.
✓ Developing entrepreneurial skills in schools equally among boys and girls will reduce the gap between male and female entrepreneurs.
✓ At a personal level, entrepreneurship studies are vital to empowering children, giving them the confidence they can achieve in whichever path they choose, regardless of their academic achievements (although fostering entrepreneurial skills certainly encourages learning and curiosity to explore).
✓ Providing education on entrepreneurship and exposure to various types of ventures encourages young people to make their mark on the world. By doing so, we open their eyes and help them understand the potential of entrepreneurship and self-fulfillment.
✓ Fear of failure is one of the factors that drives young people to pursue entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurship studies help us understand that failure is an integral part of the learning and development process. As long as we learn from it and take away lessons, it should be considered a valuable experience.
Professor Dan Shechtman, Israeli Nobel Prize winner in Chemistry, supported our perspective. He said, "Entrepreneurship studies are vital to any country that wants to survive in a world whose natural resources are rapidly depleting."
Galit Zamler believes that entrepreneurship education should begin at an early age. Hence, in 2009, she developed an entrepreneurship program for children and youth as an enrichment initiative for schools. The program has been implemented in dozens of schools across Israel, as well as in the US, China, Hong Kong, India, Vietnam, South Africa, and more.
The program is listed in the GFN database of the Israeli Ministry of Education, and its number is 1741.
The program imparts life skills to the younger generation, preparing them for successful integration into a rapidly changing world. The importance of teaching these skills to students has been increasingly realized in the education system in Israel and around the world in recent years.
In the Entrepreneurship Program, principals and teachers with no prior experience in entrepreneurship are encouraged to serve as mentors to students, imparting relevant knowledge and sharing their entrepreneurial experiences, enthusiasm, and confidence in their ability to succeed.
To instill entrepreneurial skills in young people, we should, on the one hand, expose them to creative ideas, inventions, innovation processes, and entrepreneurs, and, on the other hand, support them and enable them to realize their ideas for ventures and initiatives.
Galit Zamler's entrepreneurship program allows students to focus on any area of entrepreneurship that they choose. This can encompass social, environmental, scientific, technological, business, and other aspects.
As part of the program, students learn to identify opportunities, propose ideas for projects, plan out the implementation of projects, take responsibility, set and achieve goals, collect and analyze relevant information, convince others of their minds, believe in themselves and their abilities, deliver compelling speeches in public, make financial calculations, be sensible consumers, solve problems, be creative, work as part of a team, develop social skills, develop independent and positive thinking and much more.
The program encourages students to develop entrepreneurial competence through a meaningful and experiential learning process, utilizing lectures, discussions, presentations, videos, exercises, and, most notably, executing projects created by the students themselves.
As part of this program, students gain both theoretical and practical knowledge of entrepreneurship and experience in implementing their projects. Combining teaching skills with practical experience and mentoring by teachers prepares students to succeed in whatever path they choose.
It is possible and correct to educate children in entrepreneurship from an early age, with the belief that most entrepreneurial skills can be acquired. The environment plays a crucial role in this process and has a significant impact on the individual. Schools can provide this type of environment.
Watch Galit Zamler's lecture at the Open University Entrepreneurship Club, where she shares her story of the Entrepreneurship for Kids Program and its impact in Israel and around the world (in Hebrew).
The guiding principle in promoting the program in schools is that the future of each country and its citizens depends mainly on the education, tools, and skills we provide to our children.
Like Janusz Korczak said:
He who cares for days sows wheat
He who cares for years plants trees
He who cares for generations educates people
What Is on the Site and Who Is It for?
On this website, you can find a wealth of information on how to lead hackathons, along with examples from hackathon events we have led in organizations and educational institutions.
Additionally, those who aspire to be entrepreneurs will find a set of qualities and skills required for success on this website. To illustrate each of these skills, we have added examples of various entrepreneurs and initiatives from Israel and around the world. We hope website visitors will not only learn how to be entrepreneurs but also be inspired to become one.
Personally, the information on the site helped Galit Zamler draw inspiration from other entrepreneurs and overcome crises she experienced with the various projects she led and was part of.
There is also a lot of information about the entrepreneurship program for children and youth that Galit Zamler has developed. Those who understand the importance of entrepreneurship education from an early age will find a variety of online content, applications, and examples suitable for elementary schools, middle schools, and high schools (K-12) on this website.
Who is an entrepreneur?
It is allegedly clear: an entrepreneur is a person who takes a concept and works to bring it to life.
In practice, the definition is much broader. Almost all of us have ideas, but for many of us, the ideas remain a thought and a dialogue that we are unable to put into practice.
The difference lies in the characteristics, skills, knowledge, and experience that the entrepreneur has acquired throughout his life.
The corporate environment can encourage entrepreneurship and proactivity, but can also suppress them. Organizations that wish to evolve and grow their employees should allow them to come up with "crazy" innovative ideas, let people experience, and also welcome failures. All this is certainly true of educational institutions as well.
Entrepreneurial thinking is characterized by the ability to envision a different reality, the willingness to act on what needs improvement, and the conviction that we can make a positive impact. Entrepreneurs are individuals who not only complain about a given situation but also take action to change it. They see an opportunity in difficulty and are attentive to the environment to identify opportunities that would lead them to success. An organization's proactive culture encourages and facilitates the development of innovative ideas.
Essential Entrepreneurial Skills and Qualities
Among the skills of an entrepreneur you may find: a visionary and a focus on a purpose, determination and perseverance, courage to dare, daring to fail and try again, the ability to learn from mistakes, the desire to learn and grow, high self-esteem, belief in oneself, faith in one's own abilities, the ability to lead, optimism, practicality, the ability to plan, the ability to manage economically and stay within a budget, social and communication skills, oral and written communication skills, respect for others, attentiveness, the ability to be responsible and taking responsibility, patience, the ability and willingness to handle challenges, the ability to identify opportunities, willingness to acknowledge of others who think differently, creativity, the ability and desire to enjoy creating something, the ability to ask for help, the ability to manage yourself and others, the ability to take calculated risks, the ability to make the distinction between the wheat and the chaff, self-motivation, flexible thinking, realism, negotiation, ambition, self-discipline, work as a team, and the desire to make a change.
The skills required of an entrepreneur are valuable life skills that each of our children should possess to some extent to succeed in life and the labor market.
Most of the capabilities required for entrepreneurship can be acquired through education and experience. Children should learn them from an early age when they can adopt new abilities and behaviors relatively easily.
Students participating in our entrepreneurial program learn to understand the importance of entrepreneurial skills. Moreover, via theoretical and experiential learning, students internalize and adopt these qualities.
Now It's Your Turn
Galit Zamler has extensive experience organizing hackathons in organizations and educational institutions to promote bottom-up innovation.
Feel free to contact Galit Zamler to plan your event.
And the educators among you, who realize the importance of entrepreneurial education from an early age, are welcome to contact Galit Zamler and get details so that you, too, can teach the EFK program at your school and prepare your students for life.
