SMG Teaches Entrepreneurs Around the Globe
SMG’s Beth Goldstein runs a distance-ed program named one of the top five e-schools by Fortune Small Business.
Beth Goldstein teaches in Boston — and in Africa and in Europe. Three years ago, the School of Management lecturer and research associate joined forces with the University’s Office of Distance Learning and the Institute for Technology Entrepreneurship and Commercialization (ITEC) to expand her lessons across the globe.
Goldstein, the program’s faculty director, and four other faculty members run a four-course Online Certificate in Entrepreneurship Program. The program recently was named one of the top five e-schools in Fortune Small Business’ America’s Best Colleges for Entrepreneurs.
The faculty members, who are entrepreneurs themselves, previously had taught the courses in classroom settings. Goldstein says that each spent six to nine months developing the new interactive courses.
Goldstein, the associate director of communications for ITEC, teaches the sales and marketing course. Although concerned initially about connecting as easily with students online, she finds that e-mail relationships work well. “For some people,” she says, “they work even better than in a classroom setting.”
“One of the beauties is that it’s not a set time, it’s not a live classroom,” she says. Students in the program live across the globe, including in Africa, South America, and France, but can interact with one another in chat room discussions.
Goldstein hasn’t left the classroom completely; she still teaches an entrepreneurship class in SMG. “I enjoy both classes for different reasons,” she says.
Rebecca McNamara can be reached at ramc@bu.edu.