Threat or opportunity? A case study of digital-enabled redesign of entrepreneurship education in the COVID-19 emergency

The COVID-19 crisis has forced universities worldwide to seek urgent solutions to reconfigure traditional education programs for distance learning. The transformation process faces a number of complexities deriving from both institutional and contextual factors. It may generate threats and as well as opportunities to enhance the education system and prepare for potential future emergencies. In this article, we adopted a combined research approach to describe the experience of the Contamination Lab of the University of Salento (CLab@Salento), an entrepreneurship education program focused on innovative and technology-based entrepreneurship for university students. Moving from the analysis of the main challenges the pandemic generated for the institution, students and faculty, we illustrate the process of redesigning the entrepreneurial learning program by leveraging digital technologies. We show a new approach to entrepreneurial storytelling, pitching and business planning and development through digital technologies. We also report the outcomes of a student survey to highlight the strengths of the redesigned program and some weaknesses, especially associated with digital technologies’ limitations in education, which represent areas for future improvement. The study contributes at theory level with a new discussion on digital-supported entrepreneurship education. At practitioner level, it offers insights on redesigning traditional university programs to effectively address emergencies.