8. Virtual Economics 3.0 CD-ROM contains more than 1,200 lessons for K-12 Multi-media concept demonstrations Detailed information on 51 key economic concepts Glossary with 500+ terms State standards correlations
18. Connecting Students and Technology for Enhanced Learning... ...an OPPORTUNITY to lead!
Notes de l'éditeur
Good afternoon and welcome to Connecting Students and Technology for Enhanced Learning.
It is no secret that school administrators are requiring more and more technology in the classroom. Additionally, there are such diverse learning styles that you are expected to accommodate and still provide meaningful content. Plus, today’s students have short attention spans and expect to be somewhat entertained. So what do you do? You can fuss and fume that there is to much to do already – and adding technology is just one more job on top of everything else you have to do. OR, you can choose take this opportunity to become the leaders in your field who are preparing today’s students for the high-tech world in which they will live and work. In this workshop, I hope to be able to reduce your workload and make it FUN to teach economics and personal finance by showing you resources that are available through NCEE as well as free resources that you can find on the Internet.
I would like to get a little information about you. I would like you to hold up your fingers according to this chart to show me how comfortable you are with technology. Also check grade levels to see where to emphasize.
Now I would like to have you take a little quiz. Take the quiz.
As teachers we are used to being in the front of the room presenting our lectures and sharing our knowledge. It is difficult for us to give up this method of teaching. However, in today’s classroom, where there are students with such diverse learning styles, this method does not always work. So let’s talk about how we can go outside our 9 dots to use instructional technology and a variety of software and web-based resources that will help you speak the same digital language as your students and master the Michigan technology requirements in your economics classes.
Ask for input from audience and then show my list But what about instructional technology? What do I mean? I mean using computer resources to deliver your lessons. I am going to take the topic “credit” and show you three resources that you can purchase and a variety of free websites that you can use to teach your students about “credit” Before we begin, I would like you to take the NCEE Economic Literacy Quiz Let’s begin with Virtual Economics 3.0
VE can be used in K-12. It was originally designed to be a resource for classroom teachers to use to get background information about economic concepts and how to present the concepts in their classroom. As teachers used it more, they found that in addition to providing a multitude of print lessons, it was also an effective tool for use IN the classroom to introduce economic concepts. So let’s look at how it works. (Go through the process) Browse Economic Concepts Choose Personal Finance Economics Choose “Credit” Go through video, overview with vocabulary, tips, and lessons Also show browse economics lessons So with this resource you can teach introduce concepts and have access to lessons to reinforce the concepts. Now let’s look at another resource for K-12 – EconEdLink which is a FREE website.
With EconEdLink you can search for online lessons by Title, Grade, Standard, or Lesson Plan Type. It is K-12 CypberTeach: Includes “Today in History” and a “Tip of the Day” segments Current Events: Shows lesson plans related to current events DataLinks: Shows current economic indicators and other statistics WebLinks: Use these resources to find the best economics education web sites. Use the “Search” function to go to “THINKFINITY” website
We have looked at ways to introduce the topic of “credit” as well as sample lessons and activities for student use. But...what about the content? At this point, we will look at a resource that you can use to actually teach the concepts. Go through FYF using the summary sheet. Show a short portion of the credit video and then show the resources
Thinking Economics is a comprehensive, highly interactive, technology-based curriculum that makes learning economics FUN and EASY. It can be used as your “textbook” and you supplement it with the resources we have already checked out. Or you can use it to supplement your current curriculum. Choose the chapters that you need. You can use it for at-risk students, credit retrieval, advanced students, absent students, and substitute lesson plans. Intro, micro, macro, and global Teacher Resource Guide Reproducible Activity Masters Student Study Guide to reinforce concepts CD test bank with all of the activity masters that can be downloaded and modified
Let’s go through Chapter 4.6 Wise Use of Credit Show the program and how interactive it is. Talk about the uses Independent studies complement current curriculum Use for substitutes Absent students – get the same concept as others At-risk students – can go at their own pace Now let me show you a free website that complements this chapter – www.thinkingeconomics.net
This lesson is a portion of one of the print assignments in the Thinking Economics Reproducible Activity Masters
So we have looked at curriculum – now let’s check out a FREE website where you can find lessons to reinforce the content in Thinking Economics
The www.thinkingeconomics.net website provides additional real-world case studies to enhance the lessons in TE. While chapter 4.1 did not have a related case study, I wanted to show you what is available. I modified this case study to show you the entire format. Maybe talk about how I used 5-sentence paragraph format. Go through setup.
Now we will check out some Internet websites that you can utilize to further reinforce the concept of “credit” – you actually have these websites in a handout. Of course, you will be able to find additional material on the Internet but this will give you some immediate websites to check out that you do not have to research for yourself.
After looking at the various resources available, can you tell me some advantages to incorporating .......into your curriculum. Make a list and then compare to mine.
So now, armed with all of these tools and resources, you can incorporate technology into the curriculum at all grade levels, respond to the need for diverse teaching methods, give your students the visual, hands-on learning they expect and not significantly increase your workload. In fact, I might argue that you will reduce your workload. I will be happy to answer any questions you might have.