Analysis And Recommendations Of Online Learning Resources For Teachers Who Lead Economics And Financial Literary Courses In K-12 Schools

Sydney White

School Name

South Carolina Governor's School for Science and Mathematics

Grade Level

12th Grade

Presentation Topic

Consumer Science

Presentation Type

Mentored

Mentor

Mentor: Jim Morris, CEO, SC Economics

Written Paper Award

1st Place

Abstract

While the economic vitality of most of the world’s population depends on financial literacy and economic knowledge, these are scarce resources. Increasing financial and economic education may seem like an easy task, but a majority of teachers are uncomfortable teaching these subjects because of their lack of knowledge. This leads to a cycle of ignorance, with only a select few people exempt. Teachers are not the only pathway to financial and economic education; however, the Internet is full of useful resources. Unfortunately, suitable websites are often difficult and time consuming to locate. If teachers were given a list of useful online economic and financial literacy resources, they would be able to use them in their classroom and would be more comfortable teaching the subjects. Approximately 100 free online resources were compiled and analyzed. Then rubrics were created that evaluated resources based on their quality, content, reinforcement of concepts, aesthetics, along with other criteria. There was a rubric for each type of resource: website, YouTube channel or video website, game, or app. The resources were evaluated and average rubric scores were examined. The final resource list was created with the resources sorted into sections by type, then into subsections by grade level. The final list included a brief description of each resource along with a link and the source’s type (finance- or economics-based). These resources included useful links to organizations such as Gen I Revolution and Secret Millionaires Club.

Start Date

4-11-2015 11:15 AM

End Date

4-11-2015 11:30 AM

COinS
 
Apr 11th, 11:15 AM Apr 11th, 11:30 AM

Analysis And Recommendations Of Online Learning Resources For Teachers Who Lead Economics And Financial Literary Courses In K-12 Schools

While the economic vitality of most of the world’s population depends on financial literacy and economic knowledge, these are scarce resources. Increasing financial and economic education may seem like an easy task, but a majority of teachers are uncomfortable teaching these subjects because of their lack of knowledge. This leads to a cycle of ignorance, with only a select few people exempt. Teachers are not the only pathway to financial and economic education; however, the Internet is full of useful resources. Unfortunately, suitable websites are often difficult and time consuming to locate. If teachers were given a list of useful online economic and financial literacy resources, they would be able to use them in their classroom and would be more comfortable teaching the subjects. Approximately 100 free online resources were compiled and analyzed. Then rubrics were created that evaluated resources based on their quality, content, reinforcement of concepts, aesthetics, along with other criteria. There was a rubric for each type of resource: website, YouTube channel or video website, game, or app. The resources were evaluated and average rubric scores were examined. The final resource list was created with the resources sorted into sections by type, then into subsections by grade level. The final list included a brief description of each resource along with a link and the source’s type (finance- or economics-based). These resources included useful links to organizations such as Gen I Revolution and Secret Millionaires Club.