On to the Good Stuff: Use Technology to Cover CoreEconomic Principles in Your Business Courses

Today You'll Discover How To:

1. Use technology to create a credit module

2. Build your knowledge base of (and comfort with) economic andpersonal finance concepts

3. Find "teachable moment" economic and personal finance lesson plans

Resources:

Virtual Economics -- http://ve.councilforeconed.org

EconEdLink -- http://www.econedlink.org

Troy D. White, Senior Director of Sales andMarketingCouncil for Economic Educationtwhite@councilforeconed.org212-730-1791 work917-270-0634 cell

VCTE ConferenceRichmond, VA

August 5, 2009

I became a teacher because

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Credit is a hot buzzword today, so let's click on Credit to get started...

"Overview" tab -- a definition used to teach the concept of Credit

Credit refers to the ability to borrow money. Some forms of credit commonly used by consumers are car loans, homemortgage loans and credit cards. Firms also use credit regularly, either by borrowing from a bank or issuing corporatebonds. Government also uses credit when it needs to borrow money to finance a budget deficit. Those who can borrowmoderate or large sums of money at a reasonable rate of interest are sometimes said to have good credit, while thosewho cannot borrow such amounts at such rates are said to have bad credit.

Credit is extremely useful to the economy....

Glossary for Credit Lesson -- populated from Credit "Overview" hyperlinks

ConsumptionSpending by households on goods and services. The process of buying and using goods andservices.

GoodsTangible objects that satisfy economic wants.

Households...

Here are more Credit terms, from the full glossary

"Lessons" Tab -- finding activity-based lessons to demonstrate Credit

A description of the lesson is included underneath the title...

After deciding the lessons under the "Lessons" tab weren't a good fit, we chose "view morehigh school lessons >>". Now we have 37 lessons to choose from...

We're going to use "The Credit Card Mystery" lesson from the "Great Economic MysteriesBook"

We'll print the lesson, and we're ready for our in-class activity!

"Tips" Tab -- helps us teach the concept with confidence

Tip #1Students often think that credit cards are money, and they don't recognize that there is aresponsibility associated with credit. On a particularly beautiful day, allow your students toborrow 10 minutes of class time for additional recess. Explain that they will have to repayyou later and that you will charge interest. On another particularly beautiful day, explainthat the students will have to repay the time that they borrowed plus one minute. Reducetheir recess time by 11 minutes. They will complain, but remind them that credit involvesborrowing something with the promise to repay. Discuss other things that they and otherpeople borrow. Point out that when we borrow, we get something now, but we give upsomething in the future. Identify the extra minute as interest and explain that whenpeople borrow money, they pay interest. Interest is the price paid for using someoneelse's money. Ask the students to analyze the costs and benefits of borrowing recess time.---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Tip #2Credit can be an effective tool for purchasing goods and services that are needed ordesired. When talking about credit, ...

"Multimedia Demonstration" -- video clip introduces/reinforces the concept (for you andyour students)

Let's find an online lesson to extend our Credit lesson...

We have a free online lesson from EconEdLink.org

Go to http://www.econedlink.org/lessons/ and search for 'credit for beginners' (no quotes)

Finding Teachable Moment Lesson Plans on EconEdLink.org

Step 1. Scroll to bottom of http://www.econedlink.org and click on "quick search" to find aparticular concept

Step 2. Refine your search with the "Find a Lesson" section on the left side of the screen

• Clicking the "advanced" button lets you search the title and body for keywords

Step 3. Navigation

a) Current Events -- latest economic news, with "related lesson plans" that help you applyeconomics lessons to current events

b) Weblinks -- online resources and Web sites

c) Datalinks -- key economic data, and what it means

d) Cyberteach -- includes a "Today In History" with related lessons to teach that topic;EconEdLink Tools, http://www.econedlink.org/cyberteach/tools.php, has interactives

e) Standards -- find lesson plans that meet your state economic content standards