Using the Internet to Teach Economics---Helpful Sites

Economics 6485

Special Topics in Economics for Teachers

Summer 2003

Prepared by David Boldt, Economics Dept. UWG

dboldt@westga.edu

This document can be found on the web at www.westga.edu/~dboldt/econk12resources.htm

Additional Contact: Leland Gustafson, Director of Center for Economic Education, UWG

Email (lvg55@yahoo.com), Phone 770-836-6477

1) National Council on Economic Education (NCEE) --- www.ncee.net

NCEE is a national organization that supports the teaching of economics at the K-12 level. The following resources are available at the NCEE website under “Programs”:

• EconEdLink---contains online lessons, current data on economy, Cyberteach (use of the Internet in teaching economics). Lessons can be sorted by grade level.
• EconEd Letter---a newsletter with items of interest for web-based teaching of economics (found under the Cyberteach link)
• ECONnections---detailed lesson plans with web activities for students, audio interviews with experts (high school level)
• The Mint --- a site designed to teach 6-12 graders how to manage money
• Financial Fitness for Life---K-12 personal finance curriculum
• It All Adds Up---Games/simulations to introduce students to personal finance concepts (saving, spending, debt, investing). This feature is geared toward high school students.
• Mathematics and Economics: Connections for Life---website to support the integration of economic concepts in mathematics (grade level 6-12).
• National Standards---The NCEE has developed a set of 20 concept standards for economics with benchmarks for grades 4, 8 and 12.
• NCEE Publications (but don’t order here until you first check with the Georgia Council on Economic Education). Teachers in Georgia are able to obtain most NCEE materials for free from the GCEE.

2) Georgia Council on Economic Education (GCEE) --- www.gcee.org

Supports the teaching of economics at the K-12 level in Georgia

• Workshops (credit/non-credit)
• Catalog of economics-related teaching materials (able to order selected materials online)
• Programs (stock market game, economic history, international, mini society, Virtual Economics)
• Georgia Council News and Publications (“The Word on Economic Education,” Handbook on Teaching Resources)
• Centers for Economic Education. Leland Gustafson (lvg55@yahoo.com) is Director of the Center for Economic Education at West Georgia
• Contact at GCEE (Glen Blankenship, gblankenship@gsu.edu)

3) National Association of Economics Educators --- ecedweb.unomaha.edu/naee.htm

Professional association of economics educators

4) Georgia Department of Education --- www.doe.k12.ga.us

• Overview of DOE programs
• System Guides---information on each school/system in Georgia
• Curriculum---Select Social Studies, then Economics for a listing of QCC’s for economics

5) EcEdWeb --- ecedweb.unomaha.edu

A site maintained at the Center for Economic Education at the University of Nebraska, Omaha. The site provides links to resources on the Internet of use for the teaching of economics at the K-12 and university level.

Useful Resources under K-12 Teach, Web Teach

• Concepts---lessons on economic concepts by grade level and NCEE standard
• Standards---listing of national economic standards
• Classroom Lessons---online lessons keyed to grade level and economic standards
• Economics Web Projects---using the Internet as a tool for teaching economics
• Support Resources---useful online sites for teachers of economics

6) Federal Reserve Education Web Site www.federalreserveeducation.org

• Web curriculum (Our Money, Peanuts and Crackerjacks, the Fed Today)
• Resources (Ask Dr. Econ, Consumer Information, etc.)
• Newsletters for K-12 Educator (Econ Exchange---Richmond, FedEd---Dallas, Inside the Vault---St. Louis; On Reserve---Chicago; and The Ledger---Boston). The Fall 2001 issue of The Ledger discusses “Economic Resources on the Web.”
• Interactive websites (check out the “American Currency Exhibit” and the “Virtual Money Museum”)
• Other Federal Reserve Sites (e.g. Dallas, Richmond and San Francisco Federal Reserve banks),
• Non-Fed web sites and resources

7) Atlanta Federal Reserve www.frbatlanta.org

Provides limited economics education resources for K-12 teachers. Look under “Consumer Information” then select “Economic Education.”

• Visitor Center and Monetary Museum. Students can take a “virtual tour” of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta and its Monetary Museum
• Personal Finance Education---extensive information available on banking, consumer protection, and other personal finance topics
• Publications include: Checkbooklet, Dollars and Cents, and Federal Reserve Structure. To find, select “Publications” then “Books and Brochures.”

8) Foundation for Teaching Economics --- www.fte.org

Offers economics programs and seminars to teachers and students and other teaching resources.

• One day and residential seminars for students and teachers at a number of sites around the country. Topics include: economic history, economics and the environment, and economics for leaders.
• Lessons plans (a very nice selection listed by topic)

9) Jumpstart Coalition --- www.jumpstartcoalition.org

Personal finance literacy advocacy group

• Links to personal finance literacy websites (found under “Resources”)
• Personal Finance Clearinghouse---identifies personal finance materials for educational use
• Personal finance literacy standards (listed under “standards”)
• Georgia Consortium for Personal Finance Literacy (Georgia affiliate of Jumpstart Coalition)

10) Newspaper Sites

• New York Times Learning Network --- www.nytimes.com/learning/index.html
• CNN Student News --- fyi.cnn.com

11) Other Sites

• PBS --- http://www.pbs.org/ Go to Teacher Source for lessons and activities
• Junior Achievement ---www.ja.org Under “programs”, go to Onpoint Economics, a newsletter with discussion and economic activities. The Junior Achievement organization is very supportive of economic education in the K-12 classroom.
• Holt Online Learning--- Holt Economics Online site supporting this high school economics textbook
• Resources for Economists on the Internet- Resources for Economics on the Internet This site, sponsored by the American Economic Association, is an excellent resource for finding economic resources available on the Internet.