Week 6- Article 1(REDO)

I was fortunate to attend Portsmouth High school which offered several business classes such as typing, accounting I and II, and Intro to Business Economics in the early 2000s. For the duration of business economics my teacher would bring in the newspapers and we would track pretend stocks to learn about pretend investment. It was a nightmare. No one knew what they were doing. Recently I attended a business class at this same school and was introduced to the Stock Market Game . The students loved this game. That day they pummeled the teacher with requests to play. The teacher instructed the students to do their busy work first before retrieving their pre-assigned lap tops. One by one the students provided the proof of their finished work and retrieved their lab top. Every student participated and competed in the game. Some students worked together while others listen to music through headphones.


In an article, Stock Market Game Teaches Kids Investing Basics” , written by Taylor Temby a journalism major at the University of Colorado Boulder for the News9.com of Colorado discuss the success their state has seen with this program. “If you were given $100,000 to invest, how would you pick companies that would earn you a profit? Students at Columbine High School faced this challenge in the realistic Stock Market Game. Though the money is fake, the game's central idea of teaching students investing basics is as real as it gets.” Along with the game, teachers can opt to enlist the help of stock market mentors who volunteer to discuss investment and economy lessons with the class. The game also allow student to compete with other classes in near by states or solely compete within their class. This option allows for all types of districts and their technology abilities. This article goes on to talk about a study by Learning Point Associates who found students who participate in The Stock Market Game, tested higher in both mathematics and financial literacy.

In another article, “Program Stimulates Real World Investing for Teens” , from Newjersey.com describes the game as an afterschool program for student in grades fourth through ninth. In this program, students make teams of three or four and compete with our counties for prizes.

The concept is excellent. Students are drawn to technology. Also they need experience with it to compete in today’s job market. How many people check there investments in a physical newspaper. Not many, most investors track there earnings online or on their smart phones. The students in the class I attended watched the real time stocks on their smart phones outside of class. They had a true interest in the subject they were learning because it was fun. Cognitive theory suggests that student learn better from physically doing. Schools can’t budge $100,000 to every student to play with, but the game is the next most real thing and it helps students to learn at the same time. After researching the website I discovered there is an international version of the game. There are many global opportunities with a game that is international. Collaborating with teachers and having student share there experience among different cultures. Also the stock market is affected globally and students will be basing their investment decision on all economies.

I believe it is extremely important to incorporate technology in as much as a classroom as possible. Technology is the forum student use to communicate and it also allows more avenues for global collaboration. I plan to use games such as this one in my classroom because it will reach more students and be more affective than old methods. I hope the school I work for will see the value and invest in these types of tools to provide a better future for all students. If the school needs more proof of its success I know I can connect with council and associations mentioned in the above articles to help persuade administrators.

Colorado Council for Economic Education (CCEE)
Security Industry and Financial Markets Association (SIFMA) Foundation of Investment

Week 5- 2

Reflect on your blog thoughts about scratch and Cameron's presentation - Include how you think this might be used in your classroom(check out all of the resources above! and the website www.scratch.mit.edu)

I think scratch is so interesting. It’s way beyond me at this point and I’m not sure how I can truly benefit from using it in a business education class but I know the students will be amazing at it and respond well to using it to learn concepts. Now I need to spend more time playing around with it. I want to learn more about the quiz maker function. I believe students learn best when they teach others the material. Since Scratch is fun the students won’t realize they are learning. I also want to utilize the collaboration tool. Maybe do some kind of pen pal situation with another student collaborating to produce a story about global economics.

Cameron was a great presenter. I could follow him very easily but still felt my own creativity and ideas popping into my head. I could tell he really believed in the value of scratch and teaching all students the basics of programing. As a student I like having quest speakers, and I believe it is a teaching strategy we learned about in my learning theories and cognition class. It was determined that students respond well to a new face.

I like this quote from the Scratch Day goes Global article. “To help them learn to think creatively, reason systematically and work collaboratively” Resnick’s purpose in developing and promoting scratch for students. I think this is an important message to teachers preparing students for their futures.

Week 1-2

What is the general purpose and reasoning behind incorporating global projects, education, and collaboration into the classroom?

The Kids. The kids are the future. Globalization and collaboration are important for students to learn about. They will be left in the dust if we don’t bring more attention to these topics. The purpose is to make a better world. Yes it is true that our student need to be educated about these topics to be able to compete with other nation’s students for jobs. However I think the video was trying to say that it’s not a competition but more of a collaboration to make the world a better place.

In the video, The World is Flat, Freidman said the only untouchable asset was creativity. He gave two examples of creative. He suggested that we can have positive creativity but need to have programs in place to support it. It should begin in the classroom.

I believe teachers who resist technology don’t understand how depended our future is on it. I also believe that children and students communicate throught technology therefore a student center teaching method would absolutely need to include technology. The truth is the students don’t need us to teach them about globalization, they will discover it on their own. This is the purpose of incorporating these themes for more responsible outcomes.

Week 1-1

Thoughts on the 10 flatteners of Friedman - Are we living in a flat world?

Wow, or should I say, “whoa”. Friedman has broken down all the reasons he claims the world is flat in 10 simple and easy to understand reasons. Technically speaking, no, we don’t live in a flat world. However technology, collaboration and globalization create a sense of flat because there seems to be no boundaries.

I have a degree in business administration, to say I heard wal-mart used as an example would be an understatement. They are truly a well oil machine in the operations department. My personal favorite is the in-sourcing. We don’t talk about in-sourcing that often and to use UPS as an example was excellent. In fact I had no idea they offered this type of business.

We are living in a flat world when society functions the way it doesn’t today, working from home, regularly communicating with people from across the world and advancing educational possibilities. I’m personally excited and agree with Friedman; it will all start with educating the future to make the right positive and creative decisions.

Week 4- 1

Although all the provided NETS Standards for teacher are important I would focus on # 4, Promote and Model Digital Citizenship and Responsibility. I think this point is very important because of two key verbs Promote and Model. It is well known that children and student model adults and teachers. It is imperative that teacher show good digital citizenship before promoting it to their students. The first lesson in convincing a teacher of the important of digital Citizenship is researching their digital foot print. Although most teachers probably have a clean print some might relies how permanent their actions are. This type of shock could carry over to the students.

The not so short video, “The world is flat”, is another avenue I would suggest when educating faculty. The video is great because it is organized and funny. Teacher will understand how important the digital world is for youth and students. More importantly the end of the video reminds us how powerful the digital world is and how significant a teacher influence is on children. The author suggest simply supporting positive creativity will cure our digital worries.

I would take advantage of websites like http://www.digitalcitizenship.net/Nine_Elements.html which show case elements of Digital Citizenship for teachers to read and understand. In regards to this website I would bring attention to number 4, Digital Literacy. Teachers who acknowledge and learn how to use the internet can utilize it and communicate its benefits and disadvantages to the students. Having this type of communication is important between students and teachers.