World Wide Web Resources for Teaching
World Wide Web Resources for Teaching and Learning Economics.
Author: VanFossen, Phillip J.
We live in an information-rich society, one in which, via various forms of technology, information on almost any topic can be obtained nearly instantaneously. The proliferation of such information technology has begun to make its way into the nation's schools in the form of, among other things, instructional resources such as videodiscs, CD-ROMs and other computer-driven materials, and the nearly ubiquitous World Wide Web (WWW). Indeed, in 1996, 64% of schools nationwide had WWW access (Coley et al., 1997).
Technological resources abound for teachers of all subject areas and all grade levels, but for many reasons, such instructional technology seems to lend itself to the social studies at least as well as for any other subject area (Braun et al., 1998). Certainly this is true in the realm of economic education (Boldt et al., 1994). Leu, et al. (1997), however, found that many teachers who tried to employ the WWW in their teaching lacked the skills needed to efficiently use the resource. As a result, these teachers and their students often wasted time endlessly "surfing" the WWW for content-specific sites. In an attempt to aid the economic educator in using the WWW more efficiently and effectively in classroom instruction, this ERIC Digest provides an overview of WWW sites that can be used to improve instruction in K-12 economic education. This review will follow the major categories of WWW usage outlined by Leu et al., (1997) and others in this field: (1) The World Wide Web as a teacher resource, (2) The World Wide Web as a student resource, and (3) interactive World Wide Web-based lessons.
INSTRUCTIONAL RESOURCES FOR TEACHERS
Teachers who use the WWW as an instructional resource are interested in acquiring knowledge of economic concepts and principles (e.g., supply and demand, marginal cost, etc.) and in identifying instructional plans that might be used to teach these various economics concepts. The following WWW sites are excellent examples:
* THE NATIONAL COUNCIL ON ECONOMIC EDUCATION (NCEE) WEBSITE
provides descriptions of the NationalCouncil and its two outreach programs, EconomicsAmerica andEconomicsInternational. Readers can access an on-line version of the NCEEcurriculum catalog and order materials. In addition, each of the 20"Voluntary National Content Standards in Economics" (Meszaros 1997) can beprinted or downloaded from a link at this site. These "Standards" includestudent performance benchmarks that outline what economic content shouldbe covered at various grade levels.
* EcEdWeb, developed by the University of Nebraska at Omaha's (UNO) Center for Economic Education, is the most comprehensive economic education site on the WWW. EcEdWeb provides support for economics teachers across all grade levels in its "Economics Resources for K-12 Teachers" section. Here teachers can access curriculum materials, including lesson plans for teaching various economics concepts, suggestions for integrating the WWW into teaching, and useful Internet and WWW sites for developing both teacher and student background in economics. Perhaps the most useful aspect of EcEdWeb for economic educators is the link to the homepage for "Economics is Elementary," a course offered by the UNO Center for Economic Education. Here teachers can find the course reading list, links to other economics lessons and Web sites, and a variety of Web-based ideas for incorporating economics into the elementary grades.
* CyberTeach provides an overview of using the WWW to teach economics. Readers can access a guide that makes it easy for teachers to access web sites that inform and enliven any economics curriculum. These sites include information on basic web skills, provide examples of lessons that teach economic concepts, and give step-by-step instructions on how to construct economics lessons using the Internet.
* CyberEconomics
INFORMATIONAL RESOURCES FOR STUDENTS
When students use the WWW to acquire knowledge and gather information, they can "expand their understanding of important concepts and communicate these ideas more effectively" (Leu, et al. 1997, 14). Indeed, one of the most powerful aspects of the WWW is its ability to provide access to the most up-to-date information available. Carr (1994) indicated that the use of current information about economics found in newspapers and magazines could enhance all students' understanding and appreciation of economics. Several of the following student resource sites provide access to, in some cases, up-to-the minute economic information.
* USA Today's Economy Track provides students with practical articles and statistics on all aspects of the United States' economic conditions. Many of the charts and graphs can be downloaded and used to develop data analysis lessons.
* Orley Amos' Pedestrian's Guide to the Economy
* EconomicsMinute helps students explore the economics behind the news of the week. EconomicsMinute provides links to newspapers and news channels, classroom discussion questions, and suggested classroom activities, all of which can enhance current events discussions in any subject area.
INTERACTIVE INSTRUCTIONAL ACTIVITIES
The final category of WWW usage involves students going beyond simply using the WWW as an information resource and actually participating in on-line instructional activities. Perhaps the best model of this type of activity is the WebQuest (Dodge 1995). These interactive modules require students to complete a specific, content-oriented task for which all necessary resources are embedded in the on-line lesson using hypertext. Several of the examples listed below employ a modified WebQuest design.
* NetNewsLine is a recent addition to the NCEE Website and is co-sponsored by MCI. NetNewsLine features truly interactive Web-based lessons developed around timely topics in economics (e.g., the "economics" of professional sports). Students are given a variety of tasks--including conducting research and creating reports--all of which must be completed using WWW-based resources.
* SMG2000
* Escape from Knab is an on-line simulation in which students venture to planet Knab ("a strange and slimy place") and, in order to survive, must make a number of successful decisions after weighing various consequences. Because students must engage in cost-benefit analysis and allocate scarce resources, this simulation provides several economics-based teaching opportunities.
CONCLUSION
The WWW is a powerful resource for all economic educators and their students. This ERIC Digest has provided an overview of several WWW-based resources for teaching and learning K-12 economics. While this list is necessarily truncated, the sites presented here can be considered among the best and are certainly an excellent place for the neophyte user to begin.
REFERENCES AND ERIC RESOURCES
Boldt, David J. "The Internet: A Curriculum Warehouse for Social Studies Teachers." SOCIAL STUDIES 86 (May/June 1995): 105-112. EJ 510 826.
Boldt, David J., Leland Gustafson, and Jack Johnson. "The Internet: A Resource in the Teaching of Economics and Beyond." BUSINESS EDUCATION FORUM 49 (October, 1994): 23-26. EJ 490 455.
Braun, Joseph, Phyllis Fernlund, and Charles White. TECHNOLOGY TOOLS IN THE SOCIAL STUDIES CLASSROOM. Wilsonville, OR: Franklin, Beedle and Associates, 1998.
Carr, Fred M. "Enhancing K-12 Economic Education with Contemporary Information Resources." CLEARINGHOUSE 67 (July/August 1994): 348-353. EJ 490 768.
Coley, Richard, John Cradler, and Penelope K. Engel. COMPUTERS AND CLASSROOMS: THE STATUS OF TECHNOLOGY IN U.S. SCHOOLS. Policy Information Report. Princeton, NJ: Educational Testing Service, 1997. ED 412 893.
Dodge, Bernie. "WebQuests: A Technique for Internet-Based Learning." DISTANCE EDUCATOR 1 (Summer 1995): 10-13. EJ 518 478.
Leu, Donald, Deborah Diadiun Leu, and Katherine R. Len. TEACHING WITH THE INTERNET: LESSONS FROM THE CLASSROOM. Norwood, MA: Christopher Gordon Publishers, 1997. ED 412 922.
Meszaros, Bonnie. "Economic Standards: A Guide for Curriculum Planners." SOCIAL EDUCATION 61 (October 1997): 324-27. EJ 557 561.
Wood, William C., and Alice M. Agogino. "Engineering Courseware Content Delivery." JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR INFORMATION SCIENCE 47 (November 1996): 863-869. EJ 539 652.
Wood, William C., and others. "The Stock Market Game: Classroom Use and Strategy." JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC EDUCATION 23 (Summer 1992): 236-246. EJ 458 441.
Yoshimura, Miles. "Economics Internet Sites for Reference Librarians." REFERENCE LIBRARIAN 57 (1997): 127-137. EJ 552 609.
Source: ERIC Clearinghouse for Social Studies/Social Science Education Bloomington IN.
Author: VanFossen, Phillip J.
We live in an information-rich society, one in which, via various forms of technology, information on almost any topic can be obtained nearly instantaneously. The proliferation of such information technology has begun to make its way into the nation's schools in the form of, among other things, instructional resources such as videodiscs, CD-ROMs and other computer-driven materials, and the nearly ubiquitous World Wide Web (WWW). Indeed, in 1996, 64% of schools nationwide had WWW access (Coley et al., 1997).
Technological resources abound for teachers of all subject areas and all grade levels, but for many reasons, such instructional technology seems to lend itself to the social studies at least as well as for any other subject area (Braun et al., 1998). Certainly this is true in the realm of economic education (Boldt et al., 1994). Leu, et al. (1997), however, found that many teachers who tried to employ the WWW in their teaching lacked the skills needed to efficiently use the resource. As a result, these teachers and their students often wasted time endlessly "surfing" the WWW for content-specific sites. In an attempt to aid the economic educator in using the WWW more efficiently and effectively in classroom instruction, this ERIC Digest provides an overview of WWW sites that can be used to improve instruction in K-12 economic education. This review will follow the major categories of WWW usage outlined by Leu et al., (1997) and others in this field: (1) The World Wide Web as a teacher resource, (2) The World Wide Web as a student resource, and (3) interactive World Wide Web-based lessons.
INSTRUCTIONAL RESOURCES FOR TEACHERS
Teachers who use the WWW as an instructional resource are interested in acquiring knowledge of economic concepts and principles (e.g., supply and demand, marginal cost, etc.) and in identifying instructional plans that might be used to teach these various economics concepts. The following WWW sites are excellent examples:
* THE NATIONAL COUNCIL ON ECONOMIC EDUCATION (NCEE) WEBSITE
* EcEdWeb
* CyberTeach
* CyberEconomics
INFORMATIONAL RESOURCES FOR STUDENTS
When students use the WWW to acquire knowledge and gather information, they can "expand their understanding of important concepts and communicate these ideas more effectively" (Leu, et al. 1997, 14). Indeed, one of the most powerful aspects of the WWW is its ability to provide access to the most up-to-date information available. Carr (1994) indicated that the use of current information about economics found in newspapers and magazines could enhance all students' understanding and appreciation of economics. Several of the following student resource sites provide access to, in some cases, up-to-the minute economic information.
* USA Today's Economy Track
* Orley Amos' Pedestrian's Guide to the Economy
* EconomicsMinute
INTERACTIVE INSTRUCTIONAL ACTIVITIES
The final category of WWW usage involves students going beyond simply using the WWW as an information resource and actually participating in on-line instructional activities. Perhaps the best model of this type of activity is the WebQuest (Dodge 1995). These interactive modules require students to complete a specific, content-oriented task for which all necessary resources are embedded in the on-line lesson using hypertext. Several of the examples listed below employ a modified WebQuest design.
* NetNewsLine
* SMG2000
* Escape from Knab
CONCLUSION
The WWW is a powerful resource for all economic educators and their students. This ERIC Digest has provided an overview of several WWW-based resources for teaching and learning K-12 economics. While this list is necessarily truncated, the sites presented here can be considered among the best and are certainly an excellent place for the neophyte user to begin.
REFERENCES AND ERIC RESOURCES
Boldt, David J. "The Internet: A Curriculum Warehouse for Social Studies Teachers." SOCIAL STUDIES 86 (May/June 1995): 105-112. EJ 510 826.
Boldt, David J., Leland Gustafson, and Jack Johnson. "The Internet: A Resource in the Teaching of Economics and Beyond." BUSINESS EDUCATION FORUM 49 (October, 1994): 23-26. EJ 490 455.
Braun, Joseph, Phyllis Fernlund, and Charles White. TECHNOLOGY TOOLS IN THE SOCIAL STUDIES CLASSROOM. Wilsonville, OR: Franklin, Beedle and Associates, 1998.
Carr, Fred M. "Enhancing K-12 Economic Education with Contemporary Information Resources." CLEARINGHOUSE 67 (July/August 1994): 348-353. EJ 490 768.
Coley, Richard, John Cradler, and Penelope K. Engel. COMPUTERS AND CLASSROOMS: THE STATUS OF TECHNOLOGY IN U.S. SCHOOLS. Policy Information Report. Princeton, NJ: Educational Testing Service, 1997. ED 412 893.
Dodge, Bernie. "WebQuests: A Technique for Internet-Based Learning." DISTANCE EDUCATOR 1 (Summer 1995): 10-13. EJ 518 478.
Leu, Donald, Deborah Diadiun Leu, and Katherine R. Len. TEACHING WITH THE INTERNET: LESSONS FROM THE CLASSROOM. Norwood, MA: Christopher Gordon Publishers, 1997. ED 412 922.
Meszaros, Bonnie. "Economic Standards: A Guide for Curriculum Planners." SOCIAL EDUCATION 61 (October 1997): 324-27. EJ 557 561.
Wood, William C., and Alice M. Agogino. "Engineering Courseware Content Delivery." JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR INFORMATION SCIENCE 47 (November 1996): 863-869. EJ 539 652.
Wood, William C., and others. "The Stock Market Game: Classroom Use and Strategy." JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC EDUCATION 23 (Summer 1992): 236-246. EJ 458 441.
Yoshimura, Miles. "Economics Internet Sites for Reference Librarians." REFERENCE LIBRARIAN 57 (1997): 127-137. EJ 552 609.
Source: ERIC Clearinghouse for Social Studies/Social Science Education Bloomington IN.
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