Thanks to Emily Iverson of Mukwonago High School (Wisconsin) for joining me recently on the NGPF podcast show. I came across Emily in a recent Lake Country Now article that highlighted the amazing growth of personal finance enrollment at her high school:

I was also intrigued that Emily had created an online course in 2011 that could serve summer school students not able to schedule the course into their regular school year. I thought our educator audience would want to learn more about how to incorporate online resources into their classroom.

Listen to this podcast to hear Emily answer such questions:

• What is the most important personal finance concept you incorporate into your curriculum?
• How do you think about structuring an online unit? What are the key components?
• What is the role of teacher in an on-line environment?
• How do you make the most of on-line student discussions?
• What are the most important lessons learned through your experience over the last five years?

Details:

• 0:00~1:23 – Introduction
• 1:23~4:23 – Passion for personal finance
• 4:23~5:42 – School background
• 5:42~8:43 – Building an online course
• 8:43~12:39 – Starting Up an Online Course
• 12:39~15:13 – Peer-collaboration on Moodle
• 15:13~17:59 – Finding resources
• 17:59~21:12 –  Emily’s first online class
• 21:12~24:19 – Emily’s personal finance units
• 24:19~25:19 – Assessment
• 25:19~28:21 –  Important topics to cover?
• 28:21~30:08 – Student interest in personal finance topics
• 30:08~36:44 – What teachers should be aware of when starting an online course
• 36:44~39:44 – Why teachers should be interested in online learning
• 39:44~40:40 – Conclusion

Resources:

• Moodle (Learning Management System) 
• JumpStart “Fabulous for Resources”
• National Endowment for Financial Education
• Remind 101 (Students can text Emily questions)

About the Author

Tim Ranzetta

Tim's saving habits started at seven when a neighbor with a broken hip gave him a dog walking job. Her recovery, which took almost a year, resulted in Tim getting to know the bank tellers quite well (and accumulating a savings account balance of over $300!). His recent entrepreneurial adventures have included driving a shredding truck, analyzing executive compensation packages for Fortune 500 companies and helping families make better college financing decisions. After volunteering in 2010 to create and teach a personal finance program at Eastside College Prep in East Palo Alto, Tim saw firsthand the impact of an engaging and activity-based curriculum, which inspired him to start a new non-profit, Next Gen Personal Finance.