Workshop Details How Michigan High School Teachers Can Meet New Economics, Civics and Online Learning Requirements

National Council on Economic Education introduces instructional resources, techniques at Michigan social studies conference.

New York, NY (PRWeb) February 16, 2007 -- The National Council on Economic Education (NCEE, http://www.ncee.net) is slated to deliver an exclusive workshop for Michigan social studies teachers called 'Using Instructional Technology to Teach High School Economics.' The workshop will take place February 27 at 2:30 pm at the Michigan Council for the Social Studies conference in Lansing, MI, and will be led by John LeFeber, Curriculum & Instructional Developer for NCEE.

The workshop will explore instructional technology strategies Michigan teachers can use to teach high school economics, civics and world history. Teachers will also discover ways to blend web-based resources with their in-class instruction in order to meet the new online learning requirement that Michigan recently passed into law.

"Although new mandates are attractive in theory, there is always a time lag between the required implementation and the training that helps teachers meet those requirements," noted John LeFeber, NCEE's Curriculum & Instructional Developer. "This workshop details simple ways to use instructional technology to meet the new state requirements and quickly integrate online resources into the curriculum at the classroom level."

LeFeber will introduce teachers to a number of technology resources, including:

* Thinking Economics, a computer-based economics curriculum that uses a mix of computer-driven content, plus teacher instruction via activities, handouts, projects and simulations. There are also web-based case studies that provide students with practical applications of the core computer-based content.

* Virtual Economics, a CD-ROM database of over 1,250 print and online lesson plans from NCEE's suite of over 80 print publications and websites. Every lesson is correlated to Michigan content standards in economics, and is updated automatically whenever a teacher accesses the CD-ROM with an Internet-connected computer.

* EconEdLink.org, a website that contains online lesson plans in economics and personal finance, and is part of Verizon Thinkfinity, formerly known as MarcoPolo. The lesson plans require students to research, gather data and perform analysis using online tools and resources.

Most importantly, all of these resources are aligned to the Michigan Content Standards in Economics. "Teachers already have enough on their plates. The standards correlations allow teachers to focus on teaching and monitoring student outcomes, instead of tedious administrative and lesson planning work," notes LeFeber.

The 'Using Instructional Technology to Teach High School Economics' workshop will have a special focus on meeting Michigan's new requirement that all high school students complete an 'online experience' before they graduate.

"This requirement is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for Michigan social studies teachers to become the instructional leaders not only in their school districts, but in the entire country," continues LeFeber, referring to the fact that Michigan's new online learning initiative is believed to be the first of its kind in the United States. "Teachers can now lead the charge for online learning in the social studies curriculum, and prepare their students for the challenges of the global economy at the same time."

More Information about the 'Using Instructional Technology to Teach High School Economics' Workshop

To obtain a copy of workshop materials and handouts, contact Troy White at twhite @ ncee.net or call 212-730-1791.

About the National Council on Economic Education (NCEE)

The NCEE (www.ncee.net) is a non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to improving economic, financial and entrepreneurship literacy. Both directly and through its unique nationwide network of state Councils and more than 200 university based Centers for Economic Education, NCEE's programs reach more than 150,000 K-12 teachers and over 15 million students in more than 70,000 schools each year.

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