Author: amanda

Throughout this learning design blueprint we will describe the learning resource we are designing, titled The Journey to Understanding Finances. Our topic is about introducing a sense of what an individual’s finances entails, and guiding individuals to better manage their money. Individual finances can consist of just one individual’s finances, a couple’s, or a household’s finances, but is focused on understanding and managing your personal money, not relative to a company’s finances or others. “[Personal finances] is about learning to manage income and wealth to satisfy desires in life or to create more income and more wealth…[it] is about learning how to get what you want and how to protect what you’ve got.” (Siegel, 2012). Research published in 2014 surveying millennials, the largest generation and known as the “powerhouse of the economy,” showed that about 55% of them had student loan debt, 47% of them carried credit card debt (and incurring interest), 53% of individuals with long term debt could not afford necessities, and 40% of individuals without long term debt also could not afford basic needs or pay their bills (de Bassa Scheresberg, 2014). While the research may be dated, the cost of living has only risen since, and it is important that we teach current and future generations how to manage their finances early, so they are not in this position without guidance. 

In our quest to create a beginner financial literacy course we must address the several common misconceptions that students have about finances in order to eliminate them. One of the most common misconceptions is that finances are only important in the future. Many young adults think that financial planning is a complex and daunting task, and that they do not need to look into it now. This misconception can result in missed opportunities for building strong financial habits early on. Another prevalent misconception is that financial planning solely revolves around saving money. Since some individuals may not have substantial savings or a high income, they will believe that financial planning does not relate to them because they do not have a lot of money put aside. This misconception neglects the broader scope of financial literacy which includes, budgeting, managing debt, understanding debt and making informed financial decisions. 

We chose this topic because we feel that there is a gap in our learning when it comes to financial literacy, and we have heard a similar consensus among many other students. Providing students with practical information that will set them up for financial success is something we feel is important.

The target audience for this material is Canadian high school students in grades 11 and 12. Individuals are expected to have basic math knowledge and sufficient English language skills. The course is entirely asynchronous and self-paced, using a computer. If a student does not have access to a computer, one will be provided to them by the high school. Learning challenges that occur in public high school will be addressed through adaptations for each student’s needs. For example, if a student is blind, text-to-speech-audio will be provided. This is expanded on in the “Overview of Accommodations for Diverse Learners” post.

Our course will be hosted on a WordPress Blog. This allows us to design an actual course, instead of theoretical rationale. We link to additional resources for resources in each of the subtopics, like YouTube videos and websites. Assessments and activities are organized with one of three technologies; a discussion post on a student WordPress Blog, an interactive activity on an external website, or an email to student’s instructor. These choice of these technologies are expanded on in the “Technology Choices” post.

References

de Bassa Scheresberg, Carlo, et al. “College-Educated Millennials: An Overview of Their Personal Finances.” TIAA-CREF Institute, Feb. 2014, www.tiaa.org/content/dam/tiaa/institute/pdf/full-report/2017-02/gflec-overview-millennials-personal-finances-feb2014.pdf.

Siegel, Rachel, and Carol Yacht. “Personal Finance.” Personal Finance, 2012, saylordotorg.github.io/text_personal-finance/.

Review 1: Link

Review 1: Feedback

The feedback was all really positive. There were no suggested changes to incorporate.

A couple of key points:

• Topic’s relevance was well explained and supported with sources
• Used multiple tools (discussion posts and interactive activities) to give student’s different ways of participating and learning
• Units are well defined and learning objectives are clear
• Additional resources in each unit for student’s to explore if interested

One change that we made after the review is that we removed the reference to Google Forms in the Overview of Resource post. This was leftover from early planning and was replaced with the option of emailing submission to the instructor.

Review 2: Link

Review 2: Feedback

Chose not to take any action on this as we had already submitted the learning resource.

The technologies used for this learning resource are WordPress Blogs, Google Docs, and Google Sheets.

WordPress Blogs: Each student will sign up for their own WordPress site and set it up using the instructions on the “Getting Started” page. Most of the assessments throughout the learning resource involve students reflecting on their learning through discussion/blog posts on their WordPress site. WordPress is designed to be accessible and simple to set up, which is why we chose it as the technology to facilitate the discussion posts.

Google Docs: We use Google Docs for one document to collect a list of student blogs. It can be completed anonymously without a Google account. If a student does not want to share their blog with the whole class they can reach out to us and we will arrange an alternative method of interacting with the material.

Google Sheets: We use Google Sheets for as a recommended technology for one budgeting activity. The activity can be completed with any spreadsheet software, or even on paper, if the student does not have access to a Google account.

The content and resources for this course also include YouTube videos and a variety of websites. We chose each of these resources because we felt the resource covered its content efficiently and understandably.

Optionally, the student can choose to email their submissions to the instructor directly. We encourage student’s to use their WordPress Blogs for learner-learner interaction, but if they aren’t comfortable for some or all of the posts the alternative is there as needed.