ETC_Final Project

Online Banking:  For Kids!

Overview:  Have you ever wondered how to teach money management skills to your students but didn’t have access to a bank (or money)?  This Web 2.0 tool allows teachers to create a hands-on banking experience to teach the process of deposits and withdrawals to your students. 

Target Audience:  This Web 2.0 site is geared toward a learner in the first through third grade (approximately 6 – 9 years old).

Materials: 

·      Zefty.com

·      Cash (play)

·      Items or Events for purchase

Objectives:

1.     The student will be able to solve word problems relating to real life banking scenarios by demonstrating the ability to do addition and subtraction.

2.     The student will be able to analyze a bank statement to compare how much income they are depositing and how much they are withdrawing to spend.

3.     The student will be able to create an e-mail or letter to send to their “financial advisor” (a volunteer from the staff at Bank of Tampa) who will respond with feedback on their budget plans and results. 

Procedures:

1.     Set up an account for each student at Zefty.com

2.     Assign each student a password.

3.     Open up site with students.

4.     Demonstrate how to make a deposit into their account.

5.     Demonstrate how to make a withdrawal from their account.

6.     Demonstrate how to write a check and the effect it has on their account.

7.     Discuss spending habits and the importance of saving versus spending.

8.     Provide cash for an initial deposit into their accounts.  

9.     Determine how students will earn additional cash.  Ideas include: walking quietly in hallway, completing homework, demonstrating exceptional kindness to students and/or staff, etc. 

10. If not already established, set up a classroom store or alternate school-wide reward system (http://flpbs.fmhi.usf.edu/index.asp) for students to spend their money.  If possible, arrange for some prizes to be significantly more money if no school events are currently available so that a saving goal is established.

Emerging Technology:

Zefty.com is a tool used to teach money management to children.  This site can be found at http://www.zefty.com.

Social Participation/Social Learning:

Students will meet in groups to role-play banker and customer (taking in cash for deposits and making withdrawals from accounts).  In addition, students will work in groups to develop a plan for a personal budget. 

Making Connections:

1.     Background knowledge is limited, so setting up a background is imperative for establishing a connection. 

2.     The learner will make a connection because they are saving and spending money that they have earned to make purchases that are either large or small in value.

3.     The learner will make a connection with a local audience because they are able to make purchases from a school store that ultimately yields an ability to attend an event or school-sponsored function because they saved enough money to purchase the ticket.  Local connections will also be established through e-mail correspondence with a volunteer from the Bank of Tampa, who will “advise” them on their saving and spending practices.  This correspondence will occur quarterly throughout the school year.

The Learner will Create a personal budget plan so that they can plan out how much they have to earn and save in order to purchase the high interest (and more expensive) event tickets.  Although no such budgeting plan currently exists on the Zefty.com site, students are still responsible to create one. Currently, teachers, peers and parents provide input on how much to spend and save in order to reach their “purchase” and savings goals.

Assessment: 

2 points      (Excellent)	1 point (Satisfactory)	0 point (Unsatisfactory)
At least 3 deposits per week	At least 1 deposit is made in a week	No deposits made during week
Personal budget created with 2 or more ideas for how to save money	Personal budget created with 1 idea planned for how to save money	No personal budget created

Reflection:

Learner – Students should reflect on the process of saving versus spending the money they’ve earned from positive behavior.  How did they feel when they were able to purchase an expensive item?  How did they feel if they were not able to spend on a big item?  Compare saving versus spending – what were the pros & cons of both?  They will use their correspondence with their financial advisor to provide answers to these questions.

Educator – Teachers should reflect on whether or not the students understood the value of saving versus impulsive or needless spending.  Did the students adhere to their personal budgets?  Did students understand the process of deposits and withdrawals?  Were students engaged?  Copies of their initial budgets will be used to compare their initial plans with the final results of their savings plans.