BCBEA Signature
Volume 15
Inside this
issue:
Western Business Education Association Conference Highlights
Western Business
Education Conference Highlights
1
Digital Applications
1
Junior Achievement’s 2
New Investment
Strategy
Program
Do We Need A
Financial Literacy
Course?
3
Western Business
Education Conference Highlights
4
Flickr
5
Personal Professional 6-7
Development
2012 BCBEA
Conference at TRU
Be a
Star
bring a friend to the
fall
conference
May 1, 2012
8
As president, one of the
responsibilities is to bring
leadership to our organization. One of the ways we do
this is to send our president
to national conferences. We
have had discussions at our
executive level as to the
value of this type of activity. I
had the pleasure of going to
the WBEA conference in
Newport Beach, California
and I can tell you that this is
vital to an organizations
growth and success. Our
leaders bring back new ideas
on how we can better serve
our members.
The first session I went
to addressed how Business
Education organizations
around Canada and the US
use their website to serve
their members. Our website
was evaluated and I am
proud to say that it was one
for the best websites at the
conference. In future, I am
going to be requesting that
conference chairs, vicepresidents and web editors
should be attending these
conferences so that we can
appropriately serve our
members. We have a tremendous tradition of excellence in Business Ed. in the
province and it is our desire
to continue this. Where else
can you talk to others who
do what you and who do
what you are expected to be
doing. I learned that we
should put other province
and State conferences on
our web site. I also learned
that we need to work hard
to get sponsors on our website as this is an important
revenue generating tool for
us. We can look forward to
online conference registration as well as online membership renewal from the
BCTF in the near future.
I want to encourage all
Business Education teachers to
invite their Planning 10 and
Health and Career 9 teachers
to our conference. We will
have resources and session for
them. These are the fringe
people that need training and
resources to help them do
their job. Membership is so
important not only for our
funding, but to create and
maintain the networking vital
to sharing resources and expertise between the members.
Digital Business Applications
How am I supposed to teach
technology when our district
does not have a computer replacement plan or does not fund
technology period? My response
would be: keep fighting the fight,
our students need technology
skills. We probably all realize
the need to desperately update
our curriculum in BC. I know I
am preaching to the converted
but the Ministry of Education
will not talk to us about updating our curriculum. We cannot
wait for them so here are some
ideas from a workshop at the
WBEA conference about how
teachers are changing the classroom to engage our youth.
Teachers initially ensured students had proper keyboarding
skills but this is not just an ordinary computer course. Students
were learning how to use
Google Docs, Learn2type.com,
Freeware, Open office, Open
source, Google hangout, online
mapping, google calanders, and a
particularly interesting one was
an online travel planning project
with Prezi. (continued on Page
2)
Page 2
BCBEA Signature
Junior Achievement’s Investment Strategies Program
By ADMIN | Published: MARCH
26, 2012
By Anne Tower JABC is proud to launch a
new, improved version of its
popular Investment Strategies Program (ISP) this
month, with special overthe-phone introductory
presentations for both new
and returning ISP volunteers
on March 29.
“ISP teaches
grade 9-10
students about
investing and
particular, how
the stock market
works,”
ISP teaches grade 9-10 students about investing and
particular, how the stock
market works, through a
hands-on simulation that
lets student teams invest an
imaginary $100K to see
who can build the strongest
portfolio over six weeks.
The Investment Strategies
Program had been going
strong in BC for a decade,
but it was time for an update. Thanks to the generous support of HSBC, JABC
was able to undertake the
work in partnership with its
fellow charter, Junior
Achievement of Southern
Alberta (JASA), with the
support and oversight of JA
Canada, our national office.
The original developers of
ISP, Craig Nakamoto
(Claero Sytems) and Fiona
Zawadzki (Skye Consulting)
were hired to take their
program to the next level,
along with designer Neale
Pope. The year-long process
included a review of all the
feedback received by program participants over the
years, as well as the engagement of an Advisory Panel
of teachers, volunteers, and
JA staff from Alberta and
BC. The program was rewritten with an eye to curriculum changes in both
provinces as well as national
trends, piloted in both provinces in Fall 2011, and further refined.
ISP now features a newly
designed website tat provides all program materials
online for teachers, volunteers and students. The
number of core lessons has
been reduced to four, and
these can be led by the
teacher and/or the volunteer for maximum flexibility,
and customizable PowerPoints are provided to fur-
ther enhance presentations.
YouTube videos at the beginning of each section
spark debate about current
investment issues, and the
content has been updated
throughout, covering a
broader range of investment
options while still focusing
on the fun of playing three
stock markets— NYSE,
NASDAQ and TSX—riskfree and in real time .
JABC extends its sincere
thanks to HSBC, exclusive
sponsor of the ISP Update
and ISP programs across
BC, and to all the volunteers, teachers, students,
staff and consultants who
demonstrated just how
much a group of Achievers
can accomplish together
with limited resources, but
unlimited enthusiasm.
….Continued from Page 1
These teachers let students use their cell phones all the time,
music too as long as they are doing their work. They had
students work with digital images from their phone, and
taught them how to resize and crop and improve the quality
of their images. They also taught students how to use their
phones to communicate assignment due dates and google
calendars to also communicate when things are do.
Their premise is, it is their life, do we want to engage them or
not. Their students were also learning to create podcasts, use
voice recognition and cool websites like boxtop.net. They
recommended the WBEA web site so teachers could explore
Top 25 Web tools used by other teachers. Here are a few
other cool sites you could use or put your students in groups
and have them present a new web site:
Doodle.com, 30boxes.com,
www.delicious.com/,www.blogger.com
http://learn.wordpress.com/,www.digg.com,
https://docs.google.com
http://login.live.com/, http://office365.com, http://www.zoho.com
http://www.stumbleupon.com/productdemo/, Calcmoolateor.com
Evernote.com, surveymonkey.com, http://www.editgrid.com/
https://www.dropbox.com (use this to back up your files),
www.Pinterest.com, http://teuxdeux.com, http://30boxes.com
www.mint.com, www.livejournal.com, www.ustream.com
www.glogster.com
My students use Elluminate to learn how to function in an online environment,
we need to show students how to function in this environment as most colleges
and universities are offering huge amount of courses in an online environment. I
am going to stop using the shared area on my school server and switch to google
docs so students can learn how to use this valuable tool. I also use Prezi to get
my grade nines to present career information, then we use Prezi to plan a trip
for my wife and I. Wow so many ideas, so little time. I have always believed that
I do not need to reinvent the wheel, I just need to find the wheels I need to get
me to where I want to go.
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Page 3
Financial Literacy—We Need It!
As the year progresses
and we once again look at
course selections in our
schools, I consider where all
the students that do not
end up in a Business Education classroom get a solid
grounding in financial literacy. I also wonder what will
happen to those students
who, due to a lack of understanding and guidance, will
end up in negative financial
situations that could have
been prevented with a little
financial literacy education.
Some students will have
parents who take the time
to cover budgeting, credit
cards, investing, economics,
etc., some students will
have planning 10 teachers
who take the extra time to
engrain a solid understanding in financial literacy, some
may cover it in their Math
Classroom, but unfortunately, I believe, that are a
vast number of students
who will just stumble onwards. We see the effects,
of poor financial literacy, on
choices people can make,
but are currently not willing
to make sure that all students are given the basic
understanding to make informed financial choices.
The snails pace of BC’s
education system
(government, educators,
parents, and other stakeholders) in embracing something that will impact virtually everyone in our society
seems a little mind-boggling.
Do we hope that students
will learn all about financial
By Martin Runge
American and looked at the
status of Financial Literacy in
the fifty states and the District
of Columbia, many parallels can
be made to what is occurring in
Canada, where only a handful
of provinces have mandated
courses in financial literacy. It
was interesting how, even with
the recent economic downturn
and all the nationwide attention
to the dangers of a financially
illiterate society, there had
been little-to-no progress in
literacy by trial-and-error in
mandating economics and perthe future? Do we hope
sonal finance education in K-12
and assume that all of the
classrooms
great resources available
(www.councilforeconed.org/
will automatically be used?
How do we make sure that survey2011).
all graduates leave with a
I believe it is time that the
basic Financial Literacy unBCBEA once again becomes
derstanding? Who makes
active in promoting a course in
sure the students actually
are financially literate when Financial Literacy. Even if this
course never becomes a
they leave high school?
graduation requirement, the
These are all questions
ability for the BCBEA to have a
which will have an impact
on our society as we move concrete product that can be
into the future as a society suggested or offered to educators and other interested
that is globally connected
stakeholders would be a great
and that allows financial
benefit.
transactions to occur instantly and from anywhere,
If there are any educators
in ways that change daily.
who have a great module, a full
An interesting article
that looked at how the US course, an outline, great links,
is doing in the field of finan- or unique resources, personal
input, or other ideas that that
cial literacy was the 2011
Council for Economic Edu- they feel should be a financial
literacy requirement, I look
cation’s recently released
forward to hearing from them.
Survey of the States:
Economic and Personal Please feel free to post the
information to our listserv (psa
Finance Education in
[email protected]), or just
Our Nation's Schools.
The biennial report brought send me an e-mail at martinattention to the critical im- [email protected].
portance of economics and
personal finance education.
Although the report is
“Who makes
sure the
students
actually are
financially
literate when
they leave high
school?”
BCBEA Signature
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Page 4
WESTERN BUSINESS EDUCATION CONFERENCE by Marianne Murray
I attended the WBEA Conference,
Newport Beach in February. I encourage
all teachers to consider attending one of
the WBEA conferences for the valuable
information and contacts you gain while
there. I participated in three hands-on
computer workshops which gave me the
newest tips I can use in my classes right
away.
In the first workshop a professional
photographer/
“I
journalist explained
participated some of the new
elements in Photoin three
shop, how to choose
hands-on
a digital camera, key
computer
shooting alternatives,
workshops as well as how to
which gave showcase your photos for family and
me the
friends
newest tips I The second workshop was “Microsoft
can use in
Expression Studio for
my classes Web Design”. We
right away.” learned about cascading style sheets, interactive buttons, and
dynamic web templates, deep zoom images, and interactive
panoramic Photosynth images. Microsoft
is offering Expression Studio and Visual
Studio free to schools or districts with the
condition it is to be used for instructional
purposes. Contact Pat Phillips at Microsoft
to learn if your school qualifies: [email protected].
The third workshop was about Photoshop as well. I attended a similar workshop about 10 years ago and I still use the
lessons I picked up there. This workshop
presented techniques to use the Bridge in
Photoshop to organize and edit photos, as
well as creating slide shows and turning
them into movies. These were valuable
lessons which I can turn around and use in
my classroom once again.
Many of the other sessions I attended
provided information about using cell
phones in the classroom and the changes
social media will bring to business advertising and communication. There were
many sessions around technology including digital binders, the cloud, igoogle, etc.
In all, there were 32 breakout sessions
and 7 computer workshops, as well as
organized tours, gourmet cooking class,
and a luncheon cruise. You meet educators from around the
world, both high school
and post-secondary.
The experience is invaluable.
The following is a
list of some of the web
sites recommended by presenters:
http://www.teachertube.com/
http://www.teachertube.com/viewVideo.php?
video_id=12423&title=Blogs_in_Plain_English
http://www.livebinders.com/
https://plus.google.com/up/start/?
continue=https://plus.google.com/
&type=st&gpcaz=4fd79e42
http://www.microsoft.com/education/en-us/
teachers/Pages/index.aspx
http://photosynth.net/about.aspx
http://www.photoshoptopsecret.com/
http://www.photoshopessentials.com/
http://www.majesticlicks.com/flying_elf.html
Please feel free to contact me if you
require any further information.
[email protected]
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Page 5
Using Flickr in your Photography Class
Flickr is a great Web 2.0 tool you can use with your photography students to encourage
creativity and collaboration. Create a group in Flickr and have student post their own
photos and provide comments on the work of others. It gives students a chance to share,
provide feedback and learn from each other. I had each student join the group and agree
to the following rules:
1. Post only your own photos, not those from a website due to copyright issues.
2. Be respectful in your comments
3. Appropriate photos only please, if you would not show it to your Grandma,
then we probably don't want to see it either.
4. Any violations earns a one-way ticket out of the course.
In the three years I have been doing this, I have had no problems with inappropriate content or comments. They are all very respectful of their classmates and enjoy viewing each
other’s work. Have fun and Enjoy!
Mary Brinkman
Frances Kelsey Secondary
Mill Bay, B.C.
“It gives
students a
chance to
share, provide
feedback and
learn from each
other.”
Page 6
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Personal Professional Development to Advance our Careers
By Ken Kuhn, BCBEA Member-at-Large
I think teaching is such an honourable career—we are caregivers, teachers, psychologists, counsellors,
and continually try to cure the ills of the world, our society, and our communities. As Business Education
teachers we try to share our expertise in accounting, marketing, consumer economics, and other business
courses. It is up to each of us to further our business education professions in the curriculum offered to
students here in B.C. Sometimes we are concerned about costs of travelling to conferences, registration
fees, and hotel and meal costs. Be concerned no more—I have some suggestions that will turn you on to
many fabulous professional development opportunities—many at no cost or very little cost.
One of the first opportunities is to belong to your own professional provincial Business Education PSA
organization where you will have the access to information about many conferences, newsletters, teaching
ideas, and contacts on your provincial executive. As a BCBEA PSA member you are also encouraged to
belong to both the Western Business Education Association (WBEA) that represents business educators
across the two western provinces and the ten western states. As a member of the WBEA you will be sent
three 24-page newsletters each year and be invited to an incredible conference each year. The WBEA also
is a region of the National Business Education Association representing all business education teachers
across USA and Canada. NBEA members receive four copies of the Forum each year, four copies of the
Keying In newsletter, the NBEA Yearbook that focuses on one specific topic of current interest to business
educators, and an invitation to outstanding conventions each year. Business Education Forum, the official
publication of the National Business Education Association, is published four times a year—October, December, February, and April. Business Education Forum is written and edited by business educators and
others concerned with advancing business education. And the cost for joining WBEA and NBEA for a full
year is only 22 cents per day—much less than Starbucks or Tim Horton’s coffee each day. I have attached
a copy of the subscription form that you can fill out and send in to the NBEA head office. You will not be
disappointed!
One of the freebies that I would like to offer you, as a member of WBEA and NBEA, is to join the
NBEAConnect Ning at http://nbeaconnect.ning.com/ for sharing information and resources. There are numerous pre-recorded free webinars on topics such as Integrating Web 2.0 Tools Into the Classroom, Photoshop, Edmodo, Facebook Safety for Educators, Financial Literacy, Gaming in Business Education, and so
much more. You may also participate in many free webinars in the future on topics such as Cloud Computing on May 10. As a WBEA and NBEA member you should also join the Facebook WBEA Group where
you can share information, resources, and concerns with fellow business education teachers. Both resources and memberships are FREE! This is FREE Pro-D that is available for all Business Education instructors—whether you are new to teaching, new to a subject area, new to a school or district, or an experienced teacher that has resources or teaching ideas to share. If you join both of these—the WBEA Facebook group and the NBEAConnect WBEA group—I will send you 5 awesome free teaching resources. Email me at [email protected] when you have joined each and I will surprise you with these resources. Please share this information with your colleagues—and e-mail me—and I will send the resources
to you also. This is a win-win situation...and FREE!
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Page 7
One of my favorite professional development Ning websites is one called Teacher 2.0 that is hosted by
Steve Hargadon. Teacher 2.0 (http://teacher20.com/) is an independent community for educators to explore their interests and passions, and to build a network of support for educators at all levels. Through
this community, with online events, interviews, and workshops, their goal is to have educators help each
other become re-energized in their careers and in their contributions to the world. Take the self-paced,
online, and free workshop on learning some of the Web 2.0 Tools by going to this website. http://
mightybell.teacher20.com You can also join one of the many groups that discuss specific topics such as
Classroom Bloggers, Educational Technology and Informatics, or others.
Another Ning website hosted by Steve Hargadon is called Classroom 2.0 (http://
www.classroom20.com/) the social network for those interested in Web 2.0, Social Media, and Participative Technologies in the classroom. They have over 60,000 members from 181 countries! Classroom 2.0
is a free, community-supported network. "Beginners" will find this a supportive comfortable place to start
being part of the digital dialog. Because of spammers, we have to approve all memberships here. While
your membership is pending you are still welcome to peruse the site or attend any events! Please also feel
free to explore! There are some starting tips and a "Tour of Classroom 2.0" Elluminate recording, or you
can ask help of a "host." To join a discussion on specific interests you can join some of the Groups such as
E-Learning and Online Teaching, Cell Phones in Education, Web 2.0, Voicethread, Second Life, Google
Apps for Education, and so many more.
They have also announced a call for participation for the worldwide 2012 Social Learning Summit, a one
-day virtual conference being held as a partnership of Classroom 2.0 and the Discovery Educator Network,
on Saturday, April 21st, 2012. This is a free event, with a focus on inclusion and participation. The conference theme is the use of social media and Web 2.0 in teaching and learning, and the conference URL is
http://www.SocialLearningSummit.com. To be kept informed of the latest conference news and updates,
please make sure you are a member here at Classroom 2.0. This will also allow you to correspond with
the presenters and other members, and to comment on sessions and discussions.
The best professional development of my long 35-year career in Business Education came when I decided to join the BCBEA executive about 30 years ago and began presenting workshops (my own Pro-D
was the preparing for these workshops) at BCBEA and WBEA conferences, and NBEA conventions.
Throughout my time on the executive I held positions of Member-at-Large, Newsletter Editor, Journal Editor, Conference Chairperson, Vice-President and President. I was able to make many connections with
colleagues across Canada in CABET (Canadian Association of Business Education Teachers) and WBEA
and NBEA organizations across USA. Join the BCBEA executive, present a workshop at a BCBEA conference when a Call for Presentations is sent out, and share your teaching resources and ideas with your fellow colleagues in BC. The teaching profession is very fulfilling and worthwhile when you share your expertise with your colleagues and further the business education curriculum.
This is a call for presenters and vendors for our fall
conference, email Ishtar Litt at [email protected]