Ali here, your friendly neighborhood Partnerships Director. Our team has been collaborating with the PwC Charitable Foundation for more than eight years. For the last two of those years, our work has focused on enabling DonorsChoose.org teachers to use a set of free, online financial literacy modules. The modules were developed by the PwC Charitable Foundation to help students learn more about personal finance and economics concepts. The modules are receiving rave reviews from our teachers, and now we want everyone to have the chance to try them out.The PwC Charitable Foundation’s Earn Your Future™ Digital Lab allows students in grades 3-12 to access self-paced modules (including videos, activities, and quizzes) that teach financial literacy topics. The topics range from saving and investing, to credit, debt and paying for college. (And in case you’re wondering, yes, adults can use them, too. I found the sixth-grade-level mortgages module especially helpful as I stare down the house-buying phase of my life).
Read on to hear what teachers who used the Earn Your Future™ Digital Lab say about their experience.Econ Content That’s RelevantThe Digital Lab teaches students financial literacy skills that are vitally important for their adult lives — in a fun way. (Seriously!) One teacher told us, “[The module] was relevant to my middle schoolers' lives...My students completed a module on whether or not they could afford a cell phone. They were particularly attentive once they realized they could use their research to persuade their parents to allow them to have a phone!”Another teacher explained, “The best aspect of the Digital Lab was giving my students some economic education they wouldn't have received otherwise. I don't have a curriculum that supports the economic learning they received through the Digital Lab.” Where and When to Incorporate the Digital LabWondering when to ask students to complete their work in the Digital Lab? Three-quarters of teachers surveyed incorporated the modules during class time, though you can also assign them as outside-of-school work. Each one takes about an hour to complete on a computer or tablet. Here’s what our teachers have done to date:
And you don’t have to exclusively teach math or economics to use the Digital Lab. So far, the teachers who have used the Digital Lab span a wide range of content areas: math, English, social studies, and many others.For example, a 5th grade social studies teacher who used the Digital Lab in her classroom reported that it helped students develop reading comprehension skills. She said, "It applies to close reading strategies. My students were delighted when working on the program since they were excellent readers and the level was simply high."
We’ve had more than a thousand teachers try this content in last school year alone; check it out to see if you might want to, too!
