Online Education is a convenient way to meet continuing education requirements - right from home, and on your own schedule.
Participants receive:
- Economics curriculum, including background content outlines, classroom activities, and teacher guides
- Lecture (PowerPoint with audio) and Video demonstration CDs of classroom activities
- Instruction by nationally-acclaimed mentor teachers and professors
- Online interaction (asynchronous) with teachers throughout the United States and across the world
- Graduate credit and "clock hour" confirmation, and graduate credit available. (Optional graduate credit from University of Colorado, Colorado Springs, $50/sem. hr. additional fee)
The stimulating mix of academic rigor, research based content, application of experiential learning simulations, and emphasis on interactive, asychronous discourse make the Online offerings among FTE’s most popular courses.
FTE Online is FREE to teachers. (A $150 deposit guarantees course registration. Deposit checks are returned, uncashed, and credit card refunds processed upon the completion of the course. Failure to finish the course and/or meet requirements for credit as evaluated by the course instructor, will result in forfeiture of deposit.)
Online Courses
| Course | Dates | Status | Graduate Credit | Withraw Window Closes | Registration Deadline |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Economics Online for Teachers, Part 1 | September 15 - December 1, 2008 | Open | 2 credits | TBA | September 8, 2008 |
| The Economic Demise of the Soviet Union Online | September 15 - December 1, 2008 | Open | 2 credits | TBA | September 8, 2008 |
| Is Capitalism Good for the Poor? Online | September 8 - December 15, 2008 | Open | 3 credits | TBA | September 1, 2008 |
Online Course Offering Descriptions
Economics Online for Teachers, Parts 1 & 2
Based on the 10-topic curriculum of the FTE's flagship Economics for Leaders program, the two Economics Online for Teachers courses are designed to reinforce teachers' understanding of basic concepts and the tools of economics reasoning that form the foundation for a standards-based, semester-long secondary course in economics. A combination of practice problems (with individual feedback from outstanding instructors experienced in both online and classroom teaching), stimulating discussions with teacher participants from all over the U.S. and around the world, and video demonstrations of classroom activities that address a variety of learning styles, EOFT is designed to increase teacher confidence in both the content and pedagogy of dynamic, engaging economic education. (Optional graduate credit available: Part 1 & Part 2, 2 sem. hrs. each)
The Economic Demise of the Soviet Union Online for Teachers (EDSUO)
With generous grants from the Calvin K. Kazanjian Economics Foundation, FTE first created The Economic Demise of the Soviet Union curriculum materials, and then incorporated the 6 lessons in a graduate-level teacher-education course. Both the curriculum materials and the online instruction focus on the fatal flaw of central planning - the innate inability to get the incentives right. Using the world wide web to enhance and supplement the background information provided in the curriculum outlines, EDSUO helps teachers understand -- and explain to their own students -- the weaknesses that undermined the Soviet economy. Video demonstrations of classroom activities simulate common features of Soviet daily life, helping to illustrate the application of economic reasoning to historical inquiry: Why did the economy of the Soviet Union collapse when it did? (Optional: 2 sem. hrs. graduate credit available)
Is Capitalism Good for the Poor? Online for Teachers (CAPO)
Funded by a grant from the John Templeton Foundation, Is Capitalism Good for the Poor? uses the tools of institutional economics, current data from respected sources including the World Bank and the United Nations, and case studies from such diverse locations as Brazil, Vietnam, China, Argentina, and Kenya to address that timely question. Lesson topics include:
- What is poverty and who are the poor?
- An institutional definition of capitalism
- The institutions of capitalism: property rights, rule of law, markets, and entrepreneurship
- Using experimental economics and game theory to investigate the effects of capitalism on cooperative behavior in society
- Why property rights are the ultimate human rights
The Calvin K. Kazanjian Economics Foundation again supported the creation of an online course for teachers based on the content and pedagogy of the high school curriculum unit and the wealth of supplementary sources available on the Internet. This is an intensive, in-depth examination of how one of the newest tools of economic reasoning - institutional analysis - informs one of the toughest challenges of the modern world. (Optional: 3 sem. hrs. graduate credit available)