I recently had the pleasure of having Brian Yanizeski, a Business Teacher from Fox Chapel Area High School in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on the show. We recently honored Brian as an NGPF Teacher-Innovator for his “Home Buying Project.” Brian has five years experience teaching an online Investing and Finance course at his high school. Listen to this podcast to hear Brian share how he developed his online course (including his favorite resources), as well as how he manages it to keep his students motivated to learn.

Here are some of the questions that Brian tackled in the course of our conversation:

• Why did he create an online course?
• What role does he play in an online environment?
• How does he get students to engage in conversations online?
• How does he assess student work?

Details:

• 0:00~1:03 – Introduction
• 1:03~2:43 – Description of Brian’s class
• 2:43~4:02 – Main topics Brian covers in his course
• 4:02~6:05 – Timing of Brian’s online course
• 6:05~10:11 – Creating online content for students
• 10:11~15:27 – Brian’s role in his online class
• 15:27~17:41 – How Brian monitors the class
• 17:41~26:01 – How Brian assesses student performance and his online forum
• 26:01~28:28 – How Brian keeps his students motivated
• 28:28~29:00 – A word from our sponsor
• 29:00~32:55 – How Brian proctors quizzes and tests
• 32:55~34:55 – Group projects in an online environment
• 34:55~38:55 – Lightening Round
• 38:55~40:27 – Brian’s pitch on why you should consider creating an online course
• 40:27~41:31 – Conclusion

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• Morningstar
• Quia
• Moodle
• Schoology

About the Author

Tim Ranzetta

Tim's saving habits started at seven when a neighbor with a broken hip gave him a dog walking job. Her recovery, which took almost a year, resulted in Tim getting to know the bank tellers quite well (and accumulating a savings account balance of over $300!). His recent entrepreneurial adventures have included driving a shredding truck, analyzing executive compensation packages for Fortune 500 companies and helping families make better college financing decisions. After volunteering in 2010 to create and teach a personal finance program at Eastside College Prep in East Palo Alto, Tim saw firsthand the impact of an engaging and activity-based curriculum, which inspired him to start a new non-profit, Next Gen Personal Finance.

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