The activity INTERACTIVE: Credit Across US Communities allows students to use an online, interactive map tool to answer questions about credit usage around the United States. The interactive map designed by The Federal Reserve Bank of New York allows an opportunity for students to analyze data and learn more about communities' access to credit and credit stress levels.

At a time where many schools have transitioned to offering synchronous and asynchronous learning, we've listed some adaptations that may work for your current classroom environment. 

Synchronous Environment Ideas:

• Jigsaw the activity by breaking students into small groups. Assign each group one section of the activity to analyze and answer the provided questions. This would be a great time to utilize breakout rooms if your conference platform allows.
• When students are finished, bring the entire group together and have each student group review the key concepts they learned from their interactive. While each group is explaining, the other students can simultaneously view the interactive.
  • For the share portion of this activity, you can either have students review the answers to the questions in their section or just give an overview of key takeaways.

Asynchronous Environment Ideas:

• The activity as it is designed is perfect for an asynchronous environment. 

No-Tech Ideas:

• If you are teaching remotely, but your students do not have access to technology or wifi to access the interactive map, you can provide students with a printed version of each interactive map. This will clearly display the data and answers to some questions, but students will be able to reflect on the data that is provided.
  • For example: In Part I, provide students with two images of the interactive map that include national, state, and county data. The students can then analyze the image/data to answer the questions without having to go online!

View NGPF's Virtual Adaptation Series if you're looking for additional resources with suggestions on how to facilitate in a virtual environment. 

About the Author

Amanda Volz

Amanda joins the NGPF Team with over 20 years of experience teaching personal finance. During that time, she led her students to hundreds of thousands of dollars in scholarships, won multiple awards, and most importantly, impacted the financial lives of thousands of high school students. Amanda prides herself on being an educational leader and is constantly looking for innovative ways to make the classroom relevant, rigorous, and fun. She is a passionate advocate for financial education and has been a long-time member of the NGPF community. Fun fact - Amanda was NGPF’s first teacher account! When Amanda isn’t working, she enjoys cooking, gardening, and traveling with her husband and two children.

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