Review of ICT-based resources for personal finance education

Client: Personal Finance Education Group | NFER Contact: David Kerr

The aim of this desk review is to inform the development of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) based resources for personal finance education (PFE), by indicating what resources are currently available (or planned), and which formats would fit best with classroom practice in 2008 and beyond.

Resources currently available to support the delivery of PFE cover a variety of topics, are suitable for children and young people of different ages, and are presented in different formats including paper-based activities, books, videos, DVDs and websites. In recent years, the use of ICT in the classroom has become more and more common. Different forms of technology, such as interactive whiteboards, handheld devices and virtual learning environments (VLEs) have become widespread. To encourage the delivery of PFE in schools, it is important that resources are produced in formats which are easy for teachers to use, which are appealing to young people and which are compatible with the latest teaching and learning methods.

Research questions

The key research questions for this study are as follows.

• What ICT-based resources are already available (or being developed) to support the delivery of PFE, and in what formats?
• What forms of ICT-based learning are currently used in UK classrooms and what kinds are growing (in terms of use within learning) and likely to continue to do so?
• What are the gaps in ICT-based resources and what are likely to be requested in future?
• What kind of resources will lead to an improvement in the take-up and quality of PFE?

Impact and outcomes

A brief report will be submitted to the Personal Finance Education Group (pfeg) by 30 April 2008. The report will outline the findings from both strands of the review and the final section will pull together information and make recommendations for the further development of ICT-based PFE resources.

Research design and methods

The project will have two strands as follows.

• A desk-based review of existing ICT-based resources will determine the extent of current and future planned coverage. Key producers of PFE resources will be contacted to establish whether further resources are in planning or preparation. Information from the review will be compiled into a table which will illustrate current and planned coverage, and by implication, the gaps in provision.
• A desk-based review of the ICT-based teaching and learning methods used in schools will be carried out, with particular reference to the current and future relevance and usefulness of such methods for PFE.
  Information gathered in the two strands will be combined to produce recommendations for the future development of ICT-based PFE resources.

Audience(s)

The report will be written for pfeg’s own use, but will be of potential interest to other developers and producers of PFE resources. These include organisations supporting specific curriculum areas (for example mathematics, PSHE, citizenship) individual teachers, commercial organisations involved in promoting PFE in schools (banks, building societies, insurance companies and so on) and commercial publishers of teaching and learning resources.

Time scale:  January 2008 - April 2008

NFER Project Code: FIR