Common Sense: Economics for
Life!
February 9, 2013
Jim Gwartney
Tawni Hunt Ferrarini
Joe Calhoun
Joab Corey
Our Saturday Journey
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9.00 am – Noon:
The art of online teaching to the multi-media (M2)
generation
Overview of CSE
Part I
Part II
Noon – 1 pm Lunch
1.00 – 4.00 pm
Part 3
Part 4
Controversies, Supplements and Cooperative
Efforts
Part I.
What?
 Why?
 Who?

Why online learning to the Multimedia (M2) generation?
1. What is an online or distance learning
course?
i. What is an online course?
ii. Why an online course?
iii. How to deliver successful online course to
the M2 generation?
Define: Course, Online Course and
M2 Technology

Course: For a defined period, students
gain access to class sessions, they interact
3-4 hours per week with the professor
and other students, expect 6-8 hours to
complete assignments in order to meet
course objectives and complete course
tasks with purpose.
A course is not a course
Traditional course [face-to-face (F2F) and
established meeting times at a particular
site, usually on campus)]
 Correspondence (asynchronous around
the globe/tests included/may or may not
align with the traditional academic
schedule)

Distance learning course
Distance learning (same academic
schedule as F2F students, distinct syllabus
and tests, 50% face-to-face meetings, 50%
other)
 Online (100% anytime learning from any
location, alternative section to F2F
courses, same syllabus, etc.)
 Hybrid (some combination of F2F and
online)

Web-facilitated vs hybrid course
A mix of F2F and online meetings
Web-facilitated: 1 to 29% of the course is uses
web-based technology to facilitate what is
essentially a F2F course. Use a learning
management system to post the syllabus and
assignments.
 Hybrid: 30 to 70% of the course blends online
and face-to-face delivery. Substantial proportion
of the content is delivered online, typically uses
online discussions, and typically has a reduced
number of F2F meetings.
 Identify your university’s expectations. The cost
savings can be huge!
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Why deliver an online course?

Babson Survey Research Group. 2012.
“Changing Course: Ten Years of Tracking
Online Education in the United States.”
Retrieved from the WWW on January 12,
2013 at:
http://sloanconsortium.org/publications/su
rvey/changing_course_2012
2012 Survey Highlights: 2800
responses
“Over 6.7 million students were taking at
least one online course during the fall
2011 term, an increase of 570,000
students over the previous year.”
 “32% of higher education students now
take at least one course online.”

Continue
“77% percent of academic leaders rate
the learning outcomes in online education
as the same or superior to those in faceto-face classes.”
 “The perception of a majority of chief
academic officers at all types of
institutions is lower retention rates for
online courses remain a barrier to the
growth of online instruction.”

Continue
“The proportion of chief academic
leaders who say online learning is critical
to their long-term strategy is at a new
high of 69%. “
 “The proportion of chief academic
officers who believe their faculty accept
the value and legitimacy of online
education has not increased – it now
stands at only 30.2%.”

A successful and effective course
Provides evidence of learning effectiveness, retains
the majority of students, and quantitatively and
qualitatively tracks student progress
Access (faculty and student)*
1.
2.
a.
3.
4.
5.
Accessibility, including federal regulations, available
resources, invisible disabilities, and effective practices for
student and faculty success
Cost effectiveness (scale and scope)
Faculty satisfaction and positive peer reviews
Student satisfaction and positive course evaluations
The Five Pillars of Quality Online Education, The Sloan
Consortium, Retrieved from the WWW:
http://sloanconsortium.org/5pillars on 1/10/13.
Multi-media (M2) generation
1.
2.
3.
Who is a member of the M2 generation?
Why do they matter?
How do we advance their understanding
of wealth creation from the perspectives
of economics and ethics?
Who?

According to report “Generation M2:
Media in the Lives of 8- to 18-Year-Olds”
of the Kaiser Family Foundation retrieved
on January 10, 2013 at:
http://www.kff.org/entmedia/mh012010pk
g.cfm
◦ 8-18 year olds who have nearly 24/7 access to
media technology
◦ The mass majority use it recreationally.
M2 generation’s recreational
choices
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3 out of 4 of surveyed 8- to 18-year-olds own MP3
players
Almost 7 out of 10 0f them have cell phones
Surprisingly, only 3 out of 10 kids have computers in
the home.
Interestingly they find ways to spend almost 7 ½
hours a day of their recreational time (time outside of
the classroom) with some form of technology.
When multi-tasking is considered, students spend
almost 11 hours with some media content.
It should not go without notice that this generation
choose to spend a meager 38 minutes with print
materials -- a historic low according to the Kaiser
report.
Why M2 students matter?
They are the inputs of faculty, graduate
students, colleges, universities and future
workforce!
 If a course is to be successful, it must
advance student understanding of ethics
and economics and help them effectively
apply what they learn inside AND outside
the classroom.

How to engage them in order to
succeed in our courses.
1.
Leverage their revealed preferences in
our courses.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Write pre-thoughts
Read
Watch
Listen
Act
Post thoughts
Additional resource

Ferrarini, Tawni and Mateer, Dirk.
Forthcoming. “Multi-Media Technology for
the Next Generation.” Journal of Private
Enterprise.
Part II. Strong Beginnings
Read
 Write
 Watch and listen
 Act
 Assess
 Learn
 Prepare and continue

Part III. Effective Ends
Direct assessment: Pre and post
survey/test and discussions for the course
 Pre- and post-module assessments
 Transition from respond to act

Part IV. Common Sense
Economics:
An Economics for Life Course
JAMES GWARTNEY, Florida State University,
jdgwartney@fsu.edu
TAWNI FERRARINI, Northern Michigan University,
tferrari@nmu.edu