MONEY MATTERS: New digital textbooks will help VA teens “get” economics and personal finance

Interactive digital textbooks to help all Virginia high school students earn a now-required diploma credit in economics and personal finance have been developed by the Virginia Department of Education (VDOE), according to a news release from the governor’s office.

Superintendent of Public Instruction Patricia I. Wright was quoted as saying. “These digital texts cover the required content in a manner that students will find compelling and relevant.”

Together, the books contain 2,600 pages of digital content, including graphic-novel scenarios, interactive activities, graphing tools, embedded review questions, and self-grading quarterly and final assessments. An iPad with iBooks 2 is required for use.

Economics is available from Apple’s iBookstore for $14.99.  Personal Finance is currently available as a pre-order at the same price and will be in stock later this month. Proceeds from the sale of the digital textbooks will help VDOE recoup development and production costs. The content of both digital textbooks is available through Virtual Virginia free in PDF format to Virginia students and schools not using iPads.

According to the news release from the governor’s office, the set is fully aligned with the Virginia Economics and Personal Finance Standards of Learning (SOL) and is based on the content of VDOE’s Virtual Virginia online Economics and Personal Finance course, which was developed with support from the Virginia 529 College Savings Plan and the Virginia Bankers Association Education Foundation. The digital texts may also be used as comprehensive textbooks for other economics and personal finance courses.

In addition to meeting Virginia content standards, the iBooks textbooks set is aligned to the PISA 2012 Financial Literacy Framework and the Council for Economic Education’s Voluntary National Content Standards in Economics.

The Virginia Board of Education voted in 2009 to require students to earn a credit in economics and personal finance to graduate with either a Standard or Advanced Studies Diploma. Content standards were then developed and the requirement became effective with students who entered the ninth grade during the 2011-2012 school year.