ABSTRACT
Today’s multitasking media generation of high-school students has widespread and historically low-cost access to smartphones, media players, and gaming units. WiFi or internet access is almost ubiquitous. Today’s students simply have to walk to a mall, fast food restaurant, public library, public gathering space, internet-accessible areas of their cities, and other hot spots at home to gain internet access. Even though personal computers and televisions are readily available, today’s millennials appear to be more wedded to smart devices in school, during commutes, in public spaces, and at home. Rideout, Foehr, and Roberts (2010) and Tapscott (2009) document that this is so. In their studies, the patterns of use by media type and frequency show that the multimedia (M2) 8-18-year-old young person of today is increasingly choosing to use smart mobile devices over “old” media devices such as personal computers or home televisions. This research, along with similar studies and decades of successful online teaching experience, are brought together in this chapter to identify how creative teaching can make use of popular technology. The overarching goal is to excite M2 students about learning economics and applying what is learned to strategically consume, save, invest, produce, and become engaged citizens.
