Wow! A week into this blogging effort already...

Well, I'm enjoying this opportunity to share with all of you my favorite tips, tricks, tools, and ideas for personal finance education and the use of social media in the classroom.

I thought today I'd take a few moments to share some insight into why I feel these topics are so important in education today:

1. Facebook had 845 million monthly active users at the end of December 2011 (Source: http://newsroom.fb.com/content/default.aspx?NewsAreaId=22)

2. On average, users on Twitter send approximately 1 billion (yes, billion with a "b") tweets per week! (Source: http://blog.kissmetrics.com/twitter-statistics/)

3. In 2010, a survey conducted by Visa revealed that 93% of Americans believed that all high school students should be required to take a class in financial education. However, at the time of that same survey, there were only 4 states that required high school students to take a semester-long course in personal finance. (Source: http://www.jumpstart.org/assets/State-Sites/LA/files/downloads/Making_the_Case_2011.pdf)

With the use of social media as a networking tool and a way in which many companies are reaching their target audiences, it is imperative that business educators find ways in which to embrace this technology and show their students how to effectively use social media both on a personal and professional level. Remember, we are not teaching social media use. Rather, we are instructing on how it can best be used in marketing oneself or one's product or service.

Likewise, we must embrace personal finance education and lobby our political representatives to help them understand the urgent need for this education and to demonstrate the current, and frankly very sad, situation our young people (both high school students, college students, and young adults) are in as they embark on adulthood and are forced to begin making financial decisions for which they often are unprepared.

Let's band together as a profession and ensure we do our part to develop tomorrow's generation in a responsible and meaningful matter that protects our economy, our country, and the opportunities for future generations. If, as educators, we do not accept this charge, then who??? Let's face it--the need for personal finance education and the need for education in responsible use of social media are not going anywhere anytime soon!

I hope this post inspires some meaningful thought and sparks your inner desire to become a leader in these educational imperatives!