http://www.measuringworth.com

Measuring Worth is a fantastic online application which aims to give a modern day value to sums of money from the past. For example, how much was £20 worth in 1760? Even for someone with an understanding of economic concepts such as inflation and purchasing power, understanding the value of “old money” can be tricky. For example, I was taken aback when my father referred to purchasing “8 pints of beer for a pound” when he was a young man, not having realised quite how powerful inflation is, even over a relatively modest span of time.

In terms of the classroom, such knowledge can definitely help provide students with an enriched understanding of historical events. I recently had a group of engineering students with whom I used this website to work out the current value of several tens of thousands pounds from the 1880s. This enriched context provided them with a much better understanding of the scale of the project in question, and they seemed to enjoy the experience: apparently, economics can be fun.

http://www.stephenbailey.com/technology/what-8499…

Most people know that the price of computer technology is falling. However, many people do not fully understand the scope of this change. This article shows a top-of-the-line PC from 1989, priced at USD $8,499. Working from this article, students can be asked to consider many questions including “Why are prices dropping?”, “What are the social, environmental and business implications of these changes?”, “Why have the price of, say, cars, not dropped to the same extent”.

Another possible avenue for discussion is the fact that USD $8,499 was worth significantly more in 1989 than it is now (depending on the calculation method used, it is worth between USD $14,700 and $22,100 in today’s money).

Amusingly, the price includes neither the monitor, nor the mouse, making it quite unusable.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science_and…

All too often we are presented with a false choice between the economy and the environment. This situation seems to occur because economics is primarily concerned with the short term, and measures designed to protect the environment are seen to immediately hinder economic growth (another falsehood according to Paul Hawken). The problem is that sooner or later, damaging the environment to a great enough degree will disrupt economies in many ways. Eventually, the economic disadvantage will be far greater than if action had simply been taken in the first place. As this article shows, certain economies are now starting to feel the economic effects of environmental degradation.

The most important issue raised here, I feel, is the seeming inability of our political institutions to deliver the strong environmental protection we so desperately need, in the face of opposition by a small number of powerful lobbyists.

http://www.onlineschools.org/blog/china/

Interesting facts about China, focusing on industrial output, food production and consumption, and military capability. As this piece is presented from a US perspective, it can be interesting for students to consider how bias comes into play when using statistics to tell a story. Generally this piece seems fairly neutral, but it is possible to imagine it otherwise.

http://www.onlineschools.org/blog/everything-fast-food/

This interesting visualisation paints a picture of fast food as an unhealthy yet profitable industry. A good tool to encourage students to think critically about the companies they interact with everyday.

http://www.onlineschools.org/blog/worlds-billionaires/

This visualisation shows the distribution of billionaires across the world, as well as a selection of the companies they are associated with. Why are there so many billionaires on America’s West Coast?

http://www.globalrichlist.com/

This tool seems to be a typical “look how many rich people there are” list. However; it actually makes you realise how much money you have in comparison to the massive number of people living in abject poverty.

http://www.wired.com/gadgets/wireless/magazine/17-03/mf_netbooks?currentPage=all

Spurred on by the development of the OLPC project, ASUS created the EeePC, and in doing so created a whole new computing market: the Netbook. This development is interesting for many reasons, not least because it demonstrates the speed at which things can change for businesses and technologists. Students might be asked to consider the factors, both technical and social, that allowed Netbooks to become so popular.

http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2009/02/at_work.html

An interesting, visual look at the work people do around the world every day.  If you are studying globalisation, the importance of labour, production techniques, issues of scale, culture or photography, this resource ought to be of interest. Like it or not, the work we do has a huge impact on how we are perceived, both by our selves and by others: looking at the huge range of work being performed can help put things into perspective.

http://maps.google.com/

Google Maps gives students and teachers access to up-to-date, online map and satellite images for the entire world. This provides a great tool for studying out planet across a number of subjects, including geography, history, politics, science, PSE and more. By placing markers on maps, students can create their own layer of meaning above Google’s content. For instance, students can plot onto a map all of the battles within a war, or all of the places where their has been recent volcanic activity.