Mini-Economy Banking Program

Getting Started with the Mini-Economy Banking Program

Many teachers are using the Mini-Economy program in their classrooms. In a Mini-Economy, students simulate a real-world economy by performing jobs paying bills, and operating banks, insurance companies, and businesses. The Mini-Economy Banking Program© (MEBP) will help manage the classroom banking activities of a typical Mini-Economy. The MEBP allows students to record savings and checking account transactions, add or delete clients, give interest, and more. Many teachers supplement their Mini-Economy with the popular KidsEcon Posters. (www.kidseconposters.com) Follow the directions below to begin using the MEBP in your classroom.

Some Key Things to Remember

  1. MEBP allows you to use up to five classroom banks simultaneously. When you enter the program, you choose which bank you want to use. (Most teachers will only use one bank for a single class.) To switch from one bank to another, you must first exit the program, then start it again
  2. The MEBP will be installed on your own computer. The installation program will put a MEBP icon on your desktop for ease in starting the program each time.
  3. A letter of permission is available if your school requires one to install the program,
  4. When you enter the MEBP the first time, you must give yourself a username and password. Don’t forget them, as you will need them to renter the program. (Don’t worry! If you forget them, you can choose others.)
  5. Student Bankers, whom the teacher designates, are the only students who will have access to student banking records. The teacher provides the username and password for the student bankers. Teachers may easily switch student bankers and also change the username and password.
  6. Teachers (as well as the student bankers) should practice some of the student banker functions before officially "opening" the bank. So, after you have entered the Teacher Section of the program, go ahead and add some student names, choosing one to be the banker. Give the student banker a username and password. Then log in as a student banker, using this username and password. This gets you into the Student Banker Section, where you can practice banking transactions.

Installation Guidelines

  1. Double click on this link to begin: Mini-Economy Banking Program Link (zip)
    To open this file, your computer should have a zip program installed such as WinZip or PKZip. If you computer does not have this installed, you can download the software (see below) or check with your computer support staff.
  2. You will see a File Download box. Choose “Open this file from its current location” then click OK.
  3. You will then see the Winzip-Set up zip box.
  4. Click “Install” or double-click on the setup.exe file.
  5. You will see the Mini-Economy Banking Program Set Up Wizzard. Follow the instructions to finish installing the MEBP program
  6. The set up program puts the MEBP shortcut icon ($) on your desktop. Double click on this icon to begin!

 


Zip software links

  1. WinZip software is available at http://www.winzip.com/downwzeval.html. The evaluation copy is free but it expires after 21 days.
  2. PKZip offers a free zip reader at http://www.pkzip.com/reader/link.html. Click on the link and follow the instructions to download.

If you have difficulty with any of the zip software downloads, please consult the computer support staff at your school.

 

The Mini-Economy Banking Program© was developed by the Indiana Council for Economic Education.
Programming by James McCart, MCCA Consulting