Navigating Financial Avenue

1. Navigating Financial Avenue Step-by-step instructions on utilizing This financial literacy tool Created by the Academic and Career Engagement Center of Northwestern State University of Louisiana May 2013

2. What is Financial Avenue? Financial Avenue is an online learning environment that empowers students and their families for a lifetime of success. It emphasizes the role of financial literacy education and default prevention services in achieving that goal.

3. Go to: https://www.financialavenue.org/ Click: “Sign Up” Getting Started

4. Click: “Sign Up” Getting Started

5. Enter the access code for NSU: 9k91e8 Click: “Submit Access Code” 9k91e8 NSU’s Access Code

6. Enterthe required information Click: “Create my new account” Note: It isn’t necessary to enter your student ID. Entering Your Personal Information

7. After submitting your information, you’ll be taken to a screen notifying you that you have been sent an e-mail at the address you provided. Click: “Continue” Checkyour e-mail and click on the link provided. Your E-mail Confirmation

8. After clicking on the e-mail link, you will be taken to this welcome page. You are now ready to begin. The menu on the left of the screen shows you the many “Courses” and“Mini-Modules” available to you. You simply need to click on whichever topic you want to explore. For this tutorial, we will go through the “Budgeting” course. Click: “Budgeting” Exploring the Courses and Mini-Modules

9. Because much of the information on Financial Avenue is presented in audio format, it is important that you have the sound enabled on your computer or mobile device. After listening to the instructions, click “Next” to begin the course. Starting the Budgeting Course

10. Before beginning the actual course, you will be given information on navigating the courses/mini-modules as well as the website in general. After reviewing the instructions, click: “Next”. Note: Pay particular attention to the toolbar at the bottom of the page, as you will use it on a regular basis. Course Navigation

11. After carefully reviewing the “Course Overview”,click: “Next”. Course Overview

12. Each Financial Avenue course has several lessons. And, prior to each lesson, you will be asked a couple questions to “find out what you know about…” that particular topic. Once you answer the questions, click: “Submit”. Assessing Your Budgeting Knowledge

13. Once you submit your answer, a dialog box will appear letting you know whether or not your answer was correct. If the answer was wrong, it will give you the correct response. To move to the next screen, close the dialog box by clicking the “X” in the top right corner. Checking Your Answer

14. After responding to the initial questions, you will then move to the actual content of the course. As you will see, you’ll be an active participant of this course. For instance, on this screen, you must click on each box to access the information for that particular category. Upon reviewing all the information, click: “Next”. Course Content

15. Once you have completed all the lessons for the course you’re working on, you will be taken to the “Course Summary” page. Review the summary and then click: “Exit”. What to do When You Complete the Course

16. At the completion of each course (Step 1), you will be taken to the “Course To-Do List” screen. You’ll then be encouraged to take the course assessment, evaluate the course, and print your completion certificate (Steps 2 – 4). By taking what you learned in this tutorial, you are now ready to do just that! The Next Step

17. Questions? Academic And Career Engagement (ACE) Center 239 Kyser Hall 318-357-6980 ace@nsula.edu http://ace.nsula.edu