Discover: Scholarship details, virtual internships, CTE applications, and more!
2024-2025 Product Catalog
The Knowledge Matters team is passionate about technology, innovation, and education and is dedicated to inspiring today’s youth to pursue their goals and dreams. For decades, Knowledge Matters has been committed to providing experiential learning environments that allow students to transcend the walls of their classroom and gain exposure to managing businesses and developing skills they would have otherwise not had the opportunity to do. We offer nine different Virtual Business simulations in business, marketing, finance, and hospitality and tourism, as well as Collaboration Simulations that allow students to manage their businesses in groups where they may strategize and execute their business decisions together.
While developing educational simulations for 26 years has been exciting and fulfilling, there has been nothing more rewarding than seeing the positive impact our simulations have on students who have experienced them. Through classroom use, scholarship programs, and competitive events based on our simulations, we’ve seen the confidence students exhibit when articulating and making real world connections to their simulated experiences. It is truly fantastic.
If you are new to Virtual Business simulations, or a valued long time school partner, this brochure will offer highlights of the features and benefits available to you and also introduce the newest developments like the Virtual Internship Programs, student scholarship opportunities, Virtual Healthcare-Dental Assistant, and our eDynamic Learning online courseware that integrates seamlessly with the simulations.
Sincerely,
Maureen Ginley, General Manager of Knowledge Matters & The Knowledge Matters Team
Virtual Business All-Access
Now Your Students Can Have It All - For Less.
+ Unlimited access to all nine Virtual Business simulations, as well as six Collaboration Simulations.
+ Free and automatic access to any new Virtual Business simulation or Virtual Business simulation expansions/updates released by Knowledge Matters.
+ Premium Support: answers to any tech support/simulation questions within one business day.
+ Build Your Own Virtual Business course — easily build your own, unique Virtual Business course from more than 100 possible lessons. Students log in and seamlessly move from one Virtual Business lesson to the next with one integrated, automatic grading process.
+ Exclusive scholarship opportunities to keep students engaged in learning and motivated to keep progressing through Virtual Business simulations.
most popular purchasing option offers schools access to all Virtual Business simulations at the most affordable price.
“2024 Best College & Career Readiness Solution”
Virtual Internship Programs
Are you finding it challenging to secure internship opportunities for your students with local businesses or help them meet career readiness standards?
Our Virtual Internship Programs offer extreme flexibility with a variety of career options for students to choose from. The year-long programs prepare students prior to stepping into a physical workspace, and gives them the opportunity to test and try concepts in a risk-free simulated environment. And unlike a physical internship, your students will get to experience and manage all aspects of a specific industry. They’ll gain valuable skills and get to uncover which areas they like most and where they’d like to focus in the future, or major in at college.
Learn more about the Virtual Internship Programs
Key Benefits
Virtual Internship Program options give students flexibility to choose an option that’s right for them
A perfect year-long program that pairs nicely with many CTE pathways
Aid students in developing the top 10 employability skills and work-based competencies that companies seek
Gives students an outlet to reflect on their future and hone in on areas in their desired field
Meets career readiness, preparation, and workplace essential standards
Virtual Internship All-Access Program students may particiapte in the Virtual Business All-Access Scholarship Challenges
Each program includes an exciting end-of-year culminating project
Gives teachers all the lessons, activities, tools and resources to help students find success
2024-2025 High School Products
ENTREPRENEURSHIP
Students have 20 different businesses that they can launch and grow as they learn the fundamentals of entrepreneurship. Quickly adopted and in use at high schools across the country, Virtual Business—Entrepreneurship is rapidly becoming the standard for teaching entrepreneurship.
Knowledge Matters simulations allow students to experience real business scenarios and can continually refine their results to optimize outcomes and increase profitability. They offer an interactive, risk-free, game based environment where students can see the impact of their choices immediately.
Features Include:
• Shark project—Students sharpen their presentation skills as they pitch their business to classmates and seek investments.
• Business plan project—Teachers award students a loan based on their writtenbusiness plan.
• Mega-mogul project—Grow your business empire (including starting/owning more than one business).
• Random setups—Every project has unique parameters, so students cannot copy solutions from a classmate.
• Dynamic cities—Students can watch as cities grow or shrink over many years, and students decide how to respond with their entrepreneurial businesses to economic cycles.
LESSONS INCLUDE:
+ Spotting the Opportunity
+ Market Research
+ Making the Plunge
- Name, Location, Form, & Taxes
+ Creating a Business Plan
- Basics & Financials
+ The Elevator Pitch
+ Raising Money & Financials
- Savings, Loans & Shares
+ Building a Team
+ Acquiring Resources
+ Going to Market
+ Operations & Feedback
+ Mega-Mogul Project
+ Shark Project
+ Business Plan Project
BUSINESSES INCLUDE:
Make the Most of Your Simulation with Aligned Curriculum
eDynamic Learning Digital Curriculum is the perfect pairing to our Knowledge Matters Virtual Simulations. Our comprehensive curriculum is a full textbook replacement, providing lessons, reflective discussions, activities, assessments, podcasts, and more.
All of our courses are developed in-house by teachers and subject matter experts offering one consistent and simplistic design and interface. Each course is designed and written with engaging curriculum narratives that employs backwards design methodology to support best practices on how today’s students learn. Each lesson is chunked into bite-sized pieces of text with the integration of visuals to keep students engaged. You can also customize course units and lessons allowing you to personalize your instruction.
We are committed to providing an equitable and accessible curriculum, ensuring that every student is prepared for college or the workforce. Our courses also include a built-in support toolbar which provides a variety of literacy tools and enables text to be translated into dozens of languages for English Language Learners.
Recommended Curriculum Pairings for the Entrepreneurship Simulation
In the Entrepreneurship 1a course students will learn that starting a business is more than just having a good idea. They’ll learn how successful entrepreneurs use and apply fundamental business concepts to turn their ideas into thriving businesses. They’ll explore topics such as identifying the best business structure, business functions and operations, finance, business laws, regulations, and more!
In the Entrepreneurship 1b course students will learn to apply the concepts they’ve learned in the Entrepreneurship 1a course by completing activities that they can use to help start their own business. They’ll explore different topics representing the major parts of a business plan, such as risk, hiring, pricing, research, marketing, distribution and more.
2024-2025 High School Products
FASHION
Virtual Business–Fashion is not just for fashion teachers! Virtual Business–Fashion uses the fashion industry and fashion retailing to teach students many core business concepts: marketing, pricing and markdowns, staffing, and retail locations. Virtual Business—Fashion also has a robust social media marketing lesson—using an app within the sim to boost your store’s sales and profits.
LEVERAGE THIS SIMULATION IN COURSES SUCH AS:
Fashion Marketing
Entrepreneurship
Marketing
Intro to Business
LESSONS INCLUDE:
+ Trend Research
+ Design
+ Buying
+ Pricing & Markdowns
+ Retail Location
+ Window Display & Merchandising
+ Staffing & Selling Strategies
+ Social Media Promotion
+ Fashion Financials
+ Turnaround
+ Fashion Mogul
Recommended Curriculum Pairing for the Fashion Simulation
In the Fashion Design course students will learn how designers pull together fabrics and colors to create memorable pieces. They’ll discover what it takes to get started in the fashion industry, create their own outfit, and demonstrate an understanding of costs, market and production. They’ll find out about the careers available and the new technology and trends reshaping the industry every day
ACCOUNTING
Virtual Business−Accounting brings accounting to life by letting your students learn accounting on a business THEY run. With the online simulation, students are more vested in the numbers and learning the fundamentals of accounting because the numbers come from a business the students are running.
LESSONS INCLUDE:
+ T-accounts
+ Using a General Journal
+ The General Ledger
+ Worksheets & Adjusting Entries
+ Financial Statements
+ Managerial Accounting I
+ Managerial Accounting II
+ Ratio Analysis
+ Forensic Accounting I
+ Forensic Accounting II
LEVERAGE THIS SIMULATION IN COURSES SUCH AS:
Accounting Intro to Business Management
Entrepreneurship
Finance
+ Forensic Accounting III
+ Run Your Own Business Project
+ Bonus: Multiplayer Competition
Recommended Curriculum Pairing for the Accounting Simulation
In Principles of Business, Marketing, and Finance 1a: Introduction course students will discover the fundamental knowledge that will help them pursue a career in business, as well as always generating interest and buzz around the products and services offered. They will explore different types of businesses and ownership forms, the impact of governments on business, and the marketing of goods and services. Learn about globalization, free trade, and various economic systems, as well as the impact of technology on business, business ethics, and social responsibility.
2024-2025 High School Products
SPORTS & ENTERTAINMENT
Virtual Business−Sports & Entertainment gives students the opportunity to “work” in the exciting sports and entertainment world. The online simulation teaches students the hard business decisions that go into the sports and entertainment events they enjoy in real life. Students handle promotion, ticket pricing, stadium operations and staffing, sponsors, concessions, concert booking and promotion, and more.
Recommended Curriculum Pairing for the Sports + Entertainment Simulation
In the Sports & Entertainment Marketing courses students will learn the world of sports and entertainment is never boring and is a multi-billion dollar industry. They’ll explore basic marketing principles while learning how professional athletes, sports teams, and famous entertainers are marketed as commodities and how the savvy people who handle these deals can become very successful.
RESTAURANT
Virtual Business−Restaurant is the leading online simulation for teaching high school students the key business strategies and principles of restaurant management and ownership.
Featuring a large, urban cityspace and map for your students’ restaurant locations, VB Restaurant uses immersive graphics of a busy restaurant to teach students the many decisions faced by a successful restaurant manager, including social media marketing, menu design, food pricing, and much more.
LEVERAGE THIS SIMULATION IN COURSES SUCH AS:
Hospitality
Entrepreneurship
Marketing
Intro to Business
LESSONS INCLUDE:
+ Social Media Advertising
+ Market Research
+ Location Selection
+ Financial Statements
+ Menu Design
+ Pricing
+ Purchasing
+ Layout
+ Staffing
+ Marketing
+ Turnaround
+ Restaurant Mogul
Recommended Curriculum Pairing for the Restaurant Simulation
In the Restaurant Management course students will learn what it takes to manage a restaurant including ordering supplies, hiring quality workers, maintaining inventory, and managing a large staff. They’ll also learn about food safety, hygiene, customer relations, marketing, and using a point-of-sale system. They’ll discover the key steps to operating a casual sit-down eatery, or a fine dining establishment.
2024-2025 High School Products
HOTEL
Virtual Business−Hotel, our most realistic simulation yet, empowers students to take over the management of a full–service hotel. Developed with the support of the J. Willard and Alice S. Marriott Foundation, the online simulation draws on industry experts to model the inner workings of a hotel. Students learn the hourly and daily business decisions that go into running a high-end, successful
In partnership with AHLEI, the Virtual Business Hotel sim partially satisfies components of Certification in Hospitality Tourism & Management (CHTMP) and the Hospitality & Tourism Specialist (HTS) credential!
LESSONS INCLUDE:
+ Pricing & Revenue Management
+ Group Sales
+ Marketing & Public Relations
+ Customer Service: Front Desk
+ Customer Service: Social Media Feedback
+ Operations: Restaurant & Culinary
+ Operations: Banquets & Meetings
+ Operations: Housekeeping
+ Financial Reports
+ Monitoring Competitors
+ Hotel Mogul
+ Extra Credit: Mega Hotel Mogul
LEVERAGE THIS SIMULATION IN COURSES SUCH AS:
Hospitality
Finance
Management
Marketing
Intro to Business
Recommended Curriculum Pairing for the Hotel Simulation
In the Hotel Management Course course students will learn about large and small hotels and their day-to-day operations. They’ll discover trends, technology, financials, laws and regulations, and how to examine the competition. They’ll explore a variety of jobs available, how to develop job descriptions and business plans, and learn what it takes to be a manager in the hotel or restaurant industry.
RETAILING
Virtual Business−Retailing teaches students the business basics and exposes the secrets of retailing. Students learn the tough business decisions that impact their common shopping experiences—why stores are located where they are, how stores decide to price products, and more.
LEVERAGE THIS SIMULATION IN COURSES SUCH AS:
Intro to Business Marketing Accounting Entrepreneurship Finance
LESSONS INCLUDE:
+ Market Research
+ Product
+ Place
+ Pricing
+ Promotion—Traditional
+ Promotion—Email
+ Staffing, Selling, & Customer Service
+ Purchasing & Inventory Control
+ Merchandising
+ Security & Risk Management
+ Financing & Business Planning
+ Retailing Mogul
+ Extra Credit: Turnaround
+ Extra Credit: Mega Retailing Mogul
Recommended Curriculum Pairing for the Retailing Simulation
In the Marketing Foundation courses students will explore the fast-paced and exciting world of marketing in business. They learn business management, customer service, economics, how to perform market research and identify their target market. They learn how to develop branding, advertising and promotional strategies and the legal and ethical considerations of business and marketing.
2024-2025 High School Products
PERSONAL FINANCE
Virtual Business – Management gives your students the chance to be the boss of their own company. With this online simulation, students begin by managing a small facility and controlling limited factors. As they develop their business knowledge, they can lease as much space as they want and grow into manufacturing giants. Students get to make highlevel decisions to inform the direction of their business. This sim is ideal for teaching introduction to business, management, supervision, and entrepreneurship.
LESSONS INCLUDE:
+ Budgeting & Saving
+ Choosing & Balancing a Checking Account
+ Getting a Credit Card
+ Fixing Your Credit
+ Education & Advancement
+ Using Online Banking
+ Paying Your Taxes
+ Intro to Investing
+ Time Management and Health
+ Finding a Job
+ Finding an Apartment
+ Buying a Car
+ Shopping
+ Risk vs. Return
+ Diversification
+ Investing for Retirement
+ Buying a Home
+ Insurance
+ New Career Project
Recommended Curriculum Pairing for the Personal Finance Simulation
In the Personal and Family Finance course students will learn how to spend and save money wisely, and key financial concepts around taxes, credit, and money management. They’ll discover how education, career choices, and financial planning can lead them in the right direction to making life simpler, steadier, and more enjoyable.
Knowledge Matters is a proud partner of Jump$tart! Coalition in promoting financial literacy and supporting financial education.
MANAGEMENT
Virtual Business−Management gives your students the chance to be the boss of their own company. With the online simulation, students begin by managing a small facility and controlling limited factors. As they grow in business knowledge, they can lease as much space as they want and grow into manufacturing giants. Students get to decide what they’d do if they were the boss.
LEVERAGE THIS SIMULATION IN COURSES SUCH AS:
Intro to Business Management Entrepreneurship Finance
LESSONS INCLUDE:
+ Recruiting, Resumes, & Hiring
+ Employee Opinions
+ Employee Supervision
+ Strikes, Unions, & Collective Bargaining
+ Management Accounting
+ Pricing & Sales
+ Operations Management
+ Business Plan Math
+ Risk Management & Insurance
+ Forms of Business Ownership
+ Management Mogul
+ Extra Credit: Turnaround
+ Extra Credit: Mega Management Mogul
Recommended Curriculum Pairing for the Management Simulation
In the Management courses students will learn that effective management is key to any organization’s success. They’ll tackle topics on leadership, managing teams, entrepreneurship, global business, finance, and technology and innovation. They’ll also gain an understanding about HR, the rules and laws they must follow and how to become an effective manager in any career field.
DECA/Knowledge Matters Digital Presentation Skills Challenge
The new DECA/Knowledge Matters Digital Presentation Skills Challenge will test your students’ skills at creating and delivering a digital presentation.
Free to participate for any student member of a high school DECA chapter. Open to any DECA chapter that has at least one active license to a Virtual Business simulation.
Thank you to all the students who participated in the 2024 KMI/DECA Digital Presentation Skills Challenge!
2024 Challenge Winners:
1st place - Alayna F., Sauk Rapids-Rice High School
2nd place - Shreenidhi K., Lebanon Trail High School
3rd place - Palash P., The Woodlands High School
2024 DECA ICDC Virtual Business Challenge Winners
1st place - Alayna F.
1st place – Daniel Tang, Greenway High School, AZ
1st place – Nathan Ko & Anson Lam, Mission San Jose High School, CA
1st place – Saaj Gumbula & Vishalraam Rajkumar, Round Rock High School, TX
1st place – Albert Zhang, Syosset High School, NY
1st place – David Zhou, Basis Independent Silicon Valley, CA
1st place $1,000 – Edward X. and William T. from Great Neck South High School, New York
1st place – Jiya Goel, Kyxin Jiang & Emma Li, The Woodlands School, Ontario
1st place – Kai Melant, Zakir Patwa & Zachary Wright, Cedar Ridge High School, TX
2nd place - Shreenidhi K. 3rd place - Palash P.
Hear What Educators Have to Say
Learn more about the great experiences our teachers have using the Virtual Business simulations in their classrooms across the country.
Virtual Business All-Access Scholarship Challenges:
+ Two opportunities to win each year that are exclusive to Virtual Business All-Access license holders
+ Added features to monitor student progress data and engagement
+ Increase student usage by reinforcing concepts during challenge practice
Upcoming Virtual Business Challenge dates:
Virtual Business All-Access Scholarship Fall Challenge
10/7/24 - 10/18/24
Virtual Business All-Access Scholarship Spring Challenge
3/31/25 - 4/11/25
DECA Digital Presentation Skills Challenge
1/2/25 – 1/31/25
FBLA Virtual Business Challenge
VBC Personal Finance, VBC Management
Round 1: 10/14/24 - 11/8/24
Round 2: 2/3/25 - 2/28/25
FCCLA Virtual Business Challenge
VBC Personal Finance, VBC Fashion
Round 1: 10/14/24 - 11/8/24
Round 2: 2/3/25 - 2/28/25
DECA Virtual Business Challenge
VBC Personal Finance, VBC Management
Round 1: 10/15/24 - 10/25/24
Round 2: 1/14/25 - 1/24/25
BPA Virtual Business Challenge
VBC Accounting and VBC Entrepreneurship
2/3/25 - 2/28/25
Win Up to $5,000 in Student Scholarships!
Through Virtual Healthcare simulations, students will gain an understanding of the dayto-day roles and different types of scenarios that healthcare workers experience. They will practice procedures virtually in a zero-risk environment and gain confidence in their skills prior to entering a clinical setting.
Dental Assistant
Dental Assistant is the very first health science simulation in the Virtual Healthcare series from Knowledge Matters. Delivered in two courses, Dental Assisting: Skills and Dental Assisting: Procedures, students apply the concepts they have learned in class as they progress through the experiential learning journey on their way to becoming a Dental Assistant. In a low-stakes virtual setting, students will gain a deeper understanding of what it takes to strive for high patient satisfaction and quality care.
Within the simulation, students focus on learning the necessary skills and steps involved with each procedure.
Medical Assisting Coming Soon
Experience a day in the life of a healthcare provider with our Virtual Healthcare Medical Assistant Simulation. Students are taken out of the abstract and put into the reality of a medical office, allowing them to gain a better understanding of how to fulfill duties typical of a medical assistant. From checking in patients to point-of-care testing, blood draws, medication administration, responding to emergency situations, and working with diverse patients with varied needs, students will gain confidence in their ability to deliver quality patient care.
Expand the Benefits of Knowledge Matters with Career Exploration
Expand career connected learning with career exploration supplemental and comprehensive curriculum from eDynamic Learning. Learning Blade’s interactive missions, appropriate for grades 5-9, provide interactive supplemental lessons and activities that are proven to increase career interests in a variety of high-demand areas including computer science, STEM, and CTE careers. And with over 250 titles, our Digital Curriculum’s comprehensive courses offer unique elective and career courses for students to explore a variety of professions and receive the knowledge and preparation needed to make life-shaping decisions prior to high school. Our digital curriculum can serve as a textbook replacement or supplement the classroom curriculum with tailored resources and assessments catering to diverse student needs, fostering personalized learning experiences.
Contact us today to explore how career exploration can further support your students. www.edynamiclearning.com
Are you interested in business, leading people, or making decisions to help a business be successful? While there are many different career choices in the field of business, in this course, you’ll discover options such as management, human resources, business operations, information management, and accounting. Explore the skills you’ll need, common tasks, the technology used, and characteristics of various business careers.
Unit 1: In Charge: The Manager: What about overseeing a college campus or sports stadium? These are just a few of the types of careers that can be found in the General Management career pathway.
Unit 2: Handling Information: Business Information Management: Did you know that there is an entire pathway of careers that use business skills while also focusing on technology?
Unit 3: Overseeing Humans: Managing Human Resources: From teaching, to giving advice, and even conducting investigations, Human Resources Management careers do it all.
Unit 4: Operating the Business: Business Operations: Working with our supply chain, or the way that products make it into our homes, is at the core of Operations Management careers.
Unit 5: Master of Multitasking: The Office Manager: From keeping your boss organized to fine-tuning important presentations, this pathway involves lots of people and technology skills. And these workers can be found in almost every industry!
Unit 6: Crunching the Numbers: The Accountant: Careers in the Accounting career pathway think about, analyze, and track financial transactions for individuals and businesses.
