The Gamification Effect: Using Fun to Build Financial Security

Using a game-based approach, new financial-education and savings programs are putting the power to save in the palm of users’ hands and reinforcing and rewarding smart savings decisions.

Introduction

Managing personal finances can be stressful, intimidating, and at times simply mystifying. What if gaining financial knowledge, building self-confidence, and taking positive financial action could be as fun and engaging as playing a video game? At Commonwealth, we believe that tools that use fun to increase people's motivation to engage with financial topics, reduce stress and anxiety surrounding financial decision making, and lead to real-world action taking can improve the financial security and opportunity of financially vulnerable New Englanders. This article describes how Commonwealth has applied video games and gamified tools to financial concepts and behaviors. It discusses what we learned and concludes with an invitation to the financial industry and community practitioners to engage in deep conversations about how these lessons can be applied more broadly.
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How To Use Games For Financial Education

The human brain is programmed to detect patterns, but often perceives finances as too dense or tangled to sort. Because they seem incomprehensible, finances are labeled as boring, and positive financial decisions remain difficult to teach via traditional methods.

In contrast, when our brain sees a pattern that’s actually digestible, it seizes the opportunity to learn, quickly starts to make connections between concepts, and paints the shapes of new knowledge through the growth of neurons. This whole process is exciting and empowering and fun. These are the experiences that change the way people behave and push them to keep learning more. Gamification, the process of integrating game-like actions into everyday tasks, builds on these patterns, and in this way, may play an important role in financial education.
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Financial Literacy and Gaming: Match Made in Education Heaven?

Life can throw curveballs from anywhere and at any time. So why is it that most of the financial planning information and advice available in the marketplace seems to assume that life is linear?

“The information tends to be of the sort ‘If you do A plus B plus C, you will always get D,’ but that’s not how the world of money works,” says Vicki Brackens, president of World of Cheddar in Syracuse, N.Y., a financial education firm that focuses on the impact of games, game mechanics and “gamification” on learning. “What we really need are financial literacy models that take into account the fact that no decisions are linear. We need models that allow people to work through a system that looks very much like life itself.” 

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Why Financial Literacy is So Important

Banks and other institutions are inundating consumers with credit opportunities—the ability to apply for credit cards or use credit checks to pay other credit balances—and without the proper knowledge or checks and balances, it is easy to get into financial trouble. In past generations, cash was used for virtually every purchase. Today, cash is rarely used. The way we shop has changed as well. Online shopping has become the top choice for many younger shoppers, creating ample opportunities to use and overextend credit, an all too easy way to accumulate debt, fast. Many of these consumers have very little understanding of finances, how credit works and the potential impact on their financial well-being for many, many years. In fact, the lack of financial understanding has been signaled as one of the main reasons behind savings and investing problems faced by many Americans.

Read more: Why Financial Literacy is So Important | Investopedia http://www.investopedia.com/articles/investing/100615/why-financial-literacy-and-education-so-important.asp#ixzz4tbcuNBMz 
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Learn By Doing: Best Online Financial Literacy Games

“Learn by doing” is often taken to mean that the best way to understand something is by making an activity out of it. Interaction helps the brain develop. Reading and lectures can help with your learning progress, but the ideal path to improving education is active, rather than passive. Recent studies have shown that children who play video games tend to be more creative than those who don’t. Video games force you to make decisions, engaging your brain on multiple levels, including planning, reasoning and problem solving. Variety is the spice of life, and your brain needs a variety of mental exercises to grow.

Online Financial Literacy Games Activate Your Brain

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Financial Literacy Games Prepare Kids for Real Life

There are many good reasons why children and teens need to learn about money. One day they’ll have to face the real world, and they need to be prepared. The NFEC has developed curriculum programs designed to do just that—get kids ready to meet the situations they’ll face as adults. Using financial literacy games and other interactive activities, kids learn by practicing real-world money decisions.

Most people probably know the classic game Monopoly, in which players buy and sell properties. Playing Monopoly teaches kids how to collect and pay rents and taxes, handle paper money of different denominations, and keep track of cash flow. The NFEC recognizes that personal finance games like Monopoly help children learn how to manage bills and other responsibilities. Drawing on the game format, they’ve created interactive lesson plans that guide young people to practice all the financial decisions a typical American adult will encounter.

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Cognitive Flow And Online Learning: 4 Steps For Putting Your Learners In The Zone

In The Zone: Cognitive Flow And Online Learning

Did you ever sit down for a quick video gaming session before bed and then suddenly notice the dawn breaking outside your window? What felt like a half an hour to you was, in reality, a day’s work! You weren’t abducted by aliens, nor did you slip through a crack in the fabric of spacetime – you were simply in a heightened state of engagement.

This is the essence of Cognitive Flow - a term coined by psychologist, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, in the 1970s. Whenever we approach a task that’s too difficult for us, we get anxious and switch off. Similarly, if the task is much too easy for our skills, we’ll get bored and drift away. However, when the balance is just right, something magical happens. 

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Winner! New Home – Skyline High School

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Dallas Student Challenge

On Saturday, June 24, the Dallas awards ceremony and arcade was held at the Frontiers of Flight Museum as part of a citywide Tech Turn-Up event co-hosted by city nonprofit Big Thought. Partners from Codestream Studios, Dallas Innovation Alliance (a Future Communities local partner), Frontiers of Flight Museum, Director of Dallas ISD STEM and a rockstar teacher from Skyline High School gave remarks and presented awards to students.

In addition to games from Ubisoft, students were awarded tours of Dallas’ history museums, IBM Smart Cities facility, and local National Weather Service station.

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Winner! Immigration Simulator – Raul Sr Quintanilla Middle School

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Dallas Student Challenge

On Saturday, June 24, the Dallas awards ceremony and arcade was held at the Frontiers of Flight Museum as part of a citywide Tech Turn-Up event co-hosted by city nonprofit Big Thought. Partners from Codestream Studios, Dallas Innovation Alliance (a Future Communities local partner), Frontiers of Flight Museum, Director of Dallas ISD STEM and a rockstar teacher from Skyline High School gave remarks and presented awards to students.

In addition to games from Ubisoft, students were awarded tours of Dallas’ history museums, IBM Smart Cities facility, and local National Weather Service station.

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Winner! Arctic Journey – Lakeland Christian Academy

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Dallas Student Challenge

On Saturday, June 24, the Dallas awards ceremony and arcade was held at the Frontiers of Flight Museum as part of a citywide Tech Turn-Up event co-hosted by city nonprofit Big Thought. Partners from Codestream Studios, Dallas Innovation Alliance (a Future Communities local partner), Frontiers of Flight Museum, Director of Dallas ISD STEM and a rockstar teacher from Skyline High School gave remarks and presented awards to students.

In addition to games from Ubisoft, students were awarded tours of Dallas’ history museums, IBM Smart Cities facility, and local National Weather Service station.

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Winner! Climate Change Quiz – Raul Sr Quintanilla Middle School

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Dallas Student Challenge

On Saturday, June 24, the Dallas awards ceremony and arcade was held at the Frontiers of Flight Museum as part of a citywide Tech Turn-Up event co-hosted by city nonprofit Big Thought. Partners from Codestream Studios, Dallas Innovation Alliance (a Future Communities local partner), Frontiers of Flight Museum, Director of Dallas ISD STEM and a rockstar teacher from Skyline High School gave remarks and presented awards to students.

In addition to games from Ubisoft, students were awarded tours of Dallas’ history museums, IBM Smart Cities facility, and local National Weather Service station.

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Winner! Conquest for Energy – Skyline High School

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Dallas Student Challenge

On Saturday, June 24, the Dallas awards ceremony and arcade was held at the Frontiers of Flight Museum as part of a citywide Tech Turn-Up event co-hosted by city nonprofit Big Thought. Partners from Codestream Studios, Dallas Innovation Alliance (a Future Communities local partner), Frontiers of Flight Museum, Director of Dallas ISD STEM and a rockstar teacher from Skyline High School gave remarks and presented awards to students.

In addition to games from Ubisoft, students were awarded tours of Dallas’ history museums, IBM Smart Cities facility, and local National Weather Service station.

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Winner! Keeping The Future Beautiful – Raul Quintanilla Sr Middle School

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Dallas Student Challenge

On Saturday, June 24, the Dallas awards ceremony and arcade was held at the Frontiers of Flight Museum as part of a citywide Tech Turn-Up event co-hosted by city nonprofit Big Thought. Partners from Codestream Studios, Dallas Innovation Alliance (a Future Communities local partner), Frontiers of Flight Museum, Director of Dallas ISD STEM and a rockstar teacher from Skyline High School gave remarks and presented awards to students.

In addition to games from Ubisoft, students were awarded tours of Dallas’ history museums, IBM Smart Cities facility, and local National Weather Service station.

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Winner! Reflections: Generations of the Past – Trinity Area School District

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Pittsburgh Student Challenge

The Pittsburgh awards event was hosted at the Heinz History Center by the Sprout Fund on June 10, bringing together over 120 people to celebrate the winners and play students’ games. Finalists and winners received their prizes onstage with introductions from theme partners including the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Department of Innovation & Performance for the City of Pittsburgh.

Prizes included a tour of the Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) NavLab where they’re making autonomous vehicles, a behind-the-scenes tour of Carnegie Museum of Natural History and the National Weather Service station, work with Heinz Center museum educators to lead Hello Neighbor, a new exhibit and education program they’re launching around immigration, and a tour for all winners of CMU’s Entertainment Technology Center.

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Winner!! Beyond the Borders – Cornell School District

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Pittsburgh Student Challenge

The Pittsburgh awards event was hosted at the Heinz History Center by the Sprout Fund on June 10, bringing together over 120 people to celebrate the winners and play students’ games. Finalists and winners received their prizes onstage with introductions from theme partners including the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Department of Innovation & Performance for the City of Pittsburgh.

Prizes included a tour of the Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) NavLab where they’re making autonomous vehicles, a behind-the-scenes tour of Carnegie Museum of Natural History and the National Weather Service station, work with Heinz Center museum educators to lead Hello Neighbor, a new exhibit and education program they’re launching around immigration, and a tour for all winners of CMU’s Entertainment Technology Center.

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Winner! A Changing World – PA Distance Learning Charter School

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Pittsburgh Student Challenge

The Pittsburgh awards event was hosted at the Heinz History Center by the Sprout Fund on June 10, bringing together over 120 people to celebrate the winners and play students’ games. Finalists and winners received their prizes onstage with introductions from theme partners including the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Department of Innovation & Performance for the City of Pittsburgh.

Prizes included a tour of the Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) NavLab where they’re making autonomous vehicles, a behind-the-scenes tour of Carnegie Museum of Natural History and the National Weather Service station, work with Heinz Center museum educators to lead Hello Neighbor, a new exhibit and education program they’re launching around immigration, and a tour for all winners of CMU’s Entertainment Technology Center.

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Winner! Global Warming Adventures – Fort Couch Middle School

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Pittsburgh Student Challenge

The Pittsburgh awards event was hosted at the Heinz History Center by the Sprout Fund on June 10, bringing together over 120 people to celebrate the winners and play students’ games. Finalists and winners received their prizes onstage with introductions from theme partners including the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Department of Innovation & Performance for the City of Pittsburgh.

Prizes included a tour of the Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) NavLab where they’re making autonomous vehicles, a behind-the-scenes tour of Carnegie Museum of Natural History and the National Weather Service station, work with Heinz Center museum educators to lead Hello Neighbor, a new exhibit and education program they’re launching around immigration, and a tour for all winners of CMU’s Entertainment Technology Center.

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Winner! Project FC – PA Distance Learning Charter School

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Pittsburgh Student Challenge

The Pittsburgh awards event was hosted at the Heinz History Center by the Sprout Fund on June 10, bringing together over 120 people to celebrate the winners and play students’ games. Finalists and winners received their prizes onstage with introductions from theme partners including the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Department of Innovation & Performance for the City of Pittsburgh.

Prizes included a tour of the Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) NavLab where they’re making autonomous vehicles, a behind-the-scenes tour of Carnegie Museum of Natural History and the National Weather Service station, work with Heinz Center museum educators to lead Hello Neighbor, a new exhibit and education program they’re launching around immigration, and a tour for all winners of CMU’s Entertainment Technology Center.

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Winner! City Sim – Fort Couch Middle School

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Pittsburgh Student Challenge

The Pittsburgh awards event was hosted at the Heinz History Center by the Sprout Fund on June 10, bringing together over 120 people to celebrate the winners and play students’ games. Finalists and winners received their prizes onstage with introductions from theme partners including the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Department of Innovation & Performance for the City of Pittsburgh.

Prizes included a tour of the Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) NavLab where they’re making autonomous vehicles, a behind-the-scenes tour of Carnegie Museum of Natural History and the National Weather Service station, work with Heinz Center museum educators to lead Hello Neighbor, a new exhibit and education program they’re launching around immigration, and a tour for all winners of CMU’s Entertainment Technology Center.

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Winner! Adventures in New York – The 30th Avenue School (Grand Prize Winner)

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On June 10, G4C hosted the second annual Student Challenge awards ceremony and arcade at the Museum of the Moving Image. Nearly 200 attendees came to celebrate NYC’s best young game designers, including families, teachers and program partners.

All 18 finalists were showcased in an interactive arcade where students demoed their games. The awards ceremony was held in the Museum’s theater, featuring remarks by three teachers, Alex Fleming from our national curriculum partner Mouse and Matt Farber who recapped our Moveable Game Jam series.

Prizes were presented to 10 winning teams, including games from Ubisoft, a tour of NYU Game Center, Arduinos, tours of the American Museum of Natural History, Museum of the City of New York, New-York Historical Society and a walking tour of DUMBO by a Brooklyn Historical Society scholar.

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