Spent Report Emily Grasso The interactive web game, Spent, has some very educational value.

Spent is an interactive simulation that has the user make decisions throughout the course of a month. At the beginning of the month, the user is given one thousand dollars to use as they please. The user must find a job and buy a house at the beginning of the month. This often uses up at least seventy-five percent of the one thousand dollars the player starts at. Each day, the user is given a scenario and has to make a decision based upon the amount of money in the bank. A wide variety of scenarios exist, including those such as sending a child on a field trip or getting a five hundred dollar root canal. It is actually quite difficult to make it through the month and end up with a balance of more than two hundred dollars left in the bank. If the user becomes bankrupt, the game is over and the player is forced to start over and redo the game. Spent is made to show life in a realistic way that can easily presented to eighth grade Social Studies students. The game is presented in a clear and concise manner that is easy to understand and evaluate. While the game does not go into detail about how to specifically organize and spend money in a wise manner, it does show how quickly money can be spent based on a variety of reasons. Eighth graders are starting to develop and become more independent, so it is very important that they realize how big financial management really is and how important it is to surviving in life. Responsibility is a very important quality to have, and this activity proves that. While it may be fun to attend a concert, it also may not be financially logical, which is a great example to show the students because they may be able to relate to that. This game is able to relate some situations to the eighth graders, so it is very useful to them. The game could be used in a variety of activities to teach the students and implemented in various ways. Of course, the most obvious way would be to teach the students money management and use that as a lesson on how to spend money wisely. In a way, it could also teach the eighth graders what is valuable in life and what is excess. Obviously, concert tickets are not essential to survive, but owning a house that is affordable is a necessity that cannot be overlooked. Simple things like this would help the students see that they cannot have everything they want in life because the necessities become so expensive. The game shows the prices on a relatively accurate scale, so the students are able to realize the severity of the costs of life. This game could also provide educational value by showing the students that life is not always fair and it shows life on a realistic scale. Kids aspire to become the richest doctor or lawyer, but that is not realistic or logical at all. The world cannot be full of doctors and lawyers; there are other jobs that must be filled, most of which have lower salaries and income rates. Most of the eighth graders will be employed in lower income jobs, so this game shows life on a realistic level for them. No one can always have everything in life, and this is a perfect example of that. Life is not always going to be wonderful, especially if one spends money excessively. Bankrupt is a real problem that

can easily affect everyone, which is what this game also attempts to convey to the eighth graders. This game is definitely very valuable and can provide priceless information on life to the students. It is essential that the students learn about life before they are thrown into the real world and expected to live responsibly on their own. Serious games are very popular and many people are in support of them. According to Girard, Ecalle, and Magnan, authors of Serious games as new educational tools: how effective are they? A meta-analysis of recent studies, serious games are very beneficial. These people conducted a study on whether or not serious games were beneficial. They found that since many children along with adults are growing up in an age of digital electronics. Soon, it may be all they know, so it would only make sense to use serious games as a form of education. They are especially useful because they focus more on education than they do entertainment (Serious 2). According to the article, serious games provide opportunities to engage in activities through responsive narrative/story, gameplay or encounters to inform, influence, for well-being, and/or experience to convey meaning (Serious 5). The authors ultimately concluded that serious games are a very beneficial mode of learning and should be used in classrooms throughout the world. They did also write that there should be more studies involving the benefits of serious games because they are so new and are not being utilized as much as they may be in the future. Another article, Assessment in and of Serious Games: An Overview, also speaks highly of serious games. Authors Bellotti, Kapralos, Lee, Moreno-Ger, and Berta all discuss the benefits of serious games and why they should be used as education tools. They found that serious games have outcomes linked to a range of perceptual, cognitive, behavioral, affective, and motivational impacts and outcomes (Assessment 2). This means that these games not only beneficially affect students knowledge, but also their behavior and characteristics as well. The article claims that while serious games are good, they must be effective. This means that there should be a type of quiz or test at the end of the game to ensure maximum comprehension and benefit from the game itself. This will help students on standardized testing and it will help them pass that section of the test. The games engage students and hold their complete attention- more so than a teacher in a regular classroom would, so the students are technically learning more. Overall, these authors are in favor of serious games. Serious games are becoming more and more popular in schools all over. These games provide real-life situation to teach the kids and help prepare them for the outside world. They captivate students attention more than a teacher would, so the students learn and retain more than if they were listening to a lecture. This type of technology can be implemented into the classroom in many different ways and in a variety of subjects, which makes them very useful and beneficial. Serious games will definitely benefit students in the present and near future.

Citations Bellotti, F., Kapralos, B., Lee, K., Moreno-Ger, P., & Berta, R. (2013). Assessment in and of Serious Games: An Overview. Advances in Human-Computer Interaction, 2013, 10-20. Girard, C., Ecalle, J., & Magnan, A. (2012). Serious games as new educational tools: how effective are they? A meta-analysis of recent studies. Journal of Computer Assisted Learning, 29(3), 207-219.