Financial Video Games: A Financial Literacy Tool for Social Workers

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to describe a new approach to practice for social workers, providing financial education services to their clients through the use of personal-finance video games. Addressing the financial concerns of individuals and families has long been part of social work practice. However, video games designed for educational purposes (i.e. digital game-based learning) provide a new interactive teaching method which emphasizes experiential learning. Some technological advantages to using video games for educational purposes are: interactivity, accessibility, individualization, low cost per user, the ease of updating the content, and the attractiveness of the graphics. Educational video games support and strengthen: school achievement, cognitive abilities, motivation towards learning, attention and concentration. Overall, the literature indicates that digital game-based learning is a viable and promising method for social workers to provide financial educational services to their clients.