Survive the zombie outbreak by managing your finances. Do you have what it takes? Get college loans, buy a car, buy a house: It’s your decision. Zombies and debts have a lot in common. Stay on your toes, and you should be able to handle them. In Night of the Living Debt, manage your finances or be eaten alive by bad credit. Night of the Living Debt is excellent for group learning activities or in the classroom. Designed for high schoolers, it is also suitable for youth or adults interested in learning about credit issues and debt. For supporting materials please visit the Northwest Youth Financial Education Night of the Living Debt Page. Night of the Living Debt was designed and produced by New Mexico State University Media Productions with support from the University of Idaho Extension, CoBANK, and Northwest Youth Financial Education. During development, it was tested in classroom settings and in the NMSU Learning Games Lab. This formative evaluation and research space follows user-testing protocols developed by in-house researchers and engages in other industry standards for collecting qualitative feedback from research subjects and participants. This is a free app
Simulation
The app can be used in many ways including group activities or whole class, or just plain fun. The way you play this game with your class or youth group will largely depend on the number of iPads you have available, and the amount of social interaction you would like your students to have with each other while playing. See the NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEBT
Instructor’s Guide for a detailed list of ideas for use in a wide variety of situations.
This material can be used to support in-class, homework or independent study and self-paced activities.
Requires iOS 8.1 or later. Compatible with iPad. Only available for iOS devices.
The purpose of this app is to provide a fun and engaging activity to supplement third party curricula or lessons on building credit and credit scores. It is designed to improve knowledge and actions of class participants and ultimately help them build better credit scores while minimizing debt and avoiding sub-prime lenders.
After playing Night of the Living Debt, students will:
i. Understand the best ways to build and maintain strong credit scores.
ii. Understand that payday loans and other subprime loans are not effective options for building credit scores.
iii. Understand that missing just a few bill payments can have a significant negative effect on credit scores.
iv. See credit scores as a metric of financial health. Everyone needs a healthy credit score. It can impact employment, rental eligibility, and loan and insurance rates, private utilities and educational options.
v. Recognize the value of monitoring the credit score, establishing emergency funds and avoiding sub-prime lenders.
This app/program was developed specifically for juniors and seniors in high school to help them establish a strong credit record once they turn 18 years old. However, in field tests this program has also been used successfully with younger and older audiences.
Middle School, High School, College Lower Division
Knowledge of basic financial terms used in the game are necessary for achieving the goals and objects set above. Students need to know terms such as credit card, loan, payday loan, etc. in order to make decisions to achieve a good credit rating.
Basic tablet skills such as drag and drop and tapping on icons are helpful.
The game is fun while also providing students with an opportunity to learn and practice financial decision making to achieve the objectives set out above. The quality of the app itself is high with colorful graphics and an appealing setting for most students. The overall quality is greatly enhanced by the supporting materials.
The supply area graphics could use improvement.
The program provided with the app is outstanding providing an Instructors Guide and Talking Points for instructors that make an effective all-round teaching and learning experience.
Night of the Living Debt | Northwest Youth Financial Education page.
The game itself is used without guidance may not result in a learning experience for students if they don't understand the terminology.
The game is very appealing to students due to the colorful graphics, optional music, and well-drawn characters in a popular zombie setting. Although there are no directions (just some basic statements), many students will grasp the navigation quickly and then navigation remains consistent throughout the game. Students receive feedback on most actions however, the feedback is sometimes subtle and might not be noticed if the student isn't looking.
Although the game will appeal to many, some students will find navigation difficult especially for the first few rounds until they understand what to tap on and when, and what to drag where for the desired results. Intial guidance is suggested to avoid frustration that would be a barrier to learning.
The program materials are offered free of charge through UI Extension.
i. However we do ask payment in the form of notifying us when you use the program in your group or class and/or collecting survey data from the classes you teach. This will ensure that our program shows strong impact and merits continued financial support from our partners.
ii. Please print copies of the Night of the Living Debt student evaluation and have your participants fill them out.
1. Completed surveys can be mailed to:
a. Luke Erickson
UI Extension, Madison County
PO Box 580
Rexburg, ID 83440
2. OR, scan surveys, tallied results, or just the numbers of
kids you taught and send to erickson@uidaho.edu. Any info
from your use of our program is helpful.
3. Thanks for your help, this program can’t be successful
without the help of local volunteers and program
facilitators like you.
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