04/ 02/ 2008
Online game presented by NFIB's Young Entrepreneur Foundation
Johnny Money: Online Game (JMOG) is an interactive small business simulation game designed to enhance high-school students' exploration of entrepreneurship. The game is presented through flash-based Internet technology and allows students to learn about day-to-day functions of entrepreneurs and small business owners.
NFIB's Young Entrepreneurship Foundation partnered with the Sol. C. Snider Entrepreneurial Research Center of The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania to develop the game's academic standards. Dr. Ian C. MacMillan, the director of the Snider Center, led a team of two graduate students and three collegians in working with YEF to make the online game a resource for teachers to use in the classroom when teaching students about entrepreneurship.
When playing the game, students choose between two retail businesses, a surf and skate shop or a gifts and gadgets shop, to establish and manage for a two-year period. Throughout the game, users are presented with realistic scenarios, including securing funding for their business, managing employees and assets, and marketing and sales. Johnny Money, the game's host, and his business associates advise students during the course of the game on the different decisions business owners must make.
Since JMOG is an Internet-based activity, it can be incorporated into existing lesson plans for class discussion, assigned as an out-of-class assignment, or used in homeroom, advisory or after-school programs.
Beta testing for the game took place Feb. 8 through March 5. During this time, teachers across the country tested the game in their classrooms and provided YEF with useful feedback. YEF plans to launch the game nationally this summer in time for teachers to plan on incorporating the game into their fall courses.
