MobLab is an educational platform with games and experiments for teaching economic concepts. Thanks to a co-operation between MobLab and Iconomix, the games are freely accessible to teachers with an Iconomix login.
Specifically, 17 games and experiments from MobLab are available to registered Iconomix users. For an overview see here.
We asked Nathanael Berger, Director of Customer Success at MobLab and Economics and law teacher at Gymnasium Oberwil in the canton of Baselland, what MobLab is and how the games and experiments can be used in class.
Games and Experiments with MobLab
MobLab's online games and class experiments range from an extension of the Pitgame, to the classic prisoner’s dilemma, to a game about bank runs.
Nathanael Berger: MobLab, which stands for "Mobile Laboratory", is a start-up founded by economists at the California Institute of Technology that specializes in interactive games and experiments for teaching economics.
The games on the digital platform MobLab are used in over 300 universities worldwide, including Harvard, MIT and Stanford, as well as in many high schools and other secondary schools mainly in the US. We are also involved in numerous projects and initiatives to promote effective learning and economic and financial literacy.
During a game, students take on the role of an economic agent and usually follow an individual strategy. The success of their strategy depends on their own decisions as well as the decisions of the other participants. This interactivity creates a social and emotional connection to economic concepts and issues.
All games are designed to fit into a 45-minute lesson, including a discussion of the game results and the related theory. In addition, all games, such as the classic prisoner's dilemma or Pitgame, are available "at the click of a button" and students can all play simultaneously via a device connected to the internet.
In my opinion, the two complement each other perfectly: In the Iconomix teaching unit "Market and Pricing", which centers on the educational game "Pitgame", students experience in the classroom in an impressive way how a market converges to equilibrium through the "invisible hand".
With MobLab's computer-based "Competitive Market Game" on the other hand, the teacher can introduce further concepts, such as shifts in supply and demand, the influence of taxes or minimum and maximum prices, and let the students experience their effects in a fun and interactive way.
Source: Nathanael Berger
Nathanael Berger discovered the pedagogical value of economic experiments during his master’s degree at Chapman University in California, and joined MobLab after graduating in 2017. He is now Director of Customer Success.
Since 2021, Nathanael Berger has also been a teacher of Economics and law at the Gymnasium Oberwil in the canton of Baselland.
