E-Game Project Possibilities

1. Stamp Scrabble/Glass Bead Game

In Hermann Hesse's novel Magister Ludi, the citizens of a far future civilization entertained themselves by playing (or watching the play of) a game in which glass beads were used to represent concepts. Players laid the beads down in patterns that represented links between the abstractions. Fans of the novel have tried for years to actually implement the game which was only vaguely described. Could we scale it down to something doable and playable by using something more concrete in place of the glass beads? How about postage stamps? They often represent important people, places, things and events in a nation's life and one could imagine ways to link them.

• Webmagister Ludi and the Glass Bead Game
• The Waldzell Glass Bead Game
• The Glass Bead Game - Hermann Hesse
• E-Bay's stamp auctions
• Google's Stamp Collecting Web Directory

2. Spelling and Grammar for Adults

How many times have you seen “there” when it should have been “their”, or “it’s” instead of “its”. Will dictation software and instant spellchecking make spelling an obsolete skill? Not for a long time. There are scads of spelling programs designed for school-aged kids, but the vocabulary and graphics aren't well matched to the needs of adult learners. Can you design something as addictive as solitaire or Snood that will improve English mastery for grownups?

• Unemployment Linked to Bad Spelling
• The Art of Spelling
• Old Way/New Way Spelling Software

3. Evolving Intelligence and Behavior

How did apes evolve into something smart enough to enroll in EDTEC 670? The Noble Ape Simulation is an open-source platform in which one can struggle to find an answer. It's several simulations wrapped up in one: weather, biology, and landscape are all programmed. The most important aspect is the cognitive simulation which tracks changes in the brains of the apes as they stumble towards sentience. Taking on this project will involve creating experiments that one could learn from. Target learners would most likely be college students.

4. Ethics for Kids

According to a recently-released study by the Josephson Institute of Ethics based on a national survey of 24,763 high school students, nearly two-thirds (62%) cheated on exams and more than one in four (27%) stole from a store within the past 12 months. Additionally, 40% admit they "sometimes lie to save money." With values education somewhat absent from schools, we may be growing a generation of semi-crooks. Is there a way to embed the learning of ethics in a non-preachy game or simulation? There has to be a more effective way than hiphop songfests. Perhaps the story-based approach of Philosophy for Kids provides a starting place.

5. Wild Fires and their Human Impact

As we saw last week, wild fires seem to have a mind of their own. One can predict the course they'll follow to some degree, but the randomness of the winds assures that predictions won't be 100% accurate. Fires can be simulated through platforms that model the collective behavior of individual autonomous actors. Each flaming piece of the ground acts based on the wind and the fuel directly below and adjacent to it. Star Logo TNG is an excellent tool for modeling things like this.

An earlier 670 team created Wildfire Challenge right after the 2003 fires with an earlier version of Star Logo. The new 3-D version opens itself up to a more powerful simulation.

6. A Cure for Stupidity

Why Smart People Can Be So Stupid. This is Robert J. Sternberg's scholarly look at some puzzling human behavior. In a review of the book, Gavin McNett quotes a chapter by David Perkins:"Perkins lists eight deadly sins of the stupid smart person, which seem to sum it all up rather elegantly: impulsiveness (doing something rash), neglect (ignoring something important), procrastination (actively avoiding something important), vacillation (dithering), backsliding (capitulating to habit), indulgence (allowing oneself to fall into excess), overdoing (like indulgence, but with positive things) and walking the edge (tempting fate)." Those sound like a teachable set of concepts. Could you design a simulation/game for smart people to help them avoid doing dumb things?

7. Learning to be a Smart Investor

One often-heard bit of advice in business circles is OPM and OPB: Other People's Money and Other People's Brains. That's one way startups grow. The amount of lore needed to be a successful investor in stocks in daunting but that dauntitude can possibly be reduced by using Other People's Brains. Whose brains? The players of Motley Fool's CAPS, an ongoing community and competition. Can you design a game that involves making decisions based on the more successful players of CAPS? Create a contest around the contest?