Monday, March 9, 2009

Free Stock Market Simulation Game...


I have always been thrilled by Stock Market Simulation Games. I love the idea of investing a virtual lump sum in a market based on real stock prices and watching your investment grow (or not).

I have tried several times in the past to use Stock Market simulations with my classes, with mixed success. The students are almost always very enthusiastic about the idea of having hundreds of thousands of dollars to invest. Many of the students really throw themselves into researching stocks online, on CNBC, or anywhere else they can get a hot tip.
I've even gotten a few of the other teachers in the building in on the action, buying and selling stocks right alongside the students.

The enthusiasm for the simulations was never the challenge. Finding a site that was easy to use and setup was. After several years of using sites that left many students baffled and frustrated, I finally decided something had to be done differently. Luckily, my programming skill is finally starting to catch up to my imagination.

I've created my own Stock Market Game written entirely in php. It pulls real stock prices (delayed 15 minutes) from Google Finance, and allows students to buy and sell stocks at the real prices. The site keeps tracks of every transaction and ranks players throughout the day as stock values change.

I would like to make this game available to other teachers, just as I have the online jeopardy review game and some of my other classroom creations. I am currently in the testing stage, but I can iron out the kinks more quickly and effectively if I have a pool of people testing the software. My students have been using it for a few days with no major issues, but it is always good to run your own creations past other sets of eyes.

If you want to participate, each of your students (or small teams if you prefer) will have a virtual $100,000 and a Trading Password. Students can buy and sell from any publicly traded stock. Stocks trade at real prices via slightly delayed quotes that come from Google Finance. Students can trade from any online computer (works from phones too, I tried).

Email me at info@superteachertools.com if you are interested. I can get your class up and trading in a day or 2.

I hope to hear back from some people!