Comment by anonymous5133

6 years ago

Yup, that write up definitely hit the nail on the head. I could work on more lucrative side projects but there are just some side projects that you have to do because it just has the potential to be great and do real good in the world. Mostly what I see these days is a void in the educational market - you have a traditional educational system practically resistant to changing and then you have all of these emerging technologies. The emerging technologies go on to change other industries....but education, nothing changes, or very slowly. That's where my side project ideas some into play. I'm working on making a course right now in a traditional college level subject then adding a bunch tools (student data analysis, simulation games, interactive lectures etc.) to help students learn the subject better. Simply put, I want to take traditional college courses and then apply the latest technology to teach that subject. Let's create the world's best online course, create a bunch of really useful tools to learn the subject then scale it up and give it away to everyone for free.

Also I looked at your game and I really love it. It is so much fun (even though I don't know much about quantum physics). Now just imagine if we have a traditional college-level subject, such as quantum physics, and then use tools like your game to help people learn better. You still learn all the usual topics but the overall learning experience is made SIGNIFICANTLY better by having these extra tools to use to learn. Your game is an educational game but using the same technology used to create that game could also be used to create all sorts of things - experiment simulation, interactive graphics etc.

Sadly, innovation in teaching is neither a priority in academia (since it is not research) nor in the industry (since it is this kind of activity that ).

I wouldn't say there is no innovation though. There are science-based games (http://p.migdal.pl/interactive-machine-learning-list/ (a lot of things; of course, Immersive Linear Algebra is there). Most of these projects are side projects, though.

Also - I had a plan to extend the quantum game (it is nice to hear you enjoyed it!) to more particles... and then, a full course, with experimental widgets (e.g. showing interference, then explaining it, then giving space to play with it). With some framework (maybe $, but I care even more for collaborators and deadlines), I would love to continue that.

What are your projects?