Business Idea – Game Based Learning

Short business plan developed at the e-Bootcamp at BASES (Business Association of Stanford Entrepreneurial Students) last week.

“Started in 2009, the Entrepreneurial Bootcamp is a week-long intensive program that provides participants with an intimate knowledge of the processes and challenges that any entrepreneur will face.  Through this program, participants will acquire the management and leadership skills necessary to excel in a business environment.  Topics covered include:
Ideas, Creativity and Innovation; Evaluating Ideas – The Venture Capitalist Way; Implementing and Idea; Market Dynamics and Customer
Development; Entrepreneurial Finance; Getting Financing; Venture Capitalists; and Business Plans.”

RockSTEM Games – EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Mission

Use the addictive leverage of gaming to inspire teenagers about problems in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).

The Challenges

One current challenge of education is to attract K-12 students towards science, technology, engineering and mathematics.  Computer games are excellent at captivating their users.  However, the attention span in computer games is rarely used to inspire interest in complex scientific and engineering problems.  Why not use the addictive leverage of games to get teenagers hooked on mathematics, science and engineering?

Our Solution

RockSTEM Games aims at developing game scenarios that emulate complex scientific and engineering problems while creating an addictive educational experience.  The problems used in our games come directly from our partner research institutions and industries, which participate in the agile development of the game rules.  Our games will be continuously updated based on current research findings and on the solutions found by the players.  The research partners will be featured in tutorial videos that explain the core concepts relevant to the game scenarios.  Players are encouraged to participate on the community forum to collaborate with peers to share strategies and insights.  We envision our games being used as tutoring tools and support for curricular activities.

Our Impact

Through our games, teenagers are not only hooked on STEM problems, but they also apply their scholastic learning to real world problems.  As a result, our customers have an opportunity to improve their knowledge while understanding the significance of class material with a global perspective.  In turn, the research community can use the game results and feedback from the game community to educate, gain insights and revise the models.

Financial Model

RockSTEM Games has three main revenue streams. First, we collect subscription fees from our customers who receive a knowledge edge and can potentially increase their performance in class.  Second, we collect fees from our research partners, who use our games as a compelling marketing and recruiting tool to attract the next generation of talents.  Third, we collect marketing fees from media companies to advertise for relevant support material.  After the first three years of release, we aim at capturing one percent of the World of Warcraft subscribers which corresponds to over one million users, and over $1 billion in revenue.

Team

Federik G. Pferdt is a research assistant, lecturer and advanced Ph.D. candidate at University of Paderborn and a visiting scholar at the Center for Design Research at Stanford. Leticia Britos is an advanced Ph.D. candidate from the School of Medicine, with experience in teacher training and curriculum development. John Shinozaki is a Master’s student in Mechanical Engineering with a focus in design and entrepreneurship.  Karl Axel Strang is a PhD student at Stanford University in the Aeronautics and Astronautics Department.

Let’s rock education! 8-)