Good News Friday!

Today I’d like to highlight a collaboration between Imagine! and the University of Colorado that has resulted in a simple (and fun) learning tool that opens the door for developing skills among the population we serve so they can be more independent.

Below are a couple of photos of folks living in the Bob and Judy Charles SmartHome playing a game that serves as a fun way to develop money management skills.

Here's how the game is played: Players push a button and a light starts going around a “Wheel of Fortune” (seen in the picture below with John), then push the button again, making the wheel stop on a spot that corresponds with a coin. The players mark that coin on a score card. Everyone gets five turns. At the end of the game, players add up the coins marked and answer questions about what they can buy with that much money, how many quarters are in a dollar, what they would do if they had a million dollars, and other questions designed to get players to learn while having fun.

By all accounts, the game was indeed fun – the players had a great time playing.

John presses the button to stop the “Wheel of Fortune.”

Lana (in blue shirt) and Rebecca watch the wheel closely.

So where did this game come from? For the past three years, a group of University of Colorado Engineering students in classes taught by Associate Professor Melinda Piket-May have worked on projects to design adaptive technologies to aid increased independence for some of the individuals Imagine! serves. These projects have resulted in several tools that have benefited individuals served by Imagine! greatly, including the "Wheel of Fortune" game.

You can see some examples of other projects from the Spring 2012 class here.

And in case you missed it, here’s a video of the CU students who developed this game explaining how the technology for the “Wheel of Fortune” works. Cool stuff!

 

Can’t see the video? Click here.