Virtual Progress: Simulating Economic Development Online

Abstract

In 1999, Cannon, Yaprak and Mokra presented their description of Progress, a non-computerized game, developed initially to teach students from former communist countries the economic consequences of free-market principles. While the game appears to have had conceptual merit, it has proved difficult to administer in practice, both because of the administrative burden of recording player interactions and because of the time required to play the game. Given these problems, combined with the desirability of being able to administer the game simultaneously in multiple locations (different countries), the game appears to be a natural candidate for online education. This paper describes an Internet-based game that incorporates the basic logic of Progress, overcoming its drawbacks by incorporating the benefits of computer-support, asynchronous timing, and geography-free administration.