Guaging interest

[Micah Yoder <LYoder@cyberis.net>]

Hi,

I think it would be worthwhile to do a little more probing for interest
in a free stock market simulator.  I've had various levels of interest
from a few people, but I haven't heard any teachers say "yes I'll use it
in my class!"  Since I'm not a teacher or a parent, it doesn't do me any
good directly.  I'll be happy to write it, though, if there's real
interest.  If there's not, then I have better things to do.

So, I was thinking about posting a message where it will be seen -
Freshmeat, Linux Today, where else? - giving the idea and asking a few
questions.  Here's a draft:

-----------------
I'm considering writing a Web based application, running on a Linux
server, that will enable a teacher to let a group of students play the
stock market with imaginary portfolios.  This could be used to teach
students about investing, and would be simpler than traditional
imaginary portfolio assignments, which are all done and charted by hand.

There already is such a system, the Stock Market Game
(http://www.smg2000.com), but this system would have some advantages:

 - Teachers would have more control since it runs on a local server
 - It wouldn't require a dedicated internet connection, but instead get
updates for 100-1000 stocks daily (with a cron job)
 - It would not cost money per student
 - It could be adapted to other countries, assuming stock feeds of local
exchanges could be arranged

So, here are my questions:

Are you a middle school, high school, or university business/finance
teacher?
If so, would you be willing to use such a program in your classrooms?
What features would you want in such a program?

Thanks for your time,
Micah