– Says the man behind the concept
Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Guyana National Newspapers Limited, Mr. Keith Burrowes sees great possibility in expanding the scope of the Mastermind Quiz, the groundbreaking interactive and educational online game that was launched two weeks ago. The game, a brainchild of Burrowes, caters for children between 10 and 12 years old and quizzes them on the four core primary learning subject areas – math, English, social studies and science – and general knowledge questions.
According to Burrowes, the game is aimed at students generally, but the questions have been geared towards the students writing or preparing to write the Grade 6 examination. “This is the first target group, but we may extend that,” Burrowes said.
Speaking at the launch of Mastermind at State House two weeks ago, Burrowes told the gathering of students that when they play the game today, they might see someone scoring higher than they do, spurring a competitive zeal within them to try to better their peers. “It focuses on competition among children,” the Chairman said.
The Chairman said that the programme was not a customised one that was ‘plucked up’ and used for the game. “We built it and as part of building it we had the involvement of the students. We got their views. There was the involvement of the students and teachers,” the Chairman said.
“Some of the benefits are direct and some of them are indirect,” he said.
According to the Chairman, “We are looking at forming healthy networks among students of Guyana. The programme could also facilitate linkages through the use of webcams.”
He said the game Mastermind is developing relationships among children of diverse backgrounds through healthy competition. “We hope to move it down the line to address issues of patriotism,” Burrowes disclosed.
He said too that the management of the game is looking at the possibility of international participation, although he said this would have to be a stepwise approach, done in stages. He said that there could be the possibility of student exchanges, but this is something that will have to be examined further before being fully implemented.
Further, he said they would encourage students in the Diaspora to participate in the programme, given the fact that they may be Guyanese and deserving of a chance to compete with other Guyanese children.
He said that the Guyana Chronicle might look at ways of incorporating the parents into the game, especially single parents. This is something that President Bharrat Jagdeo spoke about during the launch of the game. He suggested that even while there is a restriction on the age of people who could take part in the game, that there could be a section for the parents and other adults. He opined that many grownups cannot answer many of the 2,000 questions that the game has in its memory bank.
According to the GNNL Chairman, some lessons were learnt during the period of the pilot project and the early days after the game’s launch at State House. These lessons will guide the further development of the game and its eventual expansion.
As is characteristic of Mr. Burrowes, he made the point that the game must reach a stage where it is working as intended and achieving the expected goals before one could seek to tinker with it with a view to further developing it.
One such further development is to have the Guyana Chronicle carry answers concealed cleverly in some part of the newspaper. It will be up to the students accessing the game site to discover the questions online and go seeking the answers in the daily and Sunday Chronicle every week.
Further, the Chairman thought it a good idea to also have in addition to the academic and general knowledge work, a section on brainteasers, not unlike what is published in ‘Discover’ magazine, a science publication of interest to this reporter. These brainteasers could also depart from the usual quiz questions by not having a time attached to answering them, but allowing the students to email possible correct answers.
As part of the award for good performance in answering questions on the site, the management of the Game will prepare a profile article on winners, not unlike what is done for students who perform exceptionally well at the nation’s Grade Six Assessment Examinations. The article will feature of course the child’s photograph and an interview with the child as to what are his or her interests and how he or she prepared for the rigorous task of capturing such a distinction as outperforming hundreds, possibly thousands of others.
“We will be educating people with a view to preventing them from being ripped off,” said the Chairman. Another in the education initiative is the publishing of public service and education-type information and articles, designed to help people understand complex legal issues related to homebuilding, dealing with legal documents, land ownership, transfers and such like.