"Yes, Busybee got it right and I get two points!" an eight-year-old shouts in delight as he intently watches his computer screen, anticipating the game match and hoping that his mother doesn't call dinner quite yet. His captivation could be the same with any computer game, but Spellbee is different-it elicits no critical jabs from parents. In fact, this game helps parents by sharpening children's spelling and literacy skills through a new technique: rewarding them for being each other's teachers.The game introduces a novel idea: education based on evolutionary principles. This innovative combination is the basis of a new educational Web site for children, www.spellbee.org, recently launched by the Brandeis DEMO lab under the direction of Prof. Jordan Pollack (COSI) and programmer Ari Badar-Natal (GRAD). The DEMO lab, under Pollack's leadership, focuses on learning and evolution and is renowned for its automatically designed robots, created by computer systems simulating the process of evolution. The lab utilizes computer programs and mathematics to model Darwinian theories and the way evolution is thought to occur in nature. One of the lab's major themes is "co-evolution learning": the process in which learners are able to adapt to their educational environments. According to the DEMO Web site, "co-evolutionary learning" focuses on creating a learning environment in which the complexity of tasks undertaken by students, often competing learners, could increase without human intervention. The discovery of a groundbreaking principle embedded in "co-evolution learning" serves as the basis for Spellbee. "We discovered the principle of modeling evolution as a collection of agents who learn a game by playing against each other," Pollack said. He explained that according to this principle, evolution is not based on pure competition but instead requires a combination of competition and "providing information about the strengths and weaknesses of other players."Pollack described the game as a "radical revolution in peer-to-peer education," and added that Spellbee lets "children become each other's teachers."The site is targeted toward students in kindergarten through sixth grade and aims to help children improve literary and spelling skills by playing an interactive spelling game with fellow Web browsers.A child (or an adult in the mood to feel smart) selects a partner from a list of five to six names on the site, and the game begins. During each round, both partners simultaneously select a word from a list of seven words and challenge their partner to spell that word. A pop-up box appears containing a sentence with a blank for the challenge word and a computerized voice recites the sentence out loud. At this point, players must type in the correct spelling of the word before time runs out. The words range in difficulty--for example, from "live" to "carefully"--with corresponding point values. In addition to receiving points when spelling a word correctly, participants are rewarded with a pre-specified amount of points if their partners succeed in their spelling task. According to Pollack, this mutual reward encourages cooperation among the kids as they learn to pick words at an appropriate level for their partner and discover the best spelling and educational zone of their partners.The player with the most points at the end of 10 rounds wins the game. "What it's really about is to let kids attend to reading and spelling and they seem to be having a lot of fun doing it," Pollack said. According to the DEMO lab's Web site, DEMO is focusing on applying its basic principles of "self-organization,"-the formation of complex systems from simple ones without a "central designer"-in order to create a series of peer-to-peer educational communities online. "The really amazing thing here is that children can teach each other without adult teachers," Pollack said. "This could lower the cost of education ... and take over some of the more mechanical functions of teaching, thus leaving the human interaction to more challenging and creative interactions."Badar-Natal wrote the program for Spellbee in 2001 for his senior project at Brandeis University. Badar-Natal has worked for the past three years on technical aspects of the program, always revising to make it run more smoothly. The efficacy of the Spellbee game was tested on children in grades two through six in schools in Watertown, Mass. and Trenton, N.J. The evaluations from those schools were used to work out several complexities in the program before it was launched. "I think there have been 1,700 to 1,800 people who have signed up so far," Pollack said. "We've had trouble getting PR for this, but we've put up a Web site." In addition, High Tech Teacher's Organization will include a description of this program in their weekly e-mail. Spellbee operates only from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. in order to concentrate user participation. New additions to the site, intended to raise interest, are a high-scorers' list and a tournament.According to Badar-Natal, "The more that people use it, the more successful it gets." He added that there is "no direct communication" between the participants, "so the only interaction is in the game itself." This is done both for security reasons and to make sure that there is no exchange of answers between the players of the game. Pollack said that although the game appears to be competitive, it is designed in such a manner that the participants are not competing against each other, but rather assisting each other in line with the evolutionary learning principles."It works hand in hand with a lot of educational theories," Pollack said. "This lets children be creative and lets them create a curriculum." One of the positive responses children have given to the game is excitement at the fact that a younger student can beat an older student at this game that is not based purely on ability to spell but also on the ability to select words at appropriate spelling levels for partners. Although the site does not record a minor's name or e-mail address for security reasons, it does allow the student to send progress reports to teachers and parents. Pollack said that after several years of work on the program to "get the bugs out," the site has not encountered any major problems. There has been both positive and negative feedback to the Spellbee game. "This is an awesome and very educational, interactive site," one third-grade teacher from Tennessee wrote in an e-mail evaluation to spellbee.org. "I am so glad that I found it!" one third grade teacher from Tennessee wrote in an email evaluation to spellbee.org. "I would love to have the exact same activity using math, English, science ... everything!"Some students, Pollack said, have written with requests for more challenging words. One improvement in the works is allowing teachers to provide their own word lists.Pollack said that someday DEMO might want to work with the Heller School to conduct an extensive evaluation. "But, right now we're on a shoestring budget," he added. "Once we're assembled," Pollack noted, "we're looking to expand the curriculum for high school kids."The Spellbee program is only the first in a series of open learning technologies focusing on peer-to-peer education principles discovered in co-evolutionary learning. The DEMO lab is working on the production of similar technologies for music, mathematics, and geography geared mostly towards elementary school students. Several Brandeis undergraduates, along with Badar-Natal and Kristian Kime (GRAD) have taken on these projects under Pollack's supervision.The research for the Spellbee educational program has been funded by the National Science Foundation and the Hewlett Foundation. "This is really a way for our lab to improve the world." Pollack said.