Our hands-on workshops are appropriate for after school programs and for out-of-school environments such as community centers, libraries, park districts and youth centers. All workshops and multi-workshop programs are priced at a level that allows hosting organizations to offer them at no/low cost to attendees.

Contact Brian for details and pricing information.

Alice

A programming software designed for high school and university students, specifically targeted to girls. Alice supports the creation of interactive stories and games in 3D within a graphical drag and drop design environment. An offshoot application, Storytelling Alice, has been developed for girls at the middle school level. For ages 12 and up.

Duration: 2 or more sessions

Concepts: Object orientation, conditional expressions, loops, sequencing, variables, messaging, 3D, simulations, animation, AI, level design.

Game Maker Academy

Game Maker is a highly popular platform for creating simple to complex 2D and 3D computer games. Participants gain experience creating their very own games in a variety of genres, including scrolling shooters, platform games, maze games and tile games. Advanced participants gain experience designing isometric or 3D game environments. Games can be published on the web or saved and distributed as executable files. For ages 12 and up.

Duration: 4 or more sessions

Concepts: Object orientation, conditional expressions, loops, sequencing, variables, messaging, game physics, animation, image processing, AI, level design.

Game Design with Java

Participants gain a solid foundation in Java programming as they program their very own versions of classic games such as Space Invaders, Pong, Asteroids and Super Mario. Participants also explore important programming and multimedia concepts while creating physics demos and simulations. This challenging course uses the open source Greenfoot programming environment. For ages 12 and up.

Duration:5 or more sessions

Concepts: Java foundations, object orientation, operators, syntax, conditional expressions, loops, variables, arrays, messaging, animation, game physics, image processing, AI, level design.

Robocode Workshops and Tournaments

Robocode is an open source platform for building virtual robots using the Java or .NET programming languages. Participants attend workshops where they learn to program their robot's behaviors including sensing, motion, shooting and defensive strategies. Upon completion of the workshops, participants enter their robots into a virtual arena for competitive one-on-one or melee battles that are projected onto a large screen. For youth ages 12 and up. Visit our Robocode tournament page.

Duration:2 or more sessions plus a one-hour battlebots tournament.

Concepts: Basic Java programming, object orientation, variables, conditional expressions, feedback, messaging, loops, image processing, artificial intelligence, robotics.

Scratch Labs

Scratch is a media-rich drag and drop programming environment appropriate for youth from age 8 and up. Participants create their own games, animations, digital stories, music videos while gaining experience as programmers and designers. Participants also work collaboratively and publish their work on the Scratch web site, where they share their work with a global community of Scratch designers.

Duration:2 or more sessions

Concepts: Graphics editing, sound editing, object orientation, conditional expressions, loops, sequencing, variables, messaging, animation.

Starlogo TNG

Starlogo TNG supports the creation of interactive stories, simulations, and games in 3D within a graphical drag and drop design environment, similar to Scratch. The free application comes with a library of 3D models (including characters and architectures) and also allows the user to import their own models. Similar in some respects to Alice, Starlogo TNG is more appropriate for the development of games and simulations of complex systems. Users may also share their projects by uploading them to the Starlogo gallery hosted by MIT.

Duration: 2 or more sessions

Concepts: Object orientation, conditional expressions, loops, sequencing, variables, messaging, 3D, simulations, animation, AI, level design.