- May 4th, 2010
- charlielove
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| Kodu Game Lab |
At the Consolarium we’ve been fans of Kodu Game Lab for a few months now. This free software for PC appeared as a version for the Xbox 360 about a year ago and was launched on PC this January. The software was developed by Microsoft Research’s Fuse Labs and is aimed at enabling an interest in games design and programming in learners. It uses a visual set of design and coding tools and is controlled using either the Xbox 360 Controller or a keyboard and mouse. With it you can create a huge variety of games, including sideways scrollers, invaders, racing games and so on – all in 3D.
Brian Clark and I have just returned from two days of training Primary and Secondary teachers in Ayrshire in the use of this software. The Consolarium training was also supported by Andrew Sithers, Academic Evangelist for Microsoft and the lead person for Kodu Game Lab in the UK.
This training is stage one in the first UK pilot of Kodu in the classroom. Our pilot is aimed at the transition between P7 and S1. Learners will gain an experience of Kodu in the primary and then transfer these skills to their first year in secondary. The rich collection of tools in Kodu will empower learners to create any world, play any game style and tell any story.
It was a very interesting two days and we learned a lot from the teachers involved. It was interesting, for example, to discover that many of the teachers present had never held a game controller before. By the end of our two day session the teachers were all creating their own games and had developed skills in Kodu which they can continue to build on as they introduce the software to their pupils in school. The Consolarium will be supporting this development with follow up visits to the schools involved and we look forward to posting the games the pupils make to the blog!
You can try Kodu yourself by downloading it from http://fuse.microsoft.com/kodu.html (click the Try Kodu Now button).
Categories Consolarium, games design
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I am very interested in reading about your project. I am working in the area of game design with NSW teachers in Australia through Macquarie ICT Innovations Centre. We too have been exploring Kodu for the last couple of months and are in the process of developing a game design project using Kodu.I would love the opportunity to share ideas with you.
Hi Cathie
Thanks for stopping by and taking the time to read the post. Both Charlie and I would welcome the opportunity to discuss Kodu ideas for the classroom. Perhaps we could find schools from Australia and Scotland to work together? Maybe use Kodu to model iconic parts of each country where games can be set? You can drop us an email at:
b(dot)clark at ltscotland.org.uk and
c(dot)love at ltscotland.org.uk
We look forward to hearing from you!
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