APS teachers participated in a three-day workshop over the summer to learn how to implement AgentSheets and AgentCubes software into their instruction.
Story submitted by Kevin Riebau
Director of Educational Technology
Aurora Public Schools
Have you ever had Pac-Man fever? If so, you’ll recall spending countless hours guiding a yellow circular mouth through a maze of edible dots while avoiding a pack of ghosts. Maybe you played Frogger? Then you’ll remember guiding a little green amphibian with aspirations of reaching the far end of the river across streets of oncoming traffic and over rivers full of hungry alligators. Today, through a project called Scalable Game Design (SGD), Aurora Public Schools middle and high school students are programming spin-offs of classic arcade games. In doing so, they learn computational thinking and develop the skills to create digital simulations in a fun, creative way.
The project is a result of a partnership between APS and the University of Colorado at Boulder’s Computer Science Department. The aim is to generate interest in computer science at the middle, high school and university levels. The APS and CU partnership is unique because it is the first time Google has funded Scalable Game Design at a public school district level.
Experts agree that the United States has a high demand for creative minds in the technology industry. Currently, American colleges and universities are not turning out enough qualified candidates to fill these positions, and minority students are severely underrepresented in computer science classes. SGD, funded by Google as part of its CS4HS (Computer Science for High School) initiative, engages a diverse group of students in meaningful learning experiences that will inspire them to pursue computer science-related careers. The APS Educational Technology Department is excited to create an avenue of courses that will prepare students to be college-ready in computer science.
In addition, Google’s Education Group provided a gift to CU this past summer to enable the university to offer a three-day workshop for APS teachers. Educators learned to incorporate two software packages into their instruction – AgentSheets software, which creates two-dimensional games and simulations, and AgentCubes software, which creates three-dimensional products. The SGD tool and curriculum was created by the University of Colorado’s Dr. Alexander Repenning and his team with the collaboration of AgentSheets, Inc. A core group of APS middle and high school teachers emerged from the workshop hungry to begin the integration of Scalable Game Design.
APS educators are constantly elevating their teaching practices and are now even more equipped with another set of tools to engage students. This year, these teachers and their students will work to create viable models of this innovative instructional approach.