— Day 1 - Set Up and Introduction to Game Design: Our primary goal for this day is to assist students in setting up Roblox Studio and to familiarize kids with our camp’s objectives. To start off the session, we will explore and brainstorm varying concepts of adventure games. Each student will then start to build their own maps.

— Day 2 - Structure: To add structure, students will integrate user interfaces to the game and format their maps to be more player-driven. They will also be able to continue building their maps.

— Day 3 - Scripting / Playtesting: Students will learn how to use pseudo code and create their first programming script which gives players the ability to pick up an object that advances the game’s progress.

— Day 4 - Scripting / Polishing: We’ll show students how they can write scripts that bring life into games with UI like health bars and scoreboards. This is also a good time for students to polish their final product and prepare for the final day of camp.

— Day 5 - Presentations: It’s showcase day! Students will get to finish their courses and after they are completed, we’ll show the class how to publish them on Roblox. As the final day, we’ll also be able to playtest each other’s courses. 

Connected Camps is a not-for-profit organization founded in 2015 with the mission to build a global online community where kids build, code, play, and learn alongside one another. Our programs are designed based on extensive research in the learning sciences. The founders and leaders of Connected Camps, Mimi Ito and Katie Salen, are professors at the University of California, Irvine, who specialize in the design of online learning experiences that are fun, social, and directly tied to academic outcomes. Learn more about the research behind Connected Camps at the Connected Learning Alliance resource site: https://clalliance.org/ 

One thing that makes our programs unique is our near-peer mentorship model. Our programs are led by young adults and college students, often with the help of high school volunteers. We hire counselors and coaches from top universities in computer science, game development, economics, social studies, and the arts, and train them on how to facilitate project-based learning with younger kids. Our young instructors have the same passion for technology, games, and digital making as our learners, and take on the role of instructors, as well as fellow enthusiasts and relatable role models.

The curriculum for this program was designed by a team of counselors pursuing degrees relevant to the material at hand. The learning experiences in this class are driven by these counselors’ academic expertise in the field, along with their desire to share their passion for the subject with a group of excited learners. All of Connected Camps’ curricula are vetted by the organization’s Product Manager, Matthew, who possesses a Masters in Secondary Education and a deep belief in the power of collaborative virtual learning.