— Participate and Influence the Outcome of a Short Story: Exclusive to our Winter Survival Camp, this is a week-long program that provides set goals and objectives for the class in which students can divide among themselves or work together. Kids will become an active participant in a uniquely winter-themed story filled with twists and turns influenced by their decisions.
— Collaborate Through Teamwork: Our students are encouraged to work together and collaborate towards a common goal in a story-driven Minecraft adventure! Students will be encouraged to share their resources and support each other to brave the cold.
⁠— Learn Conflict Resolution Skills: As every student is different, they may encounter differing opinions or wants and needs from another student. Our counselors are available to help facilitate students in finding a common ground during unexpected times of emotional stress.
⁠— Strengthen Responsibility and Confidence: Like the real world, our actions (or lack thereof) will lead to different results. This story-driven camp encourages students to compromise and consider the overarching consequences of their independent or group decisions. 

Activities:
⁠— Journey through a story-driven camp where each day has an overarching objective.
⁠— Collaborate with other players to advance the storyline.
⁠— Complete quests and challenges to advance through character ranks.
⁠— Mine for resources and maintain a team settlement to weather the elements.
⁠— Grind through icy dungeons and defeat mob bosses.
⁠— Participate in setting community goals and guidelines.

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.