Kodu Game Lab Download For Mac
Advertisement For the average kid, computers and smartphones are fun tools. Education comes much later. Getting a kid excited about programming might take some doing because logic needs a bit of time to develop.
Kodu Game Lab Download For Mac
Our digitised society cries out for coding excellence to maintain the rapid technological advances we have become accustomed to. Without the unseen brilliance of programmers around the world, many of our favourite technologies wouldn’t be with us today. I mean, imagine a world without the Internet.
It’s tough, I know. The focus has shifted in recent years. Governments realise that their technological ambitions can only be matched by the talent pool on offer. With major multinational corporations scooping up the best and brightest, shifting the emphasis back into their own education systems is a logical transition.
Microsoft’s Encourages Kids to Code Microsoft hasn’t shied away from the challenge, either. Their Kodu GameLab is aimed squarely at encouraging children to engage with coding through a sandbox gamelab with numerous textures, sprites, terraforming, pathfinding and logic trees. I’m using the PC version, which is a direct Xbox port. It is also still the in open beta phase so some of the controls are a little clunky, and many of the dialogue boxes still feature the ABXY controller commands.
Microsoft have constructed their The 21st Century is open to creativity through digital means and programming. Would you be surprised to learn that there is a programming language out there designed for the artist in you? As a cursory access to coding patterns. Anyone can rapidly terraform a small world, apply a few objects, set a custom path using nodes and a win criteria. I managed it in a few minutes, despite the somewhat irritating controls – zooming in and out, moving the screen, altering object sizes, object rotation, and all other functions are completed using the mouse. I mean, it makes perfect sense for children, but as an adult, you can feel the Xbox port burdening the system.
Perhaps kids used to the Xbox version would notice the PC port shortcomings, too? An Aesthetic to Please? The main feature of Kodu is its visually appealing nature. Children never entirely engage directly with code itself, but rather place and instruct objects using WHEN/DO arguments with multiple selectors such as: Hear – Rover – Shoot – Missile Or Its simplicity makes it engaging, as does its sensory programming features within the simulation environment. It isn’t designed to Crayon drawings still have their place, but technology is no longer only the future.
Tomorrow's world is today.Which are the creative technology tasks we should encourage children to take up? Maybe, these five.
Languages, or key conventions such as variables, branching, looping or subroutines. But it does force them to perform within a rule-based system that cannot be rapidly bent to their will. Satisfactory manipulation can only work with the established system, making it perfect for rapid development, followed by rapid failure, only to come back for more. Download Additional World Like “Confined” Other example “worlds” are available for download within the Kodu application. The winners of the were Alfie Finch-Critchley, aged 14, with his 12-year-old co-designers Joseph Banerjee and Jonathan Haley.
Their Using the laws of physics, you need to activate the right triggers and switches to collect all the data fragments in a level and reach the exit., Confined, beat opposition from across most of Europe. The game is well thought out, balanced and does well to provide a tutorial of what to expect on each level. Kodu doesn’t just provide the kids with a platform for game development, but rather allows them to bring their ideas to life, inspired by the blockbusters they love at home.
The entire Kodu platform is weighted toward providing opportunities for learning, as well as pitching ideas, commercialising their IP, and sharing their content on the web. Download: (via Dropbox) In short, the kids begin to understand the value in ideating, the value of sharing, the power of constructive criticism, and – of course – the impact of their decisions. Other Coding for Kids Options The recognition that children should be The Raspberry Pi computer is the latest in a line of compact, multi-function devices, shipped as a barebones package so that end users can use the hardware for virtually any computing project that comes to. Languages at an earlier age has given rise to numerous dedicated sites and applications:.: A 3D environment focused on visual programming through a drag-and-drop, WYSIWYG editor. Variant, has been shown to increase engagement with coding. High level 3D animations and social interactions provide appeal across the learning spectrum, tying directly into the children’s contemporary digital world.:, developed by the.
Since its 2007 inception over 800,000 users have signed up. It’s entirely open, with content sharing the key to the community.
All projects are Creative Commons licensed so each project is up for download and modification. There are some damn fun mini-games.: Ruby for teenagers. Teen’s actually engage with the Ruby programming language, learning algorithm structures, commands, strings, basic math functions and more. Calls its users “Hackers” for that ultra-cool feel, and has integration with a desktop social site for idea sharing and help.: For the very young. Aged towards 5-8 year olds, but perfectly functional for older kids. Very basic visual programming interface based around moving and interacting with Daisy the Dinosaur. My 5 year old loved it, and the 3 year old was pretty inspired, too.
Only available.: JavaScript with a friendly monster. The monster guides you through a series of JavaScript variables. Each alters the appearance of a shape on the parallel screen. Creator Greg Linden wanted to teach his own kids to code: this is the result. Curricula Reflect ICT Changes Education is a system in flux. Children are In the 1800's, students sat in a classroom, listened to a teacher and took tests. In 2014, students do exactly the same thing.
So why is educational technology moving so slowly? To computers, smartphones, tablets, multiplayer gaming and social networks. More digitised than their teachers, students need What happens when your child's schooling goes wrong? Would you abandon the public schooling system in its entirety and to embrace something radically different - homeschooling? To learn, through their chosen medium.
The number of websites and applications developed to aid computer learning for children is increasing, and as we have seen the focus is on delivering Codecademy just pressed enter on a complete makeover. If you are learning how to code, the new layout of the popular website and the extra features could make programming more fun. To engage the next generation in a critical education area. ICT curriculum is also shifting to match these changes:. England: aimed at empowering children. From school entry children will learn what algorithms are, understand logic reasoning, and use digital devices to store and retrieve data.
Children over 11 years will learn programming languages, Boolean logic, operators, and binary number patterns. Scotland: Updating curriculum to exemplify computer teaching in classrooms, particularly focused on under-14s. All students should encounter computing, outside of basic literacy and application knowledge. USA: Every great educational institution has one common quality – innovation. MIT Media Labs is one center of excellence which promotes multifaceted thinking, and its “prime directive” is to focus on developments which are at the.
Trialed at a number of locations throughout the country. Many independent school districts work to own curriculum, so more difficult to implement. Computer science course access highlighted in high-minority population schools.
Israel: Now a world leader in computing in the classroom. Underwent a massive curriculum change around 2000, shifting emphasis on ICT to learning applicable skills. Now has one of the most rigorous computer science programmes in the world, particularly for high school students. South Korea: Another world leader in ICT for children. Well known for their highly digitised society, all levels of schooling in South Korea contain serious curriculum for computer science. A newly proposed curriculum would strengthen the curriculum further. It is a shift many ICT specialists have been anticipating for years.
There is a growing global skills gap between those trained, in training, and those able to work. The number of jobs appearing in the ICT sector will continue to rise and our children should be prepared for this. Not only that, coding teaches a number of extremely useful life skills: critical thought, analysis, and structure to name but a few. Perhaps your child will be the next Bill Gates?
There is only one way to find out! Do your kids use any coding academy applications? Are you a programmer? Do you think introducing children to programming, logic, and critical thought at earlier age will boost skills?
Kodu Game Lab Home
Let us know in the comments below! Image Credits:, Explore more about:,.
Please be warned that counterfeit (fake) PL-2303HX (Chip Rev A) USB to Serial Controller ICs using Prolific's trademark logo, brandname, and device drivers,. Nikkai usb to serial drivers for mac. Jul 12, 2011 - Fire up Safari and browse to. USB Serial on the Mac is a real melding of the very new and very old.
Kodu Game Labs from Microsoft is a powerful, free game creation engine for children and adults alike. Originally designed for the easy creation of 3D games on the Xbox using only a game controller, games can be constructed by combining visual elements together to construct the game environment and logic. Kodu does this by provding a large repertoire of object and logic to begin with that the user can customize, combine, tweak, and work with in a wide variety of different ways. Kodu is surprisingly powerful and versatile; I have seen it produce remarkable results within an hour or two of my eight year old using it.
Kodu Game Lab Download For Mac Free
Aside from being a game creation engine, it is also fun to work with and a terrific educational tool. A case study: my son, age 8, is growing up in a world of ubiquitous computers, Xboxes, iPhones, iPads, and gadgets of all kinds. An avid gamer (like his dad), his mother and I try to limit his screen time, but recently we figured that he could get more out of trying to make games rather than just consuming them. Therefore, we introduced him first to and then Kodu, both game building environments for kids.
We were amazed at the results he could get so quickly out of both; but Kodu is his clear favorite. “It’s easier, and it’s 3D, and it’s cooler” is a direct quote 😉 The console connection: Kodu was developed for the Xbox, with the expectation that users would be using a game controller to program it. The end result, a game designing environment built for consoles with an extremely simplified interface. The console connection also meant that the games were designed to look like console games, which is to say they look good, slightly cartoonish, and user friendly. These contingencies may have made the project too ambitious and more likely to fail; but it didn’t.
In my view it succeeded spectacularly. The user interface: Kodu looks more like a game than a game engine. A Mac-like dock on bottom is the starting point for all actions (see image below). You can zoom in and out of the 3D environment via the mouse and scroll wheel, and drag and place 3D objects to build the game environment much like building a Lego universe.
Clicking on any object will produce a context menu with various options to interact with it and to program the game logic. The learning curve: is smaller than you might think. Kodu comes with a great many user friendly tutorials, and they are very fun to go through. The building blocks: part of Kodu’s appeal is the basic console-like objects that it offers to work with. There is a good variety of these (characters, buildings, bits and pieces of the physical world) and although they can be customized to some degree (e.g. Color, size, orientation) they are otherwise ready-made for you to fit into your game or story. You will not be creating sprites from scratch with Kodu, but it will not occur to most users to do so, as there is so much in there that you could use right off the bat.
The visual programming language: is very simplified but, more importantly, very easy to grasp quickly. My eight year old son zooms thought a string of if/then logical instructions in a flash. All the different events (e.g.
If bump, if sees, etc.) make complete sense to him off the bat. The community: users can export and share their creations easily (see ). The exported file sizes are remarkable small even for ambitious games with large universes, but as you may have guessed you will need to have Kodu installed to play them. The verdict: Kodu is a triumph in more ways than one.
In some sense it is more fun to build with and to use than most games are to play. It has managed to engage my eight year old and capture his imagination in a manner that is very gratifying, since we know that he is simultaneously being creative, playing, and learning.
If ever there was a FUN learning tool for kids, Kodu is it. Moreover, the results – the games – that Kodu can produce are very playable and quite impressive, and a user can get a result to be proud of in short order, after a mere hour or two of playing with the tool. In short, Kodu is a winner. Try it, you will like it. Version tested: 1.2 Compatibility: Windows XP, Vista, Windows 7. A graphics card that supports DirectX 9.0c and Shader Model 2.0 or higher. Also requires.NET Framework 3.5 and XNA Framework 3.1 (Note: do not worry about these; the installer will check and open the necessary download pages if any of there is missing).
Go to the to download (181 megs).