Grades: This class is designed for entering 4th-7th graders. *No exceptions on younger kids. This class is too challenging.
Teacher: Mr. Evans (Special Ed teacher/bow-tie wearer)
Ask your nerd: Are you interested in virtual reality games and experiences? Do you want to learn to code your own unique games that you can play in a virtual environment at home? If your answer is “Yes!” then this class is definitely for you!
Online Class Format
- Your nerd will be participating in a virtual classroom for the 50-minute teacher led portion of the class using Zoom. Nerds will share their code and environments with 4-7 other students and celebrate their successes together!
- They will then work independently for 1 additional hour after class in CoSpaces.
- By enrolling in this class nerds will also unlock the day-by-day course materials below which will supplement their learning outside of the live Zoom session and includes additional video tutorials for coding in CoSpaces.
Special Considerations for this class
- Laptop, desktop or Chromebook required – cannot use tablet or phone.
- Mouse (recommended)
- No downloads or prep needed.
- No VR headset needed! You can always play in your VR environment on the computer.
- Optional ways to enhance your VR experience:
- Phone/Tablet: you can download the CoSpaces app for Apple and Android devices to view and play your VR game/experience
- Google Cardboard with a phone
- VR Headset: If you do have a VR headset, compatible models and how to access your spaces are listed here https://cospaces.io/edu/tech-check.html
- We will be working in a browser based program called CoSpaces. We will manage your nerd’s account and set them up on the first day of class. *Nerds will have access to their Pro Nerding CoSpaces account for 2 weeks. After that, you’ll lose coding access to the spaces we created in class, but you can view and play them FOREVER and create new (though more limited) spaces!
What Nerds Learn:
We’ll learn the mechanics of virtual reality, how it works, and then we’ll learn to code using a block based coding language called CoBlocks. We’ll work in Co-Spaces, an online software, to learn how to design and build our own unique characters and worlds and program them to interact.
We’ll learn by in-class demonstrations, after class video tutorials, and group work within the software.
We’ll also talk about the engineering design process and how to think about continuous improvement in our designs. In addition, we’ll review existing games for VR technology and discuss the designs and programming behind each.
Over the 5 days of this class nerds will :
- Create beautiful interactive landscapes, buildings, and environments
- Create moving obstacles like ramps, doors, and moving platforms for characters to encounter
- Learn coding concepts such as loops, conditional statements, functions, and variables
This is a good fit for…
Nerds who will enjoy this class are imaginative learners who love coding, testing and playing games! Nerds will share their clever ideas and projects during the week and also make new friends who are enthusiastic about programming and gaming.
**Pro Tip: Gather 4-6 of your nerd’s friends and we’ll set up a private class for your group of nerds!!! Class size min-max is 5-8 including your nerd. Contact us at [email protected]
