Are you an educator with a bunch of young minds eager to learn how to program? This course could be the perfect teaching tool for you. The game development theme engages learners and the carefully planned progression of programming topics has been used to teach thousands of students the fundamentals of programming for almost 15 years.
Who should take this course?
Anyone wanting to learn to fundamentals of programming. This course was designed for grade 10-12 students taking an introductory year or two of computer programming. The course assumes that students have no programming experience going in and covers 80-120 hours of course content.
Made for Students.
This course has been designed specifically to fit computer science curriculum at the grade 11/12 level and the typical time frame of 120 hours for a credited course. The order and selection of the topics have been chosen so that the ‘How do I do this‘ questions (that I have heard for almost 20 years) can be answered by the students themselves at the end of the course. All lessons and challenges are sectioned into 15, 30, and 60 minute tasks to fit into the classroom setting nicely.
What topics will students learn about?
You can check out the Levels Page for details about what is taught at the various levels. In a nutshell, students will learn everything that you would expect students to learn in an academic programming course; the difference is that the lessons are wrapped up with a gaming theme so it is a lot more fun! The topics have been carefully chosen and ordered to build onto each other in a logical progression until students have enough knowledge to continue learning on their own. Don’t let the ‘game’ in the name fool you – students will walk away with all the core concepts taught in other programming courses.
How much time is needed?
If you wanted your students to learn some basics and then create a small game then I would suggest completing up to Level 04 (about 10 hours). This is what I do with grade 9 and 10 students. Grade 11 and 12 students take an entire year to work through the entire course; this includes time for game projects along the way.
Are students limited to ‘following instructions’ to get games working ?
Definitely not. The goal of the lessons is to teach the concepts and skills needed so that students can create their own games and solve their own programming challenges by drawing upon what they learned during the lessons.
What language is taught?
GameMaker has it’s own programming language that is similar to C++ and Java. If you know any C++ or Java you will pick it up instantly. Students that continue on to learn C++ or Java afterwards have an extremely easy time since much of the syntax is exactly the same for conditions, iteration, arrays, methods, parameters, etc.
Will the resources on this site remain free?
Yes. All the content will remain free for everyone, forever, for non-profit purposes. I completely understand that you will want to use these resources for several years with your students without surprises – and there won’t be any! The only fine print is that the resources may not be copied in any form without permission from the owner/s. For example, the videos or lessons may not be downloaded and stored locally on a school network (visits to YouTube provide the nickels and dimes that keep this site up and running!) . Additionally, the course may not be offered as part of an online educational course by a school district without permission (so just ask first).
Are there other resources available to supplement the course?
Yes. The Resource Page has some items available for purchase like all HD Videos on DVD and the rights to place them on a school network, Lesson and Code content in print form for convenient student reference, and soon some level specific practice questions and answers.
How do I get started with my students?
Download the free version of GameMaker Studio and check to make sure it installs on your school network properly. Then just go through a couple of the lessons yourself so you know what’s going on and then give your students this website address! Feedback from teachers that have used these resources has been extremely positive and many teachers have started popular game programming courses at their school using this site. Hopefully you’ll be one of them.
What’s the Catch? I still can’t believe it’s free!
No Catch. This site was developed in an effort to create a great computer science program at my school – so why not share with others?