Computer App and Game Design

Ron Bowser and

Chris King

Altoona Area School District (AASD), under new leadership, recently proposed a STEAM Academy School◦Science◦Technology◦Engineering◦Arts◦Mathematics

We both immediately thought of creating a computer apps course that combines the arts with computer programming

How the Course Came About

Located in the city of Altoona, PA Altoona is home to Sheetz, Boyer, and

Benzel’s headquarters The district’s population is

approximately 60,000 people Enrollment approximately 7,800 Graduate around 500 seniors Poverty rate is over 55%

AASD Demograhics

Ron Bowser◦7 years teaching at Altoona Area School

District◦Art Education certified◦Associates from Dubois Business College

in Entertainment Production◦Art Education BS from Indiana University

of PA (IUP)◦Masters in Art Education from Edinboro

University◦6 years teaching Computer Animation

course at AAHS

Our Backgrounds

Chris King◦9 years teaching at Altoona Area School District

◦Business, Computer, and Information Technology certified

◦Business Management BS from IUP◦Masters in Business Education from Robert Morris University

◦7 years teaching AP Computer Science at AAHS

Our Backgrounds

Teachers were asked to come up with ideas for the STEAM Academy

We proposed a Computer Applications and Game Design course ◦Focuses on educational computer apps to help students study for standardized tests in math and science

Administration approved the proposal and a committee was formed◦School board later voted to approve the course

◦Pilot year 2015-2016

Course Proposal

The committee was composed of the high school principal, guidance counselors, a math and science department heads, and ourselves

Discussions were had to consider: ◦What difficulty level the course should be set to

◦How many credits◦The class environment ◦What to focus our teaching on, etc.

Course Planning Committee

The committee decided on a two period, blocked schedule for the year ◦A total of 100 minutes per day◦Considered a 2 credit course

Course difficulty level is at level 3◦College/ academic level

Co-taught Course will be run in the computer lab,

but an area to plan will be close by Students will be grouped into teams of

approximately 5 to work on their projects

Course Details

Pilot class for 2015-2016 capped at 25 students

Students will complete an application if they want to enroll in the class

Students who applied will then be rated by their current and previous teachers◦Looking to get feedback on work ethic, ability to get along with others, etc.

The committee will then select the 25 students◦Looking for a diverse group of students with different strengths

Application Process

3 main unit goals ◦Create an app that teaches Pre-K and/or kindergarteners letters, sight words, shapes, numbers, etc. in a fun way

◦Create an app that helps students practice concepts that will be on the 3rd grade PSSA exam

◦Create an app that helps students practice concepts that will be on the Keystone Math and Science exams

Scope and Sequence Overview

Work on Windows-based computers Software includes:◦Blender 3D◦Unity 3D

Software Utilized

Unity 3D is a 3D Game engine Free to Download Free to make money with games up to

$100,000 Creates games for 16 Platforms

Unity 3D

Supported Platforms

Platforms Free Download www.unity3d.com

Other helpful resource http://walkerboystudio.com/html/unity_

training___free__.html#unity3software

Blender 3D is an open source software. Used for:• Modeling• Animating • Compiling • Game Creation

Blender 3D

Free Download www.blender.org

Free to make money from products.

Android Studio is a game engine just for Android devices.

Free to download

Android Studio

Free Download http://developer.android.com/sdk/index.

html#

Apple’s SDK is just for Apple devices $99 per year https://developer.apple.com/ Does come support services