Students and teachers from the iDesign program are getting ready to start the second year of the project as they participate in a summer camp at Hofstra University where they have been learning about geo-locative games and the use of the WeDo interface with Scratch. They are also learning basic concepts of game design, and how to create games using the MIT software TaleBlazer. As they explored the campus and started building their games, a group of students have designed a game with interesting mechanics and storytelling that takes the player through a tour of a part of the Hofstra campus.

Global Kids has been partnering with the School of Education at Hofstra University on the iDesign program, a National Science Foundation funded initiative to implement game design with teachers in middle school afterschool programs. With the goal of inspiring kids to pursue STEM careers through computational thinking introduced with game design, the program also teaches kids to create games that are culturally relevant. For more on the iDesign program visit IDesign.hofstra.edu.