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

 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%

 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

 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

 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

 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.

 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

 Pilot class for 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

 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 3 rd grade PSSA exam ◦ Create an app that helps students practice concepts that will be on the Keystone Math and Science exams

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

 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

 Platforms  Free Download   Other helpful resource  ing___free__.html#unity3software ing___free__.html#unity3software

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

 Free Download   Free to make money from products.

 Android Studio is a game engine just for Android devices.  Free to download

 Free Download 

 Apple’s SDK is just for Apple devices  $99 per year   Does come support services