I’m a big fan of Kodu – not least as it’s developed by the folks in the office next to me. The reality is Kodu is all about introducing the next generation to computing and programming without the barriers of a screen full of code. It was created by FUSE labs in Microsoft Research and though it teaches coding, it’s also a great way of developing skills such as problem solving, creative thinking and planning. Oh and it’s free – which is one of those weird quirks on our world that means it often gets overlooked. It shouldn’t IMHO.
Hannah Wyman is only 10 years old – she created a game called Toxic, a game about pollution in the environment and in doing so scooped the Grand Prize of $5000 as well as a trip to the Microsoft Imagine Cup Worldwide Finals in New York. I think it’s fitting that Hannah gets an early glimpse at what may be her next stage.
Jacen Sherman (15 yrs old) won in the 13-17 year olds category with his game Vortex – which opens with the world under nuclear attack and was inspired by Tron and David Gardiner won in the 9-12 year olds category with Alien Attack.
Congrats to all of them and if you’ve not seen Kodu, maybe now is the time to check it out.
