The new National Curriculum for Computing describes how pupils in KS2 should 'design, write and debug programs that accomplish specific goals, including controlling or simulating physical systems'; whilst many programming tools such as Scratch, Hopscotch, Logo or the Just2Easy resources can facilitate achievement of the first part of this goal, Kodu lends itself very well to achievement of the latter part - controlling or simulating physical systems. As mentioned previously, Kodu allows the creation of entire 3D worlds, with so many of the attributes of the world, including the sounds and sights experienced by the person playing the game, to be controlled by the user. The sprites that are added to the world can then be programmed using a visual programming language to interact with the user via the keyboard, mouse or even an XBox 360 controller. Sprites can also be programmed to interact with each other, and variables such as the score in a game can be adjusted based on such interactions. The camera angle can be controlled by the games designer, meaning that Kodu can be used to create first person and third person games, ranging from collecting games in the style of PacMan through to more complex games in the style of Zelda! Race games can also be created, although two player games are a bit trickier as there is no facility for split screen. Kodu is produced by Microsoft and is available for no cost from: http://www.kodugamelab.com/ I have written a scheme of work for Kodu, including lesson plans and video clips, designed for upper key stage 2.
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