No Coins Needed: Students Designing Retro Arcade Game for Media Center
Here’s one for the Throwback Thursday fans…
Who’s up for a game of Ms. Pacman? How ’bout Donkey Kong or Frogger? Well, it won’t be long until middle and high school students in our media center will have the chance to take a trip back to 80’s to experience some of the coolest video games ever created.
Yep, my high school independent study Tech Club students—also known as the SWAT Team (Students Working to Advance Technology)—are working on one totally awesome DIY project: Building and programming a tabletop retro arcade game—completely from scratch!
Check out the progress we’ve been making on our ultimate tech-infused hands-on activity shown below…
Kermit, Corey and Bailey working on programming the Raspberry Pi (a credit card-sized computer), connecting it to the monitor, wiring the buttons and building the casing.
Corey and Kermit assembling the buttons and joysticks on the control panel.
A shout out to Dr. Todd Keruskin from Elizabeth Forward School District for giving me the opportunity to attend the 2016 Pittsburgh FAB Institute last summer. That experience has been the driving force behind many changes that have been implemented in my district since the beginning of the school year—including giving our students the chance to build their very own arcade game! ♥
Stay tuned for additional updates…
(Check out an update from April 28 here.)