Is your school using Sandbox? Let us know!

[Mike]

Please let us know if your school is using Sandbox. If possible I'd also like to add it to the schools using Sandbox list. If not even just a location or country would be awesome! This is to let other schools know too that hey this is working out. Also feel free to make new post sharing any and all experiences! Thanks and take care!
-mike

[rodney]

We've been using Sandbox at Stroud College in Gloucestershire, UK for a few months now. We run a two year full-time Games Development Course for 16-19 year olds, and have been using Sandbox as a gentle introduction to 3D game design principles for new students. The students like it because the learning curve is so easy, and they take to it very quickly. Although many of them eventually move on to more "professional" tools (given the age group and focus of the course), it still forms a very useful first step that gives them confidence in their ability to design and prototype game levels.

You can see some basic details about the course here:

http://stroud.ac.uk/btec-national-diplo ... multimedia

Obligatory marketing stuff about the college:

Stroud College’s School of Art & Design is regarded as one of the best in the country due to our superb state of the art facilities and professional, experienced staff. We have excellent facilities for studying including professional studios, workshops, design suites, specialist ceramics studios and an outstanding photography studio with a spacious darkroom.

All our teaching rooms are installed with high tech, modern equipment and software to deliver a first class teaching and learning experience.
Our excellence in this area has been recognised in past Ofsted inspection reports, where the department gained a Grade 1 for outstanding provision, ranking it as among the best in the country.

[Mike]

Thanks so much for posting this! I'll be posting my own experiences soon, hopefully this weekend! Take care!
-mike

[lmoreno]

Palmdale High School in California in the Antelope Valley has switched this year to Platinum Arts Sandbox. The school is host to one of the first high school's to offer a video game design course in early 2000. The course functions as a video game developer, students are selected to 'work' in respective departments and also directed and managed by two students.

Last year a video game was produced for the first time from concept to production using the FPS Creator engine, the game had 100% student created content from each member of their respective areas. The instructors job is in teaching core concepts, software training and to facilitate the production. This year, student have elected to go with Sandbox. Sandbox will allow us to reach our current concept of a 'serious game' to our targeted market of K-5 students.

Sandbox is indeed very easy to use and students take to it. Designing in Sandbox reminds them of their other favorite software they use for projects in engineering and art - Garrys Mod. Though it has only been a few months, students are very excited about its potential. Sandbox has a very promising potential to whats it is catering for = education. When we used FPSC Creator, it allowed us to focus on all content of the video game production process vs. learning how to use other engines and industry software that left us with very few time to actual create content and put together a game. FPS Creator is one of a kind, but seriously lacks ability beyond the FPS genre and performance. Sandbox is far from polished, but we applaud Mike for taking it from the cube2 engine and molding it for education. We are hard set to make sure we can produce another game from this tool and grow alongside with Sandbox in the years to come.

As a teacher, we face many challenges specifically at the high school level. Time, money, interest, skills set. Thanks Mike.

[Mike]

Thanks so much for posting this! It is such a thrill to see Sandbox being used in these different schools. I'm really glad that schools are now posting since it really puts the whole project into perspective and really motivates me to keep going. And don't just thank me, hehe, it has been a big cooperative effort, and Hirato especially has been a massive massive help. And also thanks for you for being our inspiration and showing us that our work is well worth it and being appreciated. Take care!
-mike

[Kikikura]

hi, my name is Katy and my school does not use Sandbox ( it doesn't use any game programing) but I am using it for my graduation project. In your last year of high school we have to create a binder full of information on one product and mine is "How to create games online" so I am using Sandbox to create my game online. This is my first time ever using something like this and I hope the judges like it enough to pass me..... wish me good luck.

Katy Rumsey from Covington, La, USA
~Covington High School~

[Runescapedj]

gl

[PizzaLover101]

good luck. need help?

[Harajuku_Barbie]

My name is nikki and i go to Wheatland Union High school in Wheatland CA..and in our multimedia class just about everyone uses sandbox :] on the class we have our god father sandboxer..and we always ask him for help...

[klimyriad]

I am moving into year 10 in 6 weeks (in America i think you called it 10th grade)
I took up gaming programming and ict i may suggest sandbox to my teacher when i get there so my school my use it

If there do i tell you

thanks liam