Welcome
Announcements
We will have our first-night meeting on September 19. In order to fit in more sessions throughout the school year, we will have our meetings on 1st and 3rd Saturdays instead of 2nd and 4th. We will meet for our introductory session on the 3rd Saturday of September. For more information, please see our course calendar.
About Us
Who are we? The Explorers Post 725 is an educational body operating under the administration of the Abraham Lincoln Council and is dedicated to introducing computer science-related subject material not typically covered in a traditional high school classroom. This post is devoted to the use of computers and now, by popular demand of our students, also focused on the design and development of computer games.
What do we do? Using open source software and selected freeware, we explore the worlds of video game design, web design, computer programming, and audio and video editing. Students with a penchant for playing games, drawing, composing music, and storytelling are encouraged to join us in developing their own games and software. In recent years we have placed greater emphasis on web design using HTML5 and CSS through the use of the free, open source, and cross- platform Brackets source editor. Other fields of interest in this curriculum Small Basic mini-language and, even more recently, languages of the Microsoft .NET family, such as Visual Basic and C#. At the midpoint of class, we offer a break period, during which time we explore existing video games through multiplayer competitions using Nintendo 2DS and 3DS game systems. We also hold lively discussions of our favorite video games, yielding better ideas and examples upon which we can create in our own projects. The Software We've Used page provides a list of topics frequently discussed in this course throughout the school year.
When and where do we meet? We meet on the 1st and 3rd Saturdays monthly throughout the school year, excluding national holiday weekends. We hold our meetings between 9am-11am at ITT Technical Institute at the White Oaks Mall. If you need directions, click here.
Course Calendar
To see a Class Session Notes post for a certain discussion topic, simply click or tap on it.
- 19 September 2015: first-nighter meeting
- 03 October 2015: Mario Builder
- 17 October 2015: Mario Builder
- 07 November 2015: Super Mario Maker (Wii U)
- 21 November 2015: Computer operating systems (Ubuntu vs. Windows 10)
- 05 December 2015: Small Basic
- 19 December 2015: Small Basic
- 02 January 2016: no class, campus closed
- 16 January 2016: Audio/video conversion
- 06 February 2016: Web design with Brackets
- 20 February 2016: Web design with Brackets
- 05 March 2016: Exploring computer hardware
- 19 March 2016: Building a computer
- 02 April 2016: Computer programming with VB.NET
- 16 April 2016: Computer programming with VB.NET
- 07 May 2016: RPGBoss GameEngine
- 21 May 2016: Video game music remixing
Tentative meeting dates are highlighted in bold italics.
