Teaching Colombian Children and Teens Gamedev Using GDevelop

Lately, we've been incredibly fortunate to hear of a one-day workshop held in Brazil to teach children how to develop games using GDevelop, as well as the work of educators in Denmark implementing medium-length workshops. Today, we'll hear from Mariano Jara Henao, a teacher in Colombia who worked with the local government to use GDevelop as a learning tool. Mariano, take it away!

In the second semester of 2021, the “Instituto Municipal de cultura y turismo de Tenjo” (Colombia) and with the participation of Mariano Jara Henao as a teacher, taught the first Virtual course of video games in this town.

During a whole semester, around 100 children and young people were able to access this course for free, in which they were involved in the process of learning the necessary concepts for the creation of video games, learning concepts of graphic design and 2D animation, creating video games with (GDevelop) and delving into basic concepts of music and sound ( LMMS).

Children as young as 5 years of age managed to create their own logos and brands, as well as develop their first video game where the "assets" used were of their own authorship.

Despite the audience being Spanish-speaking young people, the course was carried out on with tools configured in English, so that they could become familiar with said language.

At the end of the workshop there was an exhibition of the creations made by students, where their parents could observe the results of their children's work.

Without a doubt, it was an enriching experience where children and young people from this town in Colombia were introduced to technology and demonstrated all their talent.

On the website below, you can see the games made by the students, for whom GDevelop became a fascinating tool with which they could approach the creation of video games in an easy and fun way.

Using FOSS in education

One of the standout features of this course was the use of free and open-source software. By leveraging tools like GDevelop, LMMS and Wick Editor, the students were able to create impressive video games. This approach not only made the course accessible to a wider audience, but it also highlighted the power of free software in the creative process.

GDevelop in particular, is an excellent platform for game development that allows users to create games with little to no coding experience. By utilizing tools like these, the Instituto Municipal de Cultura y Turismo de Tenjo and Mariano Jara Henao have demonstrated that high-quality game development education can be achieved without the need for expensive software licenses.

Want to use GDevelop in your classroom?