ABOUTUS
TJ Nissen is the sole proprietor of NirvanaOnline and Network Nirvana as a whole. He serves as the director and lead designer behind the majority of its content.
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Ever since high school, he's had a passion for STEM-based learning, and in college, he utilized the resources of the UNI John Pappajohn Entrepreneurial Center to make his dream a reality in the form of NirvanaOnline. Now, we've made a business model around the vision of a substantive and educational game. Kids enjoy playing without realizing that they're learning STEM-based topics while they interact and engage with the game!
WORKSHOPINFO
Before every NirvanaOnline Minecraft Program is a workshop. During this workshop, players are given a behind-the-scenes peek at the code of NirvanaOnline. A Network Nirvana developer will step participants through the thought process behind some of the mechanics seen in NirvanaOnline and delve deep into how participants can try out writing some of this code for themselves, among other STEM-based topics.
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Participants are encouraged to ask questions and even select their favorite parts of NirvanaOnline to be dissected live so kids can learn what makes a game 'tick'. Some popular topics include Loot Tables, programming logic, entity programming, and puzzle mechanic design. Players see new mechanics in NirvanaOnline, and then return to the workshop next month to learn how the code works to make it all happen!
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Workshops are engineered in a way that allows NirvanaOnline to evaluate participant comprehension of individual topics. Players learn new coding principles in the workshops, and then use this knowledge to succeed in NirvanaOnline!
STEMINFUSED
Our content in NirvanaOnline is infused with all kinds of fun STEM-based connections and lessons. Players traverse levels inside of large hadron colliders, radio telescopes, nuclear reactors, and more! Players explore and traverse these levels while learning about the deeper meanings behind what they represent, and how their real-world counterparts function.
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Educators, librarians, and even the Network Nirvana representative will challenge participants with questions regarding how they think certain mechanics might be coded, given the information they've learned during the workshop. Players are rewarded for using their knowledge in-game with various rewards and collectibles.
diversityrules
Inclusion is the name of the game. In NirvanaOnline, players can engage with a variety of game worlds representing a plethora of cultures and backgrounds. We pick from a menagerie of ideas when developing a new game world in hopes that individuals who play our games and attend our workshops will feel represented and at home.
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Some of the many themes and cultures explored in NirvanaOnline include: feudal Japan, the American old west, modern-day Ukraine, an African Safari, 1970s Americana, the Australian Outback, the Mayan civilization, rural America, an underwater city, and even Area 51! No matter what type of content players like to play, we have something that will be sure to educate, engage, and entertain everyone!
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LET'SCODE
The goal of our workshops is to expose youth to a variety of coding fundamentals, and to make them more comfortable with code and programming. We find that by meeting students in an environment they are comfortable in, instead of in a stuffy classroom, we are able to better engage students through our environment of gamification.
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Many of our alumni go on to study and work in fields related to coding, software development, and various technologies. We currently have former program attendees going to college for microbiology, automation, software development and more. Some of our long-time participants already have jobs in their fields, like Alexis K., who is now a skilled cybersecurity professional.