Press X to Learn is a 90 minute show about coding-centric and educational video games. It is broadcast to the TwilioQuest Twitch channel, usually once per month. Themes of the show are:
- Game design, specifically how games teach or use code and code-adjacent concepts
- Coding education at large
- The journey’s and careers of the guests
During a typical Press X to Learn show, the hosts will play and discuss the design of a coding-related video game. When joined by a guest, the format can vary, from conversational, with the hosts asking questions of the guest, to a commentated play-through of the host’s game.
Press X to Learn is hosted by:
- Ryan Kubik: game developer for TwilioQuest
- Joe Nash: developer educator, student and teacher programs
In the past, we have played games such as Code Combat, Learning Factory, and Shenzhen I/O. We have featured guests like Zachtronics’ creative director, Zach Barth.
Press X to Learn is predominantly watched by the TwilioQuest community of early-in career developers, students, and educators. As a relatively new show, we currently expect a live audience of between 20 and 30 viewers. Recordings are uploaded to our YouTube, as well as “highlighted” (indefinitely preserved) on our Twitch channel.
TwilioQuest is a free educational video game made by Twilio. Twilio aims to help learners in their coding journey through teaching concepts such as JavaScript, Python, Open source, and APIs in an RPG environment. TwilioQuest is an initiative by Twilio Education, whose mission is to serve developers through high-impact educational experiences at every stage of their professional journey.
As creators of a coding-related educational video game, we are always curious about how other games approach the challenges of the genre. We created Press X to Learn to make a space to play and discuss these games, and to connect with others working in this fun creative niche!
-
Fix a date: Press X to Learn falls on the 2nd Tuesday of the month, 4pm UTC/9am Pacific (Check your timezone). We’ll work with you to find a workable date far enough in advance to allow for preparation and promotion.
-
Send a calendar invite: you’ll receive a calendar invite from the team that includes:
- A Streamyard link: this is the link to join the stream. Joining Streamyard is just like joining any online video call, such as Google Meet.
- A notes doc: Ryan and Joe will use this doc to share any questions or specific topics of conversation they want to discuss. Please feel free to add your own, or to comment/cross out any of the topics listed!
- 15 minutes buffer: the calendar invite will be set to start 15 minutes before the “go live” time. This gives us time to ensure all the audio and video is working correctly, to answer any questions you might have about Streamyard, and to chat about the show.
-
Request promotional information:
-
We want to do all we can to make sure you have a great audience! To do that, we’ll request your:
- What you like to be called and your pronouns.
- Bio, a couple of sentences about you.
- A blurb about your game/program.
- Any social media handles you’d like to be tagged.
- Any relevant links.
-
-
Ask how we can help YOU:
- We appreciate you taking the time to join us on Press X to Learn, and we want to ensure the time is useful for you, as well.
- If there is anything you would like to promote or plug in the run-up to, or during the show, or any outputs from the show that would be helpful, please let us know.
-
Discuss the format:
-
Our default format with guests is a “conversational”, question and answer session, as this results in the least preparation for you.
-
We are open to other formats! If you have something you would like to show on screen, such as gameplay, a presentation, website walkthrough, etc, just let us know.
-
The calendar invite will be for 90 minutes. This is our typical show length, to take advantage of the nature of Twitch and how it promotes content for discovery.
- HOWEVER: this time is aspirational! If you are only available for a shorter time, such as 45 or 60 minutes, that’s totally fine. Equally, if you agree to 90 minutes and then during the stream, the conversation comes to a natural conclusion quicker than anticipated, or you just want to leave for any reason, we can come to a close. The great thing about live streams is spontaneity is expected by the audience!
-
-
Our priority is to ensure you have as smooth and enjoyable time on our stream as possible!
-
The audience will be able to chat along live with the stream.
- You will be able to see this from inside Streamyard: you don’t need to have Twitch open.
- However, you do not need to watch the chat yourself, your hosts will keep an eye on it and raise any relevant comments.
-
All hosts, chat members, and guests are bound by the Community Guidelines. Please take a read before the show. The hosts will be proactively moderating chat, as well as the live conversation.
-
In Streamyard, you will have a private chat window to communicate with the hosts. This chat is not visible to the viewers of the stream.
-
If you need to be off screen for any reason during the stream, either temporarily or permanently, just let your hosts know, either verbally or via the private chat in Streamyard.
-
If in the course of conversation a question is asked about a topic you don’t want to or are unable to speak about (for example, something that might reveal unannounced plans), just let the hosts know and they will move the conversation on.
Joining Streamyard is just like joining any browser-based video call, like a Google Meet. However, if this is your first time on a live stream, we’ve put together some tips.
-
Update Chrome (Streamyard works best on Chrome, but Firefox etc are usually fine too).
-
Use a hardwired connection for the internet if possible.
-
Grab a pair of headphones to reduce feedback from your speaker/mic.
-
Check your lighting and background.
-
Background:
- Be aware of what’s behind you! What’s in your background will be visible to viewers for a long period of time. Does your background reveal any personal or private information that you wouldn’t want strangers on the internet to know? Is a family member likely to enter the frame unexpectedly, without realising they are on camera? Does it reveal your location?
-
Lighting
- Your webcam will be happiest if your face is well and evenly lit with soft, bright white light.
- This is a great guide to a 3 point lighting setup: please don’t buy fancy lights just to join our show, but this guide will help you understand what good lighting is and looks like so you can use what you have, such as your existing desk lamps and daylight, effectively.
-
-
Check the Streamyard guest instructions.
-
Review Twitch’s Community Guidelines. We are dedicated to ensuring that our channel and its content is a welcoming and safe space for all guests, participants, and viewers. We will be applying these guidelines both to our chat, which will be proactively moderated throughout the show, as well as with our live guests and hosts.
-
If you intend to screenshare during the show, be sure any sensitive information is not going to be shared live. It's a good idea (if possible) to move all of this information to a secondary monitor. If not possible, Streamyard does let you share a single application. It's also a good idea to make sure things like your internet Favorites bar and Desktop are clear of anything personal.
-
Mute notifications
- MacOS: Command Center, typically in the task bar to the left of the time/date. Enable focus mode.
- Windows: Action Center (Windows+A). Enable Focus Assist
-
Close unneeded applications.
-
Join the Streamyard link provided in your calendar invite.
-
Check your microphone and webcam are being detected inside Streamyard.
-
Warn anyone who might interrupt you that you’ll be on stream and unavailable for a little while.
-
You will not be visible or audible to the audience until you are added to the stream and the stream is live, so don’t worry. When you first join the stream, we’ll be there waiting to greet you and get you set up!