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Exciting Game & Technology News

The Mason Game & Technology Academy (MGTA) is excited to tell you about some new developments, including a visiting Fullbright Scholar in the Spring and updates on our summer camps.


 

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MGTA Summer Camps in Loudoun

For the second year, a selection of MGTA Summer Prep courses will be held in Loudoun county, at the Mason in Loudoun location (next to the NoVA campus).

SEE LIST OF LOUDOUN COURSES


 

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Fullbright Scholar Visits MGTA Classes

MGTA welcomes a visiting Fulbright scholar Tania from Spain to our Spring 2016 weekend classes, giving our students the opportunity to learn about her research study: using serious games as educational tools in the classroom. Several MGTA students will be participating in her research and their ideas will be a part of her research!

“I am doing research on the potential of digital games to engage youth in environmental issues,” said Tania.  “The Mason Game & Technology Program at GMU targeting youth is a wonderful initiative, and I would like to take this chance to conduct a short group discussion with students. I would like to put them in the role of game designers and researchers who have been asked to develop an environmental game. They will brainstorm on how we can learn from successful games and how we can apply their characteristics for educational purposes.”


 

 

Javascript and C++ Summer Programs – Student Driven Experiences

“The Java and C++ classes offered by the Mason Game and Technology Academy focus largely on learning to code through the creation of a series of programming challenges, tailored to each student’s learning pace and experience,” said course instructor Kevin Pfeifle. “Students work in small teams and learn what it is like to work on a group programming project, providing them real world experience. The teams work on text-based ASCII challenges of their choosing, which allows for a unique student driven experience where the student’s learning is paced by their ability to problem solve. This also creates a dynamic learning experience where the students can learn beyond the curriculum, based entirely on their drive to learn more and create a more complex game.”

Impressive ASCII Project’s that students have done in past classes:

  • Battleship
  • Chess
  • Recursive Random Maze Generator
  • Rogue
  • 2048
  • Text-Adventure Games

Core Concepts Covered in the Java/C++ classes:

  • Input/Output
  • Boolen Logic/Conditional Statements
  • Looping (For and While)
  • Functions/Methods (Static and Dynamic)
  • Arrays
  • Try/Catch
  • Classes/Objects (Static and Dynamic)

SEE SUMMER CAMP INFO


 

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Personal Cyber Security Summer Program

MGTA is pleased to offer a new course in Cyber Security, Personal Cyber Defense, which helps students to protect themselves in the ever-growing on-line world we live in.

“There are basic things that I believe every person should know to be able to protect themselves, their families, and their friends from various cyber attacks, which is the main goal of this course,” said course instructor Yusif Atayev. “The class will cover a variety of topics ranging from the basics of security to applying security measures to various devices in order to help students develop skills that they can apply in their personal lives.”

SEE CYBER SECURITY COURSE DETAILS


 

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SCRIYB Online Learning Coming Soon

Back by popular demand – MGTA Scriyb on-line classes will be offered this summer and fall! Classes are taught in real time, and students will be able to engage directly with the instructor, and with each other. MGTA-Scriyb courses capture the energy and magic of a live classroom, along with the peer-to-peer social learning that makes online learning like playing a game, and so much fun! More information coming soon…


 

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READ MORE ABOUT MASON GAME & TECHNOLOGY ACADEMY